Comcast Considers Usage Caps, Overage Fees

[Jitway]

Broadband Reports posted information yesterday provided by an "insider" claiming that Comcast is in the early development stages of a 250 GB-per-month bandwidth cap that will charge users a fee when passed.

 

For every 10 GB over the 250 GB limit they consume, Comcast would charge $15, says the source. Early tests could begin in as little as one or two months, and would have an appreciable effect only the top one percent of downloaders. This one percent amounts to about 14,000 customers of Comcast's 14.1 million.

 

In addition to throttling peer-to-peer traffic, Comcast's current traffic shaping methods also involve the termination of customers' accounts who have suspiciously high bandwidth consumption. While there is no known official limit, those found in violation receive an official letter explaining their disconnection without actually saying how over the limit they were.

 

In a generic response to the source's disclosure, the company stated, "Comcast is currently evaluating this service and pricing model to ensure we deliver a great online experience to our customers. We have not made any changes to our current service offerings and have no new announcement to make at this time."

 

Though noncommittal in language, Comcast's reply does affirm that such a plan does exist within the company's walls, at least in the phase where its viability can be tested.

 

 

 

Glad I don't have them anymore it is bad enough at Brighthouse Newtworks but this one is now even worse then theirs. As a power down loader this would really bite into my anime watching.

 

Source HERE

[Tynvar]

If they do it will be the end of comcast Who wants a dl cap. Hell 250GB is quite a bit but no likes to be limited even if you never pass that.

[iq_132]

It's very likely they will impose caps. There's really no one to stop them. Not only that, I'm fairly certain they will keep bumping the 250gb down lower and lower until we're in the same boat as the poor Australians.

[Tynvar]

It's very likely they will impose caps. There's really no one to stop them. Not only that, I'm fairly certain they will keep bumping the 250gb down lower and lower until we're in the same boat as the poor Australians.

 

And of course there's no one keeping all their costumers from changing providers

[Robert]

You guys have it good, on my previous plan I would be charged 15c per mb over the 500mb limit (that is, $15 for 100mb). Now, at least I have a 12GB limit and no extra charge, it just gets throttled instead.

 

Still, something faster than 256k would be nice...

[Tynvar]

Hey I pay $40 USD for a 1Mbit connection, now that's a huge rip-off.

[Alpha]

The problem with this is that other ISP's may follow Comcast. And if that happens, well ... I hope it doesn't.

[iq_132]

It's very likely they will impose caps. There's really no one to stop them. Not only that, I'm fairly certain they will keep bumping the 250gb down lower and lower until we're in the same boat as the poor Australians.

 

And of course there's no one keeping all their costumers from changing providers

Cable providers have a monopoly in their areas. There are no other cable providers on the same wires.

The only other option is DSL, but it doesn't have the speeds cable does.

 

I do so love the corporate way of giving less and less as the years go by, but charging more and more for it.

[Gryph]

It's very likely they will impose caps. There's really no one to stop them. Not only that, I'm fairly certain they will keep bumping the 250gb down lower and lower until we're in the same boat as the poor Australians.

 

And of course there's no one keeping all their costumers from changing providers

In many places there is very little competition. It's either cable hi speed with Comcast (or whoever the cable company is) and DSL with your phone company.

 

EDIT: iq already posted that lol

[gavin19]

I pay approx $80 for 20Mbit cable, unlimited usage, except that if you exceed 3gig down and/or 1gig up between 16:00 and Mid, then you get dropped down to 5Mbit for 4 hours as a 'punishment'. The only bad thing really is the down:up ratio of 20Mbit:768k, which is a farce.

 

EDIT : Just noticed the 250gig cap thing. Even though I abuse my 20 Mbit connection I would very rarely reach 250gigs/month. Isn't Comcast's max speed 12Mbit?

Actually, just checked my bandwidth meter logs and it seems I was regularly topping out at over 300gigs a month. But 250 on a 12Mbit line is going to be a challenge.

Edited May 9, 2008 by gavin19

[Agozer]

I have a 5Mbit/1Mbit connection, that will get doubled for the next 12 months. No caps, throttling or any of that bullshit. I pay ~€36/month (~$55).