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Comcast Rolls Out Nationwide 1TB Data Cap (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the overage-fees dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Comcast's home internet data caps are going live for a majority of customers starting November 1st, the company announced today. Called the "Xfinity Terabyte Internet Data Usage Plan," the cap restricts the amount of data you consume in your home to 1TB per month regardless of the speed of your plan. Comcast claims 99 percent of customers use less than 1TB per month, but it does now offer an unlimited option for $50 more per month. Back in April, Comcast bumped its data cap from 300GB to 1TB after consumer backlash and renewed regulatory concern from the FCC. And until today, the plan has been active in select markets for 16 states. But starting November 1st, the list will add 18 new markets, bringing the total number of states with the terabyte data cap to around 30. Notable exceptions include New York and nearly the entire northeast. For a full list of included markets, check Comcast's online FAQ.

7 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Future-proofing for 4k by tgetzoya · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I use about half that now every month. I use Netflix and MLB.tv daily, among other things. I see this as future-proofing for when 4K becomes the standard.

  2. Re:Finally some sensibility... by hsmith · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Of course not. 2GB of data on mobile is virtually the same price (if not more) on AT&T and the like as it was 10 years ago.

  3. Wow by BradleyUffner · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How much congestion can these people be causing if it only costs at extra $50 to "fix" it?

    1. Re:Wow by epyT-R · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Then I'd pay the $50/mo.. still cheaper than cable.

    2. Re:Wow by PrimaryConsult · · Score: 3, Interesting

      With a data cap they assume instead of streaming shows people will watch them on TV.

  4. Re:Big honking black cock by swalve · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Perhaps your usage is in that top percentile of users that will go over 1tb. If you are really in the top 1% of users, I think paying another $50 a month is justified. (Also, doesn't git have some kind of rsync type capability?)

  5. Re:Big honking black cock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Perhaps your usage is in that top percentile of users that will go over 1tb. If you are really in the top 1% of users, I think paying another $50 a month is justified.

    The truth is that the marginal cost of a 1TB of data is on the order of a few dollars. In which case $50 is massive overkill considering that the average bandwidth usage is just 190GB/month.

    Here's what wholesale bandwidth costs today:
    Bulk IP transit costs:

    10Gbps: $0.85 -- $1.10 Mbps
    20Gbps: $0.75 -- $0.95 Mbps
    40Gbps: $0.62 -- $0.80 Mbps
    75Gbps: $0.55 -- $0.70 Mbps
    100Gbps: $0.45 -- $0.60 Mbps

    1mbps, running flat-out 24 hours per day for 30 days is just a tad under 1TB.
    So multiply by 10 to more than compensate for peak usage and all other overhead.
    That works out to $6/TB or less at the kind of wholesale prices that big ISPs pay.

    Lets say your internet bill is roughly $60/month. Even with all the fixed overhead for hardware and support staff, that leaves a ton of margin since most customers are only doing 190GB/month.

    Data caps are nothing more than abuse of monopoly status.