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Comcast Rolls Out Nationwide 1TB Data Cap (theverge.com)
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.
No cap for me, I'm using the neighbor's open xfinitywifi for free. Thanks, Comcast is fuckin awesome!
The chocolate ration has gone up to 20 grams a week!
How much congestion can these people be causing if it only costs at extra $50 to "fix" it?
25 Mbps is 22.5 gigabytes for a 2-hour movie. So you can watch 44 4K movies per month with a 1 TB cap.
Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
Even now, after adding most of the USA to this data cap -- they've avoided the entire Washington DC metro area (Northern Virginia and Maryland included). I'm very thankful for that as a MD resident stuck using Comcast for broadband .... but am I the only one who suspects this is on purpose? Comcast probably figures they won't get push-back from angry legislators as long as they make sure all of THOSE folks aren't affected by the changes.
One thing Comcast's plan doesn't cover is that based on current internet usage and popular applications (Netflix, Pandora, etc.) their research suggests 1TB is a reasonable cap for 99% of customers. But what happens when more rich applications come out, video resolution goes up and don't forget that new fangled Internet of Things (IoT). Are they going to adjust the caps based on what "reasonable" is on an ongoing basis? I bet not. That in and of itself is not reasonable. Comcast's PR firm has gone to great lengths to present this in agreeable terms on the basis of reasonableness and they did somewhat of a good job but it still looks like there is an opportunity for an unethical cash grab it's just it will be in the future not in the present.
Fortunately, we have a system that deals with this called free market competition. On that note, Google Fiber/Verizon FioS where you at? I'm ready to switch if you want to become a competitive force in this market space. Get your game on.
We'll make great pets