CableONE Claims It Has To Cap Usage Or Users Will Leave

Cable ONE is informing customers complaining about its usage caps that it has to impose broadband usage caps -- or customers will flee to other providers. A user over at Reddit got tired of the company's usage caps and wrote to the FCC to complain (you can do so here). When you complain to the agency, the ISP is required to respond at length. In this case they provided the user with a three page letter attempting to justify the company's usage caps. Unfortunately, CableONE fled to repeatedly debunked falsehoods about usage caps.

"Managing Cable ONE's network for optimal performance is crucial for providing a reliable service," says the company. "Establishing reasonable data plans is an important part of that process."

But even the cable industry's biggest lobbying group has been forced to admit that usage caps on fixed-line networks aren't about congestion, and even when there is network congestion caps don't really do much to eliminate or manage it. Meanwhile, the user's FCC complaint went to great length to detail how Cable ONE's caps aren't really reasonable.

As it stands, CableONE offers 100 Mbps with a 300 GB cap for $55, 150 Mbps with a 400 GB cap for $80, 200 Mbps with a 500 GB cap for $105, and gigabit service in select areas for $200 per month with a 500 GB cap. Those prices vary greatly depending on your promotion and the lack of regional competition.

And while CableONE eliminated overage fees in 2013, users who exceed their monthly allotment are automatically bumped to the next, most-expensive tier. That's something the user complained to the FCC was punitive, especially give Comcast and AT&T's recent decisions to bump their own usage caps to a terabyte for all tiers.

We've noted for some time that usage caps are little more than glorified price hikes on uncompetitive markets, and have more to do with protecting legacy TV revenues from Internet video than congestion or financial necessity. But CableONE's letter proceeds to try and claim that the company must impose usage caps or customers will flee to an alternative provider.

"If Cable One fails to properly balance cost and capability, people will stop buying its services and go to a competitor who does a better job of meeting the needs of the buying public," states Cable ONE.

That's ironic, given it's only theof competition that lets CableONE and other ISPs impose usage caps in the first place. Usershead to another provider since there very often, and if there is -- it's becoming increasingly likely that that ISP is now imposing usage caps as well.