A company that tracks ISPs and data caps in the US has identified 196 home Internet providers that impose monthly caps on Internet users. Not all of them are enforced, but customers of many ISPs must pay overage fees when they use too much data.

BroadbandNow, a broadband provider search site that gets referral fees from some ISPs, has more than 2,500 home Internet providers in its database. This list includes telecommunications providers that are registered to provide service under the government's Lifeline program, which subsidizes access for poor people. BroadbandNow's team looked through the ISPs' websites to generate a list of those with data caps.

The data cap information was "pulled directly from ISP websites," BroadbandNow Director of Content Jameson Zimmer told Ars. "For those that have multiple caps, we include the lowest one and an asterisk to show that they have regional variation."

BroadbandNow, which is operated by a company called Microbrand Media, plans to keep tracking the data caps over time in order to examine trends, he said.

From 3GB to 3TB

The listed caps range from 3GB to 3TB per month. That 3GB cap seemed like it couldn't be accurate, so we called the ISP, a small phone company called NTCNet in Newport, New York. A person answering the phone confirmed that the company lists 3GB as its cap but said it is not enforced and that customers' usage isn't monitored. The cap is essentially a placeholder in case the ISP needs to enforce data limits in the future.

ISPs generally enforce data caps by charging overage fees when customers go over a limit, but the BroadbandNow data set doesn't include the method of enforcement, if any. There are obviously cases where the cap is a nominal one, but it's fair to say that strict caps and overage fees are on the rise.

Comcast, the nation's biggest ISP, has been steadily implementing data caps across its cable territory and many other providers have followed suit. For large ISPs, a typical plan has a 1TB monthly allotment and charges a $10 fee for each extra 50GB. Buying unlimited data is sometimes an option; Comcast charges an extra $50 a month to use the Internet without data limits.

BroadbandNow excluded mobile providers from its list of ISPs with data caps, since caps are nearly universal among cellular companies. The list of 196 providers with caps includes 89 offering fixed wireless service, 45 fiber ISPs, 35 DSL ISPs, 63 cable ISPs, and two satellite providers. Some offer Internet service using more than one technology. Some of the providers are tiny, with territories covering just 100 or a few hundred people.

Large providers with data caps that made the list include AT&T, Comcast, Cox, CenturyLink, Mediacom, Suddenlink, Exede, and HughesNet (the latter two are satellite ISPs.)

BroadbandNow is supported by advertising, and it receives referral fees from some ISPs when people who visit the site end up subscribing to Internet service. But the site lists all providers that it finds from government data regardless of whether they pay, Zimmer said. "We believe that providing unbiased results will, in the long run, make us more valuable to consumers and improve competition in the market," he told Ars.

On its webpage listing ISPs that impose data caps, the BroadbandNow team takes a measured tone on whether the caps are necessary.

"Statements from Internet providers suggest that data caps are a necessary step to combat network congestion," BroadbandNow says. "Opponents of data caps believe that the motivation for data caps has more to do with recovering declining cable revenue or creating a roadblock for streaming services like Netflix. Whichever side you believe, the outcome is the same—data caps are becoming commonplace."