Comcast

SHARE Shawn Millsaps/Special to News Sentinel Comcast employee and volunteer Andrew Schmenger pressure washes the sidewalk outside South Knoxville Elementary during the 14th annual Comcast Cares Day on April 25, 2015.

By Chambers Williams of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Comcast said Friday that it will raise the data cap on its Knoxville-area Internet users by more than three times — to a terabyte a month — as of June 1, a move that follows a similar announcement by AT&T in March.

Most area Comcast data customers now have a 300 gigabyte cap, and must pay extra if they exceed that in a given month. The new limit allows for significantly more streaming of high-definition digital content, such as movies — up to about 700 hours, Comcast said.

"Our goal is to give our customers a great online experience that's fast and gives them the ability to do whatever they want on the Internet," said Comcast Tennessee spokeswoman Sara Jo Walker. "We want them to have a carefree experience online without having to think about a data plan, and this new terabyte plan does just that.

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"In our trials, which cover about 14 percent of our customers, we are experimenting with different offers; we have listened to feedback and learned a lot," Walker said.

"We have learned that our customers want the peace of mind to stream, surf, game, download or do whatever they want online," she said. "So, we have created a new data plan that is so high that most of our customers will never have to think about how much data they use."

She said that "more than 99 percent of our customers consume far less than a terabyte each month."

And for those "super users" who need more than a terabyte a month, Comcast will offer an unlimited plan for an additional $50 a month, Walker said. Alternatively, they can buy additional 50 gigabyte "buckets" for $10 each.

AT&T is raising data caps for its Knoxville-area U-verse broadband customers as of May 23, said Cathy Lewandowski, the company's Nashville-based spokeswoman for Tennessee.

Those on AT&T's lowest Internet tier will have a 300 gigabyte limit; for midlevel customers, the limit will be 600 gigabytes; and for top-tier subscribers, 1 terabyte.

But AT&T customers who also subscribe to DirecTV or the U-verse TV service along with their broadband will get unlimited Internet usage, Lewandowski said.

Currently, AT&T broadband customers in the lowest and middle tiers have a 250 gigabyte limit, while those in the top tier are capped at 500GB.

Comcast said its typical customer uses only about 60GB of data in a month.