Comcast Bumping Usage Caps From 300 GB to 1 Terabyte Comcast has announced it will be raising the usage cap on broadband service to one terabyte starting in June. According to a company blog post, Comcast says customers in Comcast "trial" cap markets, currently capped at 300 GB per month, will have that cap raised to one terabyte starting June 1. Customers who exceed that amount of usage will continue to face Comcast overage fees of $10 per each additional 50 gigabytes of data consumed.

The company also states that users who wish to avoid the cap entirely can pay an additional $50 per month for unlimited usage. This has been bumped from the $30 to $35 Comcast currently charges users in its usage-cap trial markets to avoid the cap and overage fees. "In our trials, we have experimented with different offers, listened to feedback, and learned a lot," says Comcast executive Marcien Jenckes. "We have learned that our customers want the peace of mind to stream, surf, game, download, or do whatever they want online. 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," Jenckes said. Comcast claims that less than one percent of its customers currently consume more than a terabyte of data each month. This is the first time Comcast has increased the cap since the cable operator initiated the new 300 GB limit in 2013. The caps have generated no limit of negative feedback from consumers over the years as the company has slowly expanded the caps into a large number of less competitive broadband markets. So why after years of complaints is Comcast suddenly "listening to feedback" and raising its allotment limits now? The FCC's decision to recently impose conditions on Charter's merger blocking the company from imposing usage caps for seven years indicates the regulator may soon begin taking more serious aim at usage caps, which critics charge can be used anti-competitively to protect TV revenues from the threat of Internet video. Comcast has also come under for for exempting its own streaming service from the caps, something that isn't likely to change under the new, higher allotments. In addition to potential FCC pressure, Comcast's also responding to AT&T's decision to begin imposing caps up to 1 terabyte starting May 23. "We’re currently evaluating our plans to roll this out in other markets, we’ll keep listening – and we'll be open to making further changes in the future to deliver the best high-speed data service to our customers," Comcast says of the changes. "We’re currently evaluating our plans to roll this out in other markets, we’ll keep listening – and we'll be open to making further changes in the future to deliver the best high-speed data service to our customers," Comcast says of the changes.







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Most recommended from 191 comments

Mumzy

join:2009-07-30

Olive Branch, MS 32 recommendations Mumzy Member Well it's a start... I don't know what they were smoking when they came up with the 300 gig cap. Trying to stay under that limit with a family of five is a exercise in futility. rfrooney

join:2006-02-26

Antioch, TN 21 recommendations rfrooney Member So What? I am still dumping Comcrap when GF comes online. rradina

join:2000-08-08

Chesterfield, MO 920.3 39.3

·Charter

17 recommendations rradina Member Thanks Comcast Although I'm not a Comcast customer, 1TB seems much more reasonable than 300GB.



Now how about working on the incremental overage fee? Is $10 for another 50GB fair? At that rate, the first TB would cost $200. Most industries reward customers with lower prices for higher volumes. The overage fee seems to go against that concept. The overage cannot be defended based on cost and it's stuff like this that eventually attracts unwanted government intervention. Why not avoid all that and charge folks $10 per extra 200GB and cap the maximum overage fee at $70? That way the $50 unlimited option has value for consistent heavy users and ocassional excess customers see value in paying for on demand excess.

TestBoy

Premium Member

join:2009-10-13

Irmo, SC 11 recommendations TestBoy Premium Member Trying to head off regulation? The writing is on the wall that this is being looked at and frowned up... so is this an attempt to alter the discussion on caps? Possibly to make it a 'non-issue' for the time being?



It seems to me like the frog in boiling water.... right now the number of people getting caught in the the nets is big.

So, cast a smaller net and as things grow and people are more and more dependent on streaming it will turn into a huge payday down the road... say a couple years.



So are they starting with warm water.... and slowly turning up the heat now?

By the time people realize they are "capped" we will be 3-4 or 5 years into it being the norm.



I think this is a move to force it onto the back burner for a few years.

howsthis9999

@2602:100.x 8 recommendations howsthis9999 Anon Bet there will still be complaints yes there SHOULDN'T be caps but it's 1 TB. Thank at&t for this. Zetsuei

join:2015-08-10 6 recommendations Zetsuei Member Marketing tactics A lot of the comments in here are exactly what Comcast wants. Set the cap at a really unreasonable point and then increase it by x3-x4 and it seems amazing. Problem is there shouldn't be a cap at all and people need to remember that. Yes, this is a good change but its probably them panicking cause of how the FCC is handling the TWC/Charter merger and all the conditions they're putting in place and this is Comcast trying to look better. At the end of the day there is no reason for caps. If you're connection is congested then its the fault of the carrier for overselling when their infrastructure can't handle it. But of course most of us here know that won't stop them and it will be us who pay while they pocket a lot of money.

newview

Ex .. Ex .. Exactly

Premium Member

join:2001-10-01

Parsonsburg, MD 5 recommendations newview Premium Member Finally a realistic usage cap ... Apparently, someone at Comcast has seen the handwriting on the wall, (and the FCC complaints & bad press as well) and decided to get out in front of their previous piss-poor 300 GB decision (which was more than likely headed to an FCC review) and FINALLY come up with a more realistic usage cap. JMccovery

join:2011-01-08

Graysville, AL 3 recommendations JMccovery Member 1TB caps... Not gonna lie, but despite my 'displeasure' with Coast, the cap increase has me thinking about going back. chrismitt

join:2012-07-09

Orange, CA 3 recommendations chrismitt Member Cash grab This is just another attempt at screwing over the customer first 30 and now add insult to injury and Jack it up anther $20 glad I have twc $50 a month total kutos to u twc yesitsmario

join:2015-11-17

SoCal 3 recommendations yesitsmario Member 1TB seems fair Even for a household of 4 all streaming Netflix.

linxer

join:2000-05-20

Campbellsville, KY 2 recommendations linxer Member Well I say good job Next month I was going to switch to windstream, they have finally ran fiber to a new dslam just 1500 ft from me. But 1tb is more than enough for us for at least 2 years. I'm a happy camper.

TIGERON

join:2008-03-11

Boston, MA Motorola MG7550

2 recommendations TIGERON Member Hell just froze over. I am very surprised at Comcast.



Most people don't know this but Verizon, Frontier and Cox also have usage caps HOWEVER unlike comcast and AT&T, the former three are "soft caps".



Verizon and Frontier the limit for their DSL is 1 terabyte while the fiber is 10 terabytes. Cox has never enforced their caps although they have stated that their service does have limitations and in certain markets a cap of 500 gigabytes is in place.

Nightfall

My Goal Is To Deny Yours

MVM

join:2001-08-03

Grand Rapids, MI 2 recommendations Nightfall MVM A great move As one provider increases their caps to reasonable levels, then Comcast follows suit. I hate to say I called this, but I did. Except this beats out what AT&T is offering, so now AT&T will probably respond with caps that are at the Comcast level.



As someone who is a power user who doesn't come close to the 300gb level, having 1TB gives me a lot more room to do....hmm....really my habits won't change. I will keep my Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions. I won't be watching more online than I have in the past. I won't be downloading more to be honest. The extra room will come in handy when I have a ton of Steam downloads during sales I guess or maybe I will start downloading Linux distros or something.



Anyway, by doing this Comcast really did target the extreme abusers. If less than 99% of people used 300gb, the number now has to be 99.5% of users that use less than 1TB. gotenks2

join:2001-10-06

Hollywood, FL 2 recommendations gotenks2 Member Not a fan of the Caps... however, 1TB seems pretty fair. I've been paying the $30 for unlimited ever since it began but I've never gone over 650GB so this is a welcome development for my wallet seeing as now I can save $30 every month.



Seems kind of weird how I'm now saying I'm saving $30 every month when I was doing just that for many, many, many years prior to Oct.2015!!