Comcast to make monthly Internet use cap official
NEW YORK - Comcast Corp., the nation's second-largest Internet service
provider, Thursday said it would set an official limit on the amount of data
subscribers can download and upload each month.
On Oct. 1, the cable company will update its user agreement to say that
users will be allowed 250 gigabytes of traffic per month, the company
announced on its Web site.
Comcast has already reserved the right to cut off subscribers who use too
much bandwidth each month, without specifying exactly what constitutes
excessive use.
"We've listened to feedback from our customers who asked that we provide a
specific threshold for data usage and this would help them understand the
amount of usage that would qualify as excessive," the company said in a
statement on its Web site.
Customers who go over the limit are contacted by the company and asked to
curb their usage.
"We know from experience the vast majority of customers we ask to curb usage
do so voluntarily," the company said.
Comcast floated the idea of a 250 gigabyte cap in May and mentioned then
that it might charge users $15 for every 10 gigabytes they go over, but the
overage fee was missing in Thursday's announcement.
Curbing the top users is necessary to keep the network fast and responsive
for other users, Comcast has said.
Comcast stressed that the bandwidth cap is far above the median monthly
usage of its customers, which 2 to 3 gigabytes.
Very few subscribers use more than 250 gigabytes, it said. A user could
download 125 standard-definition movies, about four per day, before hitting
the limit.
The cap is also above those of some other ISPs. Cox Communications' monthly
caps vary from 5 gigabytes to 75 gigabytes depending the subscriber's plan.
Time Warner Cable Inc. is testing caps between 5 gigabytes and 40 gigabytes
in one market. Frontier Communications Co., a phone company, plans to start
charging extra for use of more than 5 gigabytes per month.
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