Comcast is delaying a plan to enforce its 1.2 TB data limit and overuse rates in the northeastern United States until 2022, after pressure from customers and legislators in several states.
“[W]We are delaying the implementation of our new data plan in our Northeast markets until 2022, “said Comcast in an announcement yesterday.” We recognize that our data plan was new to our customers in the Northeast, and while only a small percentage of customers need additional data, we are giving them more time to familiarize themselves with the new plan. “
Comcast imposed the data limit in 27 of the 39 states in which it has operated since 2016, but not in the Northeast states, where Comcast faces competition from Verizon’s unlimited FiOS home fiber service. In November 2020, Comcast announced that it would bring the limit to the other 12 states and the District of Columbia from January 2021. But with yesterday’s announcement, no one in these 12 states and DC will be charged by Comcast throughout the year. 2021.
“Postponing this untimely data limit until at least 2022 is the right decision,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said yesterday. “I heard of families in Connecticut who easily crossed that threshold while studying and working remotely. Far from so-called superusers, these were stories of typical Connecticut families just trying to stay employed and educate their children during a global pandemic. To create rates for these families just when they were more dependent on broadband access and less able to pay more was simply unscrupulous. “
The delay applies to Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Comcast vague about plans for 2022
Comcast’s original plan for the Northeast imposed the limit in January 2021, providing months of courtesy in which newly limited customers can exceed 1.2 TB without a penalty, resulting in the first excess charges being assessed for data usage during the reporting period. April 2021 billing. That plan drew condemnation from lawmakers, including legislation in Massachusetts that would ban data limits and price increases until the pandemic ended.
Comcast responded in late January by postponing surplus charges until the billing period in July, but the few extra months did not calm the controversy. Yesterday’s announcement of a delay until 2022 does not specify in which month of 2022 the first excess charges will appear. We asked Comcast if it plans to impose the limits on the Northeast in January 2022 or some time later, but we have received no response.
Unlucky customers in 27 other states
Comcast told us that there are no changes in the other 27 states, where customers will continue to face limits and overuse rates. Comcast’s insistence on continuing to charge extra fees in most of its territory maintains the uneven status quo in which the customer’s state of residence determines whether he should deal with Comcast’s most unpopular policy. Comcast’s overuse fees are $ 10 for each additional 50 GB block, up to a maximum of $ 100 per month. Customers can avoid overcharging by spending an extra $ 30 per month on unlimited data or $ 25 on the “xFi Complete” plan that includes unlimited data and the cost of renting Comcast’s xFi gateway modem and router.
As we noted in the previous coverage, Comcast said it would not charge users in the Northeast for unlimited data plans until at least April. “Customers in our Northeast markets who signed up for xFi Complete or Unlimited were not really charged because of the free months. [there is] there is no need for refunds or credits, “said Comcast today.
Although Comcast claims that the 1.2 TB limit affects only “superusers”, the percentage of Internet users reaching this mark is always increasing, and broadband usage has increased more than normal during the pandemic. The OpenVault survey found that more than 14 percent of subscribers in the U.S. used more than 1 TB per month in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to 8.8% of subscribers in the third quarter of 2020, as we reported last week. The percentage of customers using more than 2 TB per month more than doubled to 2.2% in the same period. Average monthly usage in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 293.8 GB and average usage was 482.6 GB.
“The explosion in data consumption during 2020 has established a new normal for bandwidth usage that is especially noticeable when compared to pre-pandemic periods,” said OpenVault.
Network capacity is not a “valid excuse”
Excess data rates increase Comcast’s revenue, but limiting monthly data usage, regardless of when in the month the usage occurs, is not an effective tool for preventing network congestion in real time. Comcast boasted of its network’s strong performance in the pandemic, once again showing that data limits are a game for profit, not a necessity.
Tong told Comcast in a letter earlier this month that “[b]broadband internet access is an essential public service, especially during the current pandemic … The last thing our residents need to worry about right now is whether they will conflict with the data limit or incur unexpected expenses meaningful to stay connected. “
“Network capacity is not a problem for Comcast or a valid excuse to charge customers more,” 71 Massachusetts lawmakers told Comcast in a Letter at the end of December. “Comcast itself claims to have a lot of capacity on its network, including areas where no limits are currently imposed … It is inconceivable that Comcast would choose to impose this ‘limit and fee’ plan during a pandemic, when many Massachusetts residents are forced work and attend school at home over the Internet. “