Comcast Backpedals Again, Further Delays 1.2TB Data Caps After Customer Outrage

Comcast didn't do this out of the goodness of its heart, however. The company only acted after Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro turned up the heat on the company. “As Pennsylvanians continue to navigate this pandemic, we know millions are relying on the internet for school and work more than ever. This is not the time to change the rules when it comes to internet data usage and increase costs,” said Shapiro earlier this month, referencing the COVID-19 pandemic that we're all suffering through.

Now, Comcast has announced that it is pushing back the implementation of its data caps again. "We are delaying implementation of our new data plan in our Northeast markets until 2022," said the company in a blog post yesterday. "We recognize that our data plan was new for our customers in the Northeast, and while only a very small percentage of customers need additional data, we are providing them with more time to become familiar with the new plan."

With this update, the following states will be getting a reprieve from Comcast's data caps: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia. What's unknown, however, is whenin 2022 that Comcast will start having to play "Bad Cop" again. The 2022 language is vague at best, so let's hope for the sake of Comcast customers that the data caps will be instituted later in the year.

“Delaying this ill-timed data cap until at least 2022 is the right call. I have heard from families across Connecticut who easily exceeded this cap while studying and working remotely," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong after Comcast’s latest walk-back. "Far from so-called superusers, these were stories from typical Connecticut families merely trying to stay employed and educate their children during a global pandemic. To raise rates on these families at the very moment they were most reliant on broadband access and least able to pay more was simply unconscionable."

Comcast says that it has invested over $15 billion into its network since 2017 and that it continues to "enhance and optimize" the network to accommodate customers, especially at a time when American's need broadband connectivity more than ever.