Comcast Shackles Customers Nationwide With 1TB Xfinity Data Caps
Comcast's insistence on strapping data caps on customers seems to be at odds with advances in technology as a whole, but tough luck if you're an Xfinity customer, you might getting one anyway (depending on where you live). Remember those 1-terabyte trials Comcast's been trialing in select markets? It's now ready to deploy 1TB (1,024 gigabytes) data caps to a bunch more Xfinity customers across the nation.
According to Comcast, more than 99 percent of its customers don't use a terabyte of data on a monthly basis Those who do go over the data limit will be charge $10 for additional 50GB chunks of data (the first two times it happens are free), not to exceed $200 in added data charges per month no matter how much a person consumes. Alternately, Xfinity customers can add an unlimited data option to their plan for $50 per month.
"This data plan is based on a principle of fairness. Those who use more Internet data, pay more. And those who use less Internet data, pay less," Comcast says.
Data caps have never been popular among customers, and using cartoons to explain what a user can do with 1TB probably isn't going to sway critics. Nevertheless, here's a video Comcast put together on the topic:
It's true that 1TB is a lot of data, but at the same time, consumer data needs are growing, not shrinking. Content creators and the market at large is pushing 4K resolution video into the mainstream, cloud services have become the norm, and games aren't getting any smaller. And then there's the growing Internet of Things (IoT) sector.
In any event, the 1TB data cap goes into effect on November 1, 2016, to Xfinity customers in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida (select parts), Southeastern Georgia, Idaho, Indiana (select parts), Kansas, Michigan (select parts), Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Western Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
For more information, read through Comcast's related FAQ.
According to Comcast, more than 99 percent of its customers don't use a terabyte of data on a monthly basis Those who do go over the data limit will be charge $10 for additional 50GB chunks of data (the first two times it happens are free), not to exceed $200 in added data charges per month no matter how much a person consumes. Alternately, Xfinity customers can add an unlimited data option to their plan for $50 per month.
"This data plan is based on a principle of fairness. Those who use more Internet data, pay more. And those who use less Internet data, pay less," Comcast says.
Data caps have never been popular among customers, and using cartoons to explain what a user can do with 1TB probably isn't going to sway critics. Nevertheless, here's a video Comcast put together on the topic:
It's true that 1TB is a lot of data, but at the same time, consumer data needs are growing, not shrinking. Content creators and the market at large is pushing 4K resolution video into the mainstream, cloud services have become the norm, and games aren't getting any smaller. And then there's the growing Internet of Things (IoT) sector.
In any event, the 1TB data cap goes into effect on November 1, 2016, to Xfinity customers in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida (select parts), Southeastern Georgia, Idaho, Indiana (select parts), Kansas, Michigan (select parts), Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Western Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
For more information, read through Comcast's related FAQ.
