WaltC wrote on Dec 3, 2020, 16:38:

Xero wrote on Dec 3, 2020, 15:43:
I'd like to add that it was in the news not too long ago that for people that have Comcast service, they announced they're going to be data capping all their customers to like 1tb a month. I can't see how streaming services can succeed with mandatory data caps implemented. I don't personally have Comcrap as it's known, but that would suck if someone used something like this only to find out, they've been shutdown (or heavily throttled) for the rest of the month due to exceeding limts...

What I read was a tad different...the data cap only affects people in the Northeast--not the whole country--and it's way more than 1 tb...;) Comcast is always doing stuff like this--or else people who hate Comcast are routinely spinning fake news about Comcrastic data caps--but the last cap Comcast had for a temporary period in limited areas was 250GB a month. People didn't like it, so Comcast dropped it. If people complain as they are sure to do, Comcast will drop this one, too. That is pretty much guaranteed. It's a pity, but "news" today isn't what it used to be--it's corrupted by political agendas and personal wish lists or gripes. Anyway, I'm on Xfinity--no caps, 12MB/s up and down (depending on the server, of course.) Also, the rationale Comcast *reportedly* uses to justify this is that "Only 5% of our customers go over 250GBs a month"--which, if true, would mean there's no sense in establishing a cap at all, even at 250GBs, as 95% of Comcast's customers would never hit the cap! Look for this--if there's any truth to it--to fail as well, imo. But I'm talking about wired landline cable-modem service (I'm on wired EWAN off of fiber-direct)--but with mobile phones the rip off on Internet broadband is nationwide--all the carriers charge too much and many of those routinely use caps and always have. That's why I use my computers at home and I carry a dumb-phone (phone calls/txt mssg only)...;) Save a large sum every month.

The cap is 1.2 TB, which isn't what I consider way more than 1 TB. It's called the "1.2 Terabyte Data Plan", and it applies to Xfinity. It's advertised right on the Xfinity page.

The 250GB data cap was introduced in 2008 and abolished in 2012. In 2015 they started introducing a 300GB data cap which eventually made its way into most of their service, and upgraded it to 1 TB in 2016, and bumped it up to 1.2 TB this July.

The recent announcement was about expanding the TB plan to 14 Northeast states + DC. Xfinity's FAQ lists a total 40 states plus DC that will be under a data cap.

I highly doubt Comcast is going to drop their cap. They might put it on hold a few more months if lawmakers give them flak, but this summer Charter asked the FCC to release them from their data cap restriction early, claiming that data caps are often popular.

Similarly, the DC/UBP Condition prevents Charter from developing innovative service
plans that are more tailored to consumers’ needs. Contrary to Stop The Cap’s assertion that
consumers “hate” data caps, the marketplace currently shows that broadband service plans
incorporating data caps or other usage-based pricing mechanisms are often popular when the limits
are sufficiently high to satisfy the vast majority of users.

The US is headed for more caps, not less, since as has been noted, broadband providers in the US are not significantly beholden to their customers. If enough people complain, Comcast will just laugh until its collective belly hurts.