Comcast Options

[Psykopath]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080829/wr_nm/...ast_internet_dc

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Comcast Corp, the largest U.S. cable operator, said on Thursday it will cap customers' Internet usage starting October 1, in a bid to ensure the best service for the vast majority of its subscribers.

Comcast said it was setting a monthly data usage threshold of 250 gigabytes per account for all residential high-speed Internet customers, or the equivalent of 50 million e-mails or 124 standard-definition movies.

"If a customer exceeds more than 250 GB and is one of the heaviest data users who consume the most data on our high-speed Internet service, he or she may receive a call from Comcast's Customer Security Assurance (CSA) group to notify them of excessive use," according to the company's updated Frequently Asked Questions on Excessive Use.

Customers who top 250 GB in a month twice in a six-month timeframe could have service terminated for a year.

Comcast said up to 99 percent of its 14 million Internet subscribers would not be affected by the new threshold, which it said would help ensure the quality of Internet delivery is not degraded by a minority of heavy users...

Thoughts?

[dauss]

It would be difficult to prove, but I'm thinking there may be lawsuits over this. Generally all those streaming services usually have a requirement for a broadband connection. I just read today that 1-2% of Americans don't watch television, which means that there's well over 290 millions americans who do watch TV, and there's plenty out there that can't imagine life without cable television. A lot of people are switching to cell phone service only and ditching land lines, so why even bother with another company when your cable company can provide it all. TV, high-speed internet, and digital telephone. So, generally a cable company will also provide the internet service to go along with their subscription television service. What Comcast has done has already trickled down to other companies. Time Warner and AT&T are already testing "bandwidth limitations" in certain areas. The rest of the industry to follow suit will be likely(much like airlines starting to charge for checked bags(and even sodas, seats with extra leg room, pillows and blankets, etc) after one company bravely ventured out into that territory).

We're already into the digital age now. Everything is in HD now. It's all about the Blu-Ray, 1080P, HDTV, HD radio, even YouTube has a high quality streaming videos now. So Comcast, how many HD movies can you download with at 250GB limit? How many HD TV episodes can you watch with a 250GB limit? Seriously, that figure that less than 1% of their customers exceed 250GB a month, when was that from, 5 years ago?

[impala454]

It would be difficult to prove, but I'm thinking there may be lawsuits over this. Generally all those streaming services usually have a requirement for a broadband connection.

The key word being "a". Not "Comcast". You can't have an anti-trust suit based on that. And honestly, while I hate the idea of bandwidth caps, I would side with Comcast/AT&T/etc if the streaming video companies tried to sue over it. Those streaming companies are making their dime off of someone else's service and I think that's BS that they could sue the providers they're not paying a dime.

Now don't confuse this and think I side with them on the subject of bandwidth caps, because I sure as hell don't. I simply think that a lawsuit from netflix to comcast because comcast is capping bandwidth is complete BS.