Comcast will expand its 1.2-terabyte data usage cap to its entire footprint, adding Xfinity high-speed internet customers in 14 additional states and territories to the scheme starting in January.
Customers will be charged $10 for every 50 gigabytes of data in excess of the 1.2 TB cap, plus tax, every month, with overage charges capped at $100. Comcast won’t charge customers in newly affected regions if they exceed their limits in January and February. And they’ll get one “credit” each year, which subscribers can use to cover themselves the first time they’re charged for exceeding the cap.
So customers effectively have until April to get used to the usage limits.
Xfinity Internet subscribers will also be advised when they’re approaching their usage limit. Customers can opt out of the cap and essentially render their service unlimited for an additional $30 a month. Gigabit Pro and business tier customers are exempt.
For Xfinity broadband customers in 27 U.S. states, these rules are not new. But they will be to subscribers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, D.C, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina.
Comcast insists 95% of its customers don’t come close to using 1.2 TB in an average month. Average monthly usage comes in at around 308 GB, Comcast said.
But OpenVault, which provides data to cable operators about their networks, just released a report suggesting that the number of so-called “power users” is rising fast. Within two to three years, the company said, 5% to 10% of internet users will consume 2 TB or more data each month.
