Comcast Sets Subscriber Bandwidth Limit at 250GB

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http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6591379.html?desc=topstory
Comcast will cap Internet usage of its broadband subscribers at 250 Gigabytes per month—a very large amount of data, the equivalent of 62,500 digital songs—starting Oct. 1, as the operator faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny over its Internet bandwidth management practices.
The operator Thursday posted an amendment to its terms of its “acceptable use policy” on Comcast.net, outlining the new guidelines.
The cap of 250 Gbytes per month is “much more than a typical residential customer uses on a monthly basis,” according to Comcast. Currently, the median monthly data usage by residential customers is approximately 2 to 3 Gbytes.
The new policy comes as Comcast faces a Sept. 19 deadline, under an order by the Federal Communications Commission, to disclose details of how it has been “blocking” access to peer-to-peer applications and submit a compliance plan describing how it intends to stop the practice by the end of 2008.
Comcast has announced that it is migrating to a “protocol-agnostic” approach to managing its Internet bandwidth by the end of 2008, which will limit the bandwidth available to only the most excessive users.
To hit the 250-Gbyte ceiling, a customer would have to do any one of the following, according to Comcast: send 50 million e-mails; download 62,500 songs or 125 standard-definition movies; or upload 25,000 hi-resolution digital photos.
Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said less than 1% of all users exhibit Internet usage that even comes close to 250 Gbytes.
If a customer uses more than 250 Gbytes, he or she may be contacted by Comcast to notify them of excessive use, the company said. “At that time, we'll tell them exactly how much data per month they had used,” Comcast said. “We know from experience the vast majority of customers we ask to curb usage do so voluntarily.”
Comcast said it will notify customers of the new policy via banner notices on the Comcast.net home page and on the Security Channel Web page as well as directly by including a bill stuffer in an upcoming monthly billing statement.
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Please don't tell me this only affects people who pirate media. This is completely ridiculous.
 
I don't like it as it's a slippery slope, but as Ramstoria says that's a huge limit. I come no where remotely close to that.

But you have to worry as that it's a slippery slope and as people accept this they'll be embolden to put out more caps each with their own monthly fee and crap like that.
 
The only problem I have with that, is with gaming (patches, demos, mods) and Xbox Live, and video-on-demand, all legal downloads, it will be easier to hit 250GB in one month legitimately than people realize. Although, I think to do it month after month would be pretty difficult. Then again, there is a reason there are terabyte hard drives available now.
 
What kills me about these policies is that, it can only shoot them in the foot. The driving force behind people wanting faster transfer speeds is because they're downloading larger files, much of it probably illegal. If you cap those people to the point that they have to stop downloading those large files, why would they need faster transfer speeds? People downgrade their service to a slower, cheaper plan, the cable company loses money.

I'm glad I'm with Bellsouth/ AT&T, though I'm expecting them to eventually pull a stunt like this too.
 
[quote name='JolietJake']If you cap those people to the point that they have to stop downloading those large files, why would they need faster transfer speeds? People downgrade their service to a slower, cheaper plan, the cable company loses money.
[/QUOTE]

A lot of people aren't that smart. I know several people who pay for faster than the standard 6MBPS plan from Comcast, yet hardly download anything. They just think it's better for web surfing etc.
 
250gb/month is 8 to 9 gb/day. That's not bad. Here's my usage lately:

bandwidth.png


I have Comcast in Seattle.


Edit: It should be noted that in this time I've downloaded a lot. Beijing opening and closing ceremonies in HD, Howl's Moving Castle in HD, I Am Legend in HD... quite a few SD movies, well over 100 opens of anime (90 episodes of One Piece, 26 episodes of Beck), and I've been watching all my regular shows on Hulu (Daily Show, Colbert Report)... quite a few PS3 demos and games, including the 2gb Quest for Booty, big demos for Star Wars, etc... and I'm not even averaging half of their 250gb/month limit.

Limits suck, but if people using 500gb+ a month are making my bill more expensive or my internet slower, then I'm all for it.
 
I think it's a better plan than invading privacy and wasting resources trying to limit people who pirate. 250gb is a huge limit that hardly anybody will hit. I think it's a good idea so long as they disclose that to customers and don't try to hide it from them and then surprise them with it when they reach the limit.
 
An unoffical cap has been going on for a while. A friend download 300gb and got a warning from comcast saying they will lose the service if they do it again.
 
The problem is it's only a matter of time before Comcast starts to charge extra for this plan and then lowers it's limits again on the rest of its users. It's also a matter of time until other broadband carriers do the same.
 
[quote name='Ugamer_X']The problem is it's only a matter of time before Comcast starts to charge extra for this plan and then lowers it's limits again on the rest of its users. It's also a matter of time until other broadband carriers do the same.[/QUOTE]

Not so long as there's competition -- that's the whole basis of our semi-free market economy
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']The only problem I have with that, is with gaming (patches, demos, mods) and Xbox Live, and video-on-demand, all legal downloads, it will be easier to hit 250GB in one month legitimately than people realize. Although, I think to do it month after month would be pretty difficult. Then again, there is a reason there are terabyte hard drives available now.[/quote]

You're kidding me, right? Do you really think the amount of data going through XBL when you're playing hits 10 GB a month, assuming it can even be measured in GBs? And game patches and demos? Really? Those are almost all under 2 GB, so you would have to download a hundred of them. The only real thing that could put you over is if you download tons and tons of movies every month. That's really the only legitimate thing that could conceivably do it.
 
[quote name='level1online']but I thought.....

"In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more -- not less."

[/quote]I'll just be the first to ask.....what the fuck are you talking about?
 
When a cap goes up, people tend to gravitate towards that cap. It's like a gift card, really.

And I don't get the above quote either.

And I don't understand why this topic is in politics & controversy.
 
I don't think some of you are getting the whole picture.
First of all, in my household, there's 3 people who use the internet moderately. I alone don't even come close to 250GB, but with two other people, I'd imagine it comes pretty close since me and brother both use xbox live. I rent movies, play demos, etc. on my 360 and so does he. Then there's my dad which just uses the computer to surf websites, check email, you know, like a regular person would. This list goes on.
It's going to all add up really fast, and before you know it, we'll be over 250GB. Also, someone said something about cheaper internet? Yeah right. They're not doing this to lower your rates.
 
I don't even think that would be a problem in most family homes and I doubt you guys get that close to it.

Where I could see an issue is in rented homes (i.e. houses rented by college kids, young professionals etc.) where you have 2-5 or however many young people sharing one connection.

That's a combination of having multiple people of the internet savy generation who are more apt to be big downloaders of movies, games, music, porn etc.
 
[quote name='Ugamer_X']The problem is it's only a matter of time before Comcast starts to charge extra for this plan and then lowers it's limits again on the rest of its users. It's also a matter of time until other broadband carriers do the same.[/quote]

Um ... no.

It costs Comcast about $1 a minute to talk to a customer (pay, health care, government regulations, etc).

If said customer is screaming at a Comcast tech for a hour, how much money did Comcast make on the Internet subscription that month?

The goal of any cable company is to keep customers happy enough to keep the service without any contact with the customer.

A download limit everybody hits or a higher price swamps a call center with bitchy customers with valid complaints.

Higher prices are a pipe dream because every competitor can and will undercut you.

It is a vicious market and it needs to stay that way.
 
Good luck even being able to download a quarter of that much in my area.

The service is so crappy in my area I'm lucky if I get through a youtube vid without stuttering.
 
Comcast is the only option I got.

Can't have satellite in my condo building, no Fios available yet, and DSL blows as the phone wiring is terrible in this old building so it's barely faster than dial up.

That said, I shouldn't complain as we've had very good deals on TV/internet from them the past few years from calling and complaining about price and threatening to cancel and the service has generally been solid.
 
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