Comcast has announced that it would not implement data limitations in the Northeast US until 2022, offering users in 12 states and a few other places a one-year respite from paying overage costs. A Comcast spokesman told Light Reading that the company has no immediate plans to adopt its data use plan in the Northeast areas until 2022.
When questioned about plans for 2023 and beyond, Comcast verified this comment to Ars but declined to give any more statement. WHAV quoted Massachusetts state Rep. Andy Vargas, a Democrat, as saying that “the latest we know is that they have no intention of restoring the data limitations at all.”
Earlier this year, when Comcast revealed plans to begin implementing data caps across the Northeast in January 2021, Vargas and a bipartisan group of Massachusetts senators blasted the company for its decision.
Congress noted in a letter to Comcast in December 2020 that “network capacity is neither a problem for Comcast or a viable justification to charge customers more.” “Comcast says it has enough bandwidth to go around, even in locations where there are presently no restrictions in place… When many Massachusetts people are compelled to work and go to school from home due to the epidemic, Comcast’s ‘cap and charge’ proposal seems implausible.”
Comcast backed down in early 2021, vowing to defer data limitations in several states until 2022 in response to criticism from the public. Comcast has decided to delay enforcing their data restriction for another few weeks because of the looming deadline of 2022.
Contrary to what Vargas claims, Comcast’s statement to media outlets only mentions 2022 when referring to the data cap proposal. This item will be updated as soon as we hear a word from Vargas on what Comcast informed him today.
Between 2012 and 2016, Comcast enforced its data cap in most of the 39 states in which it operates, but not in the Northeast states where Verizon’s uncapped FiOS fiber-to-the-home service competes with Comcast’s cable service. It’s possible to get Comcast service in all or portions of these states and the District of Columbia if you live in one of those states or the neighbouring state that doesn’t have a limit.
Currently, Comcast’s data cap homepage reads, “[a]pplicable in Northeast markets in 2022,” but that text will undoubtedly be changed to reflect the company’s announcement that the cap would not be implemented in that year.
Infinite storage possibilities
A monthly limit of 1.2 terabytes is presently in place. There is an additional fee of $10 with tax each additional 50GB of overage for customers who surpass 1.2TB per month. Comcast offers a “courtesy month” in which overage charges are waived for one month only.
Comcast’s Signature+ More, Super+ More, and Internet Essentials plans all contain unlimited data. Tri-play plans such as Signature+ More and Super+ More come with Internet, TV, and phone services; the $10-per-month Internet Essentials plan is for those on a tight budget. In addition, Comcast’s fiber-to-the-home Gigabit Pro service, which costs $300 per month, has no data restriction.
Unlimited data may be purchased for $30 a month if you’re on a capped plan. Comcast’s $25-a-month xFi Complete add-on used to provide unlimited data, but the company’s website now states that this is no longer available.
After 20GB of smartphone usage, Comcast is unable to claim “Unlimited 5G” on Xfinity Mobile, according to the advertising industry’s self-regulatory organisation, the Federal Trade Commission. The National Advertising Division said Tuesday that Comcast has agreed to stop promoting this claim. No speed limits apply to Comcast’s home-Internet service, which uses Verizon’s wireless network.
