Comcast Is Testing A Program That Will Charge You Extra If You Use Too Much Data (Here it comes)

Busness Insider ^ | 6/17/2014 | Busness Insider

[Dallas59]

Comcast is testing data caps for its broadband internet customers that would limit them to 300 GB of data per month, according to The Times Leader.

Comcast has started open trials of its home broadband data caps in several large markets around the country.

Here are all the regions affected:

Mobile, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Tuscon, Arizona
Atlanta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Jackson, Mississippi
Charleston, South Carolina
Knoxville, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
All of central Kentucky
The entire state of Maine

[drjimmy]

These companies—which I agree are crooks in the vernacular sense—aren’t taking anything from you that you didn’t give them the right to take. You signed a contract that lets them change the terms of the deal. It’s all in the very fine print that hardly anyone reads.

If your proposed solution is for the government to get (more) involved, you are guaranteed to be heartbroken. You can cast your lot with liberals who want anti-monopoly laws enforced and net neutrality continued, and hate yourself for going against your conservative principles. Or you can let free market capitalism rule and pay higher prices, which includes paying for the army of lobbyists these companies use to make sure Congress keeps its hands off their business.

I’m not saying that the liberals have the right answer in this case, just that there is a price to be paid no matter which way this goes.

[molson209]

Been this way in Canada for a very long time now . $50 for 60GB ,but they did tweak it because another company offered unlimited for same price ,so now you get 500gb for $50

[Dallas59]

Competition...

[Dallas59]

Just played a game on steam....47mb for 30 minutes.

[Dallas59]

[Political Junkie Too]

Is this the beginnings of a war over streaming content?

No more Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hulu or you pay extra? Comcast streaming is uncapped?

-PJ

[TexasGator]

“What makes you think it costs more to send a gigabyte than a megabyte?”

Common sense and a little knowledge ...

[jonrick46]

Comcast is losing market share. To make up for it, they are working out ways to make more money off their existing customer base. Comcast is in a race with wireless streaming video. The cost of maintaining cable to customer is a competitive disadvantage.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I don’t know. Maybe if you go to your ISP website and log in with your account number it will tell you how much you are using.

[TexasGator]

I have not checked Derek’s math:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130627214516AADPSt5

Since you asked your last question. I researched the actual bitrates that YouTube encodes/streams it’s videos at and found this great resource.

I may have been slightly off in my previous calculation of 360p bandwidth usage. I did not calculate for upstream traffic. (Also note: they are using the MAXIMUM values below. Actual usage will vary from video to video.)

240p
Bits Per Second (down): 400-500Kb
Bits Per Second (up): 5-9Kb
Data used per 5 minute video: 8.333MB

360p
Bits Per Second (down): 900Kbps - 1.1Mbps
Bits Per Second (up): 15-20 Kbps
Data used per 5 minute video: 13.333MB

480p
Bits Per Second (down): 1.5-1.6-1.7Mbps
Bits Per Second (up): 20-26Kbps
Data used per 5 minute video: 20MB

720p
Bits Per Second (down): 20+ Mbps
Bits Per Second (up): 320Kbps
Data used per 5 minute video: 37.5MB

1080p
Bits Per Second (down): 20+ Mbps
Bits Per Second (up): 320 Kbps
Data used per 5 minute video: 62MB

[Dallas59]

Don’t mind paying for my service but when it comes to a company stifling competition with the help of the government well...

[Gen.Blather]

“Maybe if you go to your ISP website and log in with your account number it will tell you how much you are using.”

What a brilliant thought. I’ve been there exactly twice in about 10 years. I’ll give it a try. Thanks.

[Gen.Blather]

Oh, my goodness. I’ve watched just about every WW1 movie they have. I’ve used enough to bankrupt myself under the pay for play scheme. Somebody suggested I log into Comcast and see if they say. I’ll try that. Thanks.

[Dallas59]

Lobbying and electoral fundraising

With $18.8 million spent in 2013, Comcast has the seventh largest lobbying budget of any individual company or organization in the United States. Comcast employs multiple former US Congressmen as lobbyists. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, which has multiple Comcast executives on its board, also represents Comcast and other cable companies as the fifth largest lobbying organization in the United States, spending $19.8 million in 2013.

Comcast was among the top backers of Barack Obama's presidential runs, with Comcast vice president David Cohen raising over $2.2 million from 2007 to 2012.

Cohen has been described by many sources as influential in the US government, though he is no longer a registered lobbyist, as the time he spends lobbying falls short of the 20% which requires official registration.

Comcast's PAC, the Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal Political Action Committee, is the among the largest PACs in the US, raising about $3.7 million from 2011-2012 for the campaigns of various candidates for office in the United States Federal Government. Comcast is also a major backer of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association Political Action Committee, which raised $2.6 million from 2011-2012.

Comcast spent the most money of any organization in support of the Stop Online Piracy and PROTECT IP bills, spending roughly $5 million to lobby for their passage.

Comcast also backs lobbying and PACs on a regional level, backing organizations such as the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association and the Broadband Communications Association of Washington PAC.

omcast and other cable companies have lobbied state governments to pass legislation restricting or banning individual cities from offering public broadband service.

Municipal broadband restrictions of varying scope have been passed in a total of 20 US States.

[Ted Grant]

I use about 1.5GB (of a max of 3GB) a month of mobile data, but about 10GB a month on wifi at work or at home

[bert]

Comcast, owner of NBC, MSNBC a CNBC is an American enemy with property in plain sight all over the country

[TomGuy]

I get 250gb from Cox and I seldom use even 1/2 of that — even streaming Netflix HD movies, HBO GO, etc.

I am the sole user.

[GeronL]

bump

[csvset]

Do you get a break if you watch the regime's "ok'd " content ? /s

That will be next. Line up folks, it's today's episode of " Life's Lessons From A Liberal Standpoint".

Block captains will come by to ensure you're tuned in. If not, they'll send in a drone or a dog killing SWAT team.

[TomGuy]

How many GB's are in one average length streamed movie?

Rough numbers:

TV program via website (42 minutes, approx) = 250-400 MB
Standard movie = 750 MB
HD movie = 1500 MB/1.5 GB.

Video compression rates have improved and so have qualities, as technology improves.