Comcast delays data cap, surcharges

Cable TV and internet provider Comcast seemed headed for a showdown with the attorneys general of Connecticut and Pennsylvania over plans to enforce broadband service data caps and surcharges.

But on Wednesday, the Philadephia-based company bought a little extra time to figure out its next move.

Comcast officials said the company will suspend until July the implementation of its data caps and new fees for heavy users of the company’s high speed internet service in more than a dozen states. Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, the data cap and surcharges were set to begin in March.

The company’s announcement came just hours before Connecticut Attorney General William Tong told reporters at a press conference outside the State Capitol that the data cap and surcharge “is wrong and unconscionable.” “This is not good for Connecticut or Connecticut families, to ask them to pay more for broadband at a time when they need it most,” Tong said. “It’s not a luxury, it’s an essential public service.”

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro had also raised concerns about Comcast’s actions, according to The Washington Post. The company had previously announced a suspension in Massachusetts after state lawmakers introduced legislation that sought to take aim at the new fees.

Besides Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, Comcast planned to enforce the data cap in Delaware, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Vermont, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Tong said since Comcast first announced the plan in November 2020, his office has received numerous complaints about how easy it was for households with multiple internet users to surpass the cap and be charged for excess usage.

Residential customers in Connecticut and other states who don’t have an “unlimited” plan will be given up to 1.2 terabytes of data in a billing cycle. Any data usage in excess of that will have a surcharge of $10 for every additional 50 gigabytes used, up to a maximum of $100.

Connecticut consumers who have Comcast as their broadband provider told Hearst Connecticut Media they easily reached the cap in the months since it was announced.

Sharon Rosenblatt of Ridgefield said the three people surpassed the cap in late January, but was told the company wasn’t imposing the surcharges until May. The company offers notifications to subscribers who are approaching the data cap limit.

Peter Carusone complained via Twitter that “we are at 1.9 terabytes, so that’s an extra $60 a month during a time where the state wants you to stay home.”

Peter Sonski of Haddam knew once Comcast announced the data cap that he was better off paying the $11 a month extra so that he would have unlimited data.

“My consumption level was such that anything less than unlimited was inadequate,” Sonski said.

Jess Denny said via Twitter that her household uses about 1.5 terabytes a month.

“We talked about it, and have decided to cut the cable off, keeping the high speed internet and paying extra for unlimited data,” Denny said. “Unfortunately, Comcast is the only high speed internet option at our home.”

Jason Zandri, a Wallingford Town Councilman and an information technology expert for 24 years, called Tong’s criticism of Comcast “a good start.”

“I don't know what powers the Attorney General or the state has but they should bring all available resources to bear on Comcast to loosen their grip from the throats of their customers,” Zandri said.

Comcast officials had previously said the broadband cap would impact only 5 percent of its customer base. In a statement, the company said the delay in implementing the cap was done in order to provide customers in northeast markets “with additional time to become familiar with the new plan.”

“Customers in these markets now have six months to understand their data usage,” the statement said in part. “The earliest that the very small percentage of customers who exceed 1.2 TB of data could have any charges due under the plan is August 2021.”

Company officials have consistently maintained that “1.2 terabytes is a massive amount of data that enables consumers to video conference for 3,500 hours, watch 1,200 hours of distance learning videos, stream 500 hours of highdefinition video content a month, or play more than 34,000 hours of online games.”