Comcast Is Rolling Out Data Caps In Chicago
By Mae Rice in News on Jul 8, 2016 6:50PM
If you get your internet from Comcast, we're so sorry. Not only is Comcast terrible—truly, it's the Rauner of internet providers—it's about to get worse. Starting Aug. 1, Comcast will roll out data caps on Xfinity internet subscriptions in the Chicago area, Consumerist reports. You get one terabyte of data a month, and if you go over, they charge you up to $200 in overage fees.
"What can you do with a terabyte?" Comcast asks itself, rhetorically. "Stream about 700 hours of HD video, play more than 12,000 hours of online games, or download 600,000 high-res photos in a month."
In other words, you can watch 29 full days of HD video a month, or play 500 days of games. So this shouldn't be a problem for solo users, unless they're prolific downloaders—but this could hit multi-person households hard.
Still, they're trying to make Chicago's transition into the Comcast data cap trial smooth and fun. (Well, "smooth and fun" by Comcast standards, at least.) You'll get email notifications and in-browser notifications when you approach your data limit, according to Comcast's FAQ page, and you'll only receive an overage charge if you go over your limit for three separate months in the 12-month period starting Aug. 1. (You get two "courtesy months" to get used to the program.)
Once you start getting charged overage fees, you'll get charged $10 for every 50GB you go above the one terabyte limit each month, and your total overage fee will be capped at $200 per month.
If you know one terabyte won't cut it for you, you can also upgrade to an unlimited data plan for an extra charge of $50 per month, rather than paying overage charges based on your exact usage.
So, if you get the email alert telling you you're enrolled in this trial, you do have options. But none of them are as good as the option Comcast just ended, where you just got unlimited internet and it cost an exorbitant amount, but an exorbitant amount you were used to. Now it costs $50 more than that. And if you're wondering if you can opt out of the data cap trial, Comcast has an FAQ for that which says, in 100+ words, "No."