Log In   |  Register Free Newsletter Subscription
Skip navigation
Zibb
Subscribe to Multichannel News
RSS
Reprints/License
Print
Email

Comcast Sets Subscriber Bandwidth Limit

Operator Will Limit Internet Users to 250 Gigabytes Per Month

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 8/28/2008 1:43:00 PM

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.

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.

Separately, 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.

Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said in an e-mail that the new explicit bandwidth cap has "nothing to do with the FCC's inquiry. This is a completely different program that has been in place for years."

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.

Less than 1% of all users exhibit Internet usage that even comes close to 250 Gbytes, Douglas said.

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.

RSS
Reprints/License
Print
Email
Talkback
Related Content
Reed Business Information Resource Center

Featured Company


Related Resources

Advertisement

Related Microsite Content

Related Links

More Content
  • Voices
  • Photos
  • Podcasts

Thomas Umstead

Picture This

Tom Umstead
November 11, 2009
Big Month For VOD Pix
November’s video-on-demand movie lineup, featuring nearly a dozen titles...
More

Todd Spangler

BIT RATE

Todd Spangler
November 10, 2009
CBS to Sculpt Sitcom From a Twitter Feed
Can you cobble together a half-hour TV show out of the short, profane outbursts of...
More

VIEW ALL VOICES RSS
HALL OF FAME WELCOME

2009 CABLE HALL OF FAME

Some snapshots from the 2009 Cable Hall of Fame induction, part of Cable Connection-Fall in Denver on Oct. 27.
HIGH ACHIEVER

2009 ACC FORUM

The Association of Cable Communicators headed west from Washington, D.C., to Denver as its 2009 Forum and Beacon Awards ceremony became part of Cable Connections-Fall festivities.
Curtain Rises

CTAM SUMMIT: DAY ONE

Snapshots from day one of CTAM Summit '09 in Denver. Photos by John Staley.

Fall 2009 Hispanic Guide
Advertisement
Multichannel Subscription
NEWSLETTERS
Multichannel Newswire
HD Update
Cable Technology
VOD Newsletter
Hispanic TV Update
HD Programming
Multicultural Newsletter
B&C NewsCentral
Television Careers



Please read our Privacy Policy

About Us   |   Advertising Info   |   Site Map   |   Contact Us   |   Subscription   |   Affiliate Links   |   RSS
© 2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Use of this Web site is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Please visit these other Reed Business sites