The FCC is looking into the impact of broadband data caps and why they still exist

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24271148/fcc-data-cap-impact-consumers-inquiry

27 Comments

  1. The data caps exist so that providers can fuck their subscribers. As it has always been. Text limits, roaming charges, etc. on mobile phones. Pepperidge Farms remembers.

  2. Why they still exist? Because they haven’t been disallowed/outlawed/regulated to not exist anymore.

  3. Reason why they exist is because ISPs 1) subscribe more customers than their bandwidth is capable of handling 2) Do not expand or upgrade to expand that bandwidth and 3) So they can charge fat fees for going over that bandwidth cap.

  4. It’s 2024. Data is virtually free. Storage is one of the cheapest things you can buy in cloud. Why we have limits that are counted in Gigs is simply a profit, or rather an extortion motive. There is no other explanation.

  5. Senator Marsha Comcast …. I mean Marsha Blackburn is up for re-election this year in TN

    If you want things to change vote this bought and paid for shill out of office

  6. Fiber started expanding in my state and mysteriously Comcast “temporarily delayed the planned data cap rollout.” It’s been a few years and they haven’t tried again.

  7. Because data caps have been the “subsidy” to deploy 5G (even tho we already gave telecoms billions and they did nothing). So now that data caps won’t affect saturation like before the deployment they are not gonna remove them and lose on those profits.

    Now the gamble is on them. They know the FCC wants to “look at data caps” I wonder if this is a signal for them to start competing on data caps “First ones to remove data caps!!” and pressure the others to follow suit.

    Or they’ll eventually bribe some new Ajit Pai that’ll say data caps are legal under the second amendment or something.

  8. Prophet?
    Profit.
    Fit.
    Pro.
    Plan.
    This.
    Money.
    Money.
    Money.
    Oh, sorry.
    I got stuck.
    In the Money.
    Money.
    Money…

  9. Why they still exist is really really Simple: $$$$. That’s it. It’s additional Revenue from those who exceed the caps. Duh. Why do you need a study for this. My previous ISP had it. It’s the only ISP I’ve ever had that actually had a data cap and billed you more since I started using broadband – why did I use them? Simple – Lack of available choices at the time. It was either Frontier Wireless – which was DSL speeds. Or Comcast. about a year and a half ago, a newcomer came into the area: Google Fiber. How long did it take me to switch over to them? The day the service was turned on my area – I WATCHED them dig the trench where the fiber lines were laid down in the streets and asked “When when when”. When I canceled my service with comcast – their question was simple: who are you switching to? I told them Google fiber due to lack of data caps.

  10. Captain_Vegetable on

    During the pandemic ISPs suspended data caps without any negative impact on their networks or customers. There’s no valid technical justification for them, they’re just a cash grab.

  11. Get rid of them and screw cox communications for their price gouging and monopolistic business practices

  12. AbyssalRedemption on

    Genuine question: does the FTC have the power to actually do anything about this ever since the Chevron decision repeal?