Comcast Overage Fees Under Fire by Free Press
Free Press slammed data overage fees Comcast is charging as part of its testing of different broadband service models. “It’s long past time for lawmakers and public interest regulators to get answers about Comcast’s justification for its data caps, and…
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the impact these caps have on the affordability and openness of high-speed networks," Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood said in a statement Wednesday. Comcast has launched trials of data usage plans of 300 GB a month in some markets, with customers paying additional fees when exceeding that (see 1510260037), among a series of data plan experiments in different markets, including unlimited data for a flat monthly fee in parts of Florida and Atlanta, the company said. The aim is to find a "flexible and fair" broadband offering that lets heavier data users pay for that and light data users pay less, a company spokesman said. Free Press pointed to such overage fees as it renewed a call it has made in the past for the FCC to investigate whether the use of data caps "unfairly and unreasonably penalizes customers." It said the FCC this year received "thousands" of Comcast customer complaints, most of them about billing problems and "confusion about added fees related to data caps." It didn't give further details on the complaints. "There are almost no costs that the cable giant incurs from expanded data usage -- but Comcast keeps imposing these arbitrary limits and penalties on more of its customer base simply because it wants to," Wood said. “Data caps have a very real impact on Internet users’ wallets and online behavior. Imposing such caps is also part of Comcast's scheme to stifle innovation and choice in online video and cloud-based services. Access providers including Comcast try to justify caps by suggesting that they mitigate broadband-traffic congestion. Yet there’s absolutely no real-world evidence of congestion on wired networks across the board."