Former FCC Boss: Data Caps Not About Network Congestion

An anonymous reader writes "Broadcasting Cable reports on comments from Former FCC chairman Michael Powell (now president of the U.S. cable industry's trade association) confirming what many have long suspected: data caps on internet service aren't just about network congestion, but rather about 'pricing fairness.' 'Asked by MMTC president David Honig to weigh in on data caps, Powell said that while a lot of people had tried to label the cable industry's interest in the issue as about congestion management. "That's wrong," he said. "Our principal purpose is how to fairly monetize a high fixed cost." He said bandwidth management was part of it, though a more serious issue with wireless.' Powell went on to say that ISPs had huge up-front costs which had to be allocated out to consumers, and those consumers were familiar with usage-based fees from paying their power bill or buying food. He was part of a panel with three other former FCC chairs. Dick Wiley agreed with his cost argument, adding that the marketplace was responding better than new legislation could. Michael Copps thought the FCC could question data caps a bit more, but wasn't opposed in principle. Reed Hundt said he wants the FCC to focus on getting better, faster, cheaper internet to 100% of the population."

Who has data caps in the USA?

[alen]

I have Tim Warner cable and have unlimited
Fios is unlimited too

And how much data is it to get past the cap? I stream all my TV. Only have Internet. And I use less than 200gb per month. So far I'm at just over 50 for this month

Then why is overuse 5x as expensive as in-band use

[localroger]

I have to use wireless because there is no reliable wired service to my house but I'm practically underneath a cell tower. I pay USD$60/month for 5 gigabytes and, if I go over, USD$60 per gigabyte for every gigabyte I go over that. The only way to tell how close I am to the usurious cap is to log into a website that's only updated once a day and which itself serves several megabytes of ads before I can get to the summary of my data usage. Oh, I also get 50%, 75%, and 90% emails and similar SMS messages which I can't receive because my access point is a MIFI which isn't really a phone. I have complained, and of course not only is nothing done the only competitor has EXACTLY the same pricing model. The one time I went over by accident it nearly doubled my bill and when I complained they "generously" gave me a one-time waiver, but when I told them I'd rather have the service slow down or stop working I got nothing but shrugs. Because, of course, it's a profitable trap and nothing else.

Re:Who has data caps in the USA?

[alen]

so how much do you have to stream to use 250GB? i only ask because i stream all my TV. i have done it since september and i have used 450GB the whole time according to Time warner

Re:Who has data caps in the USA?

[poity]

They changed that last year. It's 300GB/month now, with 3 months overage without charge (you are warned whenever you get near the cap or go over), then on the 4th month that you go over they will automatically bill you +$10 for an additional 50GB

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