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Comcast Brings Back Its Usage Cap… Now With Overlimit Fees for Your Inconvenience

Mr. Greedy has just landed in Nashville and wants another $10 from Comcast customers who blow through their allowance.

Comcast’s temporary withdrawal of its 250GB usage cap did not last long. Although the company rescinded its usage limit in May to consider new options on how to handle “heavy users,” it hinted caps might be back, sometimes accompanied by automatic overlimit fees for customers who exceed their allowance.

Broadband Reports has learned Comcast plans to introduce a new 300GB usage cap on its customers in Nashville with an overlimit fee of $10 for each 50GB a customer runs over their limit.

Comcast customers in Nashville were told in an e-mail message from the company the new usage cap and overlimit fee represented “an evolution” for Comcast’s broadband service.

From Comcast’s website in Nashville:

When you exceed 300 GB of data usage, you will receive an email, an in-browser notice and an additional 50 GB will be automatically allocated. In order for customers to get accustomed to the new data usage management plan, we will be implementing a courtesy period. That means you will not be billed for the first three times you exceed the monthly 300 GB allowance during a 12-month period. Should you exceed the monthly allowance after the courtesy period expires, you will automatically be charged $10 each time we need to provide you with an additional 50 GB of data for usage beyond your plan.

How generous of them.

Customers traveling southeast from the city down Interstate 24 can be in Chattanooga in several hours and experience EPB Fiber — a community broadband provider that provides speeds up to 1,000Mbps and does not have usage caps, nor a “need” to charge customers another $10 whether they exceed their usage cap by 1 or 49 gigabytes.

Comcast’s newest Internet Overcharging scheme takes effect Aug. 1, and currently applies only to Nashville customers. Those who want to give Comcast a piece of their mind about the subject of usage caps can share their feelings by calling Comcast Customer Security Assurance at 1-877-807-6581 to speak with a service representative. Let them know you want no part of Comcast’s unnecessary usage caps and overlimit fees. If EPB and Google Fiber can offer unlimited broadband without any problems, so can Comcast. Let them know how you feel.

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Currently there are 8 comments on this Article:

  1. Duffin says:

    Phillip, do you have some way to contact Al Franken? I’ve tried sending him numerous emails, but I’m not anyone important and I don’t live in his state, besides so he may not be as inclined to read my emails. I ask because I believe he is one of the only congressmen who could ever look into this and call the ISPs out on what should be an illegal practice. He may even be able to get some laws worked in place to outlaw pointless data caps. I know you’ve gotten more recognized in political circles, I’m just wondering…what else can we possibly do? This needs to stop…

    • I will see if anyone in Chuck Schumer’s office has any contacts with one of Franken’s legislative aides. Sen. Franken has already made disparaging remarks about data caps, although passing laws to outlaw them will go nowhere in the GOP-controlled House. We also have some elected officials on the Democratic side who suck from AT&T’s cash cow.

  2. txpatriot says:

    Is there anything preventing Nashville from doing what Chattanooga did?

  3. txpatriot says:

    STC: check this out:

    http://allthingsd.com/20120730/want-gigabit-internet-you-dont-have-to-move-to-kansas-city/

    I wish more cities would give this a try.

  4. jr says:

    Comcast CEO Brian Roberts made 26.9 million in 2011. Luxury for him, austerity for customers







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