An aversion of open, hilly landscapes and trees is apparently responsible for keeping residents of rural Connecticut from getting broadband service from the state’s two dominant providers — Comcast and Frontier Communications.

In the Litchfield Hills of northwestern Connecticut, you can visit some of the state’s finest antique shops and Revolutionary War-era inns, tour vineyards and even establish roots in the Upper Naugatuck Valley in towns like Barkhamsted, Colebrook, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, Norfolk, Torrington, and Winchester. Just leave your cellphone, tablet, and personal computer behind because chances are good you will find yourself in a wireless dead spot and Internet-free zone.

Obtaining even a smidgen of cell phone service often means leaning out a second story window or worse, climbing the nearest church steeple. The wealthiest residents, often second-homeowners from New York or California, can afford to spend several thousand dollars to entice the cable company to extend a coaxial cable their way or buy commercial broadband service at eye-popping prices from Frontier Communications, which acquired AT&T’s wireline network in the state. But for many, dial-up Internet remains the only affordable or available option.

Despite the area’s significant number of high income residents ready and willing to pay for service, Comcast and Frontier blame hilly terrain and dense woods for staying away. Those excuses get little regard from residents who suggest it is all about the money, not the landscape.

Broadband-challenged areas in northwest Connecticut are shown in green and the often “No signal” and “No Internet” Litchfield Hills region is shown in blue.

Despite the need for service, deregulation largely allows cable and phone companies to decide where to offer broadband service, and arguments about fulfilling a public need and performing a community service don’t get far with Wall Street and shareholders that constantly pressure companies to deliver profits, not expensive investments that may never pay off.

State Rep. Roberta Willis (D-Salisbury) told the Register Citizen News the status quo is not acceptable — telecommunications companies are not doing enough to build out their networks.

“You just can’t say it’s the topography and walk away,” she told the newspaper. “If electricity companies were deregulated like this there would be no electricity in my district.”

Comcast spokeswoman Laura Brubaker Crisco claims the company extended cable service nearly 62 miles in northwest Connecticut since 2005 (ten years ago) and completed nearly 100 projects extending fiber more than 10 miles in the past two years. But many of those projects overhauled Comcast’s existing middle-mile network and extended cable service to profitable new markets serving commercial customers, especially office parks and commercial storefronts. Comcast’s other priority was to reach new high-income residential developments being built as the area continues to grow. Rural customers who could not meet Comcast’s Return On Investment formula in 2005 are still unlikely to have service in 2015 unless population density increases in their immediate area.

Connecticut’s effort to extend gigabit fiber statewide is dismissed as a waste of money by incumbent cable operators.

Crisco admits Comcast does not wire low density areas and isn’t surprised other providers won’t either.

Frontier prefers to blame the area’s topography for keeping broadband out.

David Snyder, vice president for engineering for the east region of Frontier Communications, told the newspaper “it’s just natural the investment and the time become more challenging.”

Frontier does say it has expanded broadband to 40,000 additional households in Connecticut since taking over for AT&T a year ago. But nobody seems to know exactly who can get broadband in the state and who cannot. The have-nots are the most likely to complain, and those businesses that serve visitors are in peril of losing business without offering reasonable Wi-Fi or Internet access. Rural families with school-age children are also at risk from having their kids fall behind those that can get broadband.

Wireless Internet Service Providers, which offer long-range wireless broadband in rural areas, complain the federal government is wasting money on studies instead of helping to underwrite solutions that can quickly bring Internet access to the rural masses.

Others believe talking to Frontier and Comcast is futile. They prefer to follow the lead of western Massachusetts, where 24 small communities across the region have joined forces to build a public fiber to the home broadband network. One estimate suggests 22 Connecticut towns covering 200,000 residents could be reached with a bond-financed fiber network completed by 2018. That network would likely reach more unserved customers than Frontier or Comcast will elect to serve over the next three years combined.

A separate effort to establish gigabit fiber broadband across the state — the CT Gig Project — promptly ran into a buzzsaw of opposition, primarily from incumbent telecommunications companies that refuse to offer that service now. With a threat to current profitable business models, it was not unexpected to hear opposition from Paul Cianelli, CEO of the New England Cable & Telecom Association — a cable company lobbying group.

He called public broadband unnecessary and “potentially disastrous.” He wants assurances no government subsidies or loan guarantees are given to the project. He also said providing gigabit service was unnecessary and faster Internet speeds were not important to the majority of customers in the state. Public broadband proponents respond Cianelli should tell that to the residents of Litchfield Hills and other unserved and underserved communities.

Staffers at the New York State Department of Public Service have recommended the Public Service Commission reject the merger of Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable unless significant concessions are made, largely because the alleged benefits are insufficient for New York cable customers.

Although cable operators are largely deregulated under federal law, state and local governments retain control over cable franchise agreements, which permit operators to sell cable television programming. To complete its merger, Charter Communications must win approval to transfer Time Warner Cable franchise agreements to the merged entity, dubbed “New Charter.” That gives state regulators leverage to win concessions and oversight mostly eliminated after the cable industry was deregulated by the federal government.

New York law requires cable operators seeking to join forces to prove the merger is in the public interest and that ratepayers will obtain a “net positive benefit” from the merger. In plain English, Charter must share the benefits of the merger with cable customers in New York, either from lower prices, better service, or both. Charter proposes to offer those benefits in the form of improved service:

• Additional investments in all-digital systems in Time Warner’s service areas by completing digitization within 30 months of the close of the proposed transaction. This would include faster (60 megabits per second (Mbps) minimum) broadband speed offerings;
• Merger-specific efficiencies, which would generate savings in a number of areas including combined purchasing power, overhead, product development, engineering, and information technology;
• Merging Charter’s New York assets, now isolated from the rest of its service territories, to create efficiencies through reduced costs, improved customer service and additional service offerings;
• Bringing overseas Time Warner jobs back to the United States and adding in-house positions;
• Expanding to New York, within three years of the close of the proposed transaction, Bright House Networks’ low-income broadband option (Connect2Compete) which partners with schools to provide a $9.95 low-cost Internet service, discounts on Internet-capable devices, and innovative digital literacy training;
• Promoting the deployment of advanced voice services and enhancing competition in the voice marketplace by creating a more robust competitor;
• Pledging not to block or throttle Internet traffic or engage in paid prioritization, whether or not the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Open Internet Order is upheld. This commitment would continue for three years, without regard to the outcome of the ongoing litigation challenging federal reclassification.

The Public Service Commission staff looked at the reported annual “synergy savings” of $800 million anticipated by New Charter from streamlining operations and winning enhanced volume discounts to determine the “net positive benefit” for New York consumers from the merger. Here is the formula the PSC used:

• New York customers represent 10.879% of New Charter’s customer base — 2.6 million of New Charter’s 23,900,000 combined Charter and Time Warner Cable customers;
• The agency presumes customers and shareholders nationwide should each receive 50% of the $800 million in savings;
• Knowing New York deserves roughly 11% of that $800 million, divided equally between customers and shareholders, New Charter owes New Yorkers $43.5 million in benefits annually.

Staffers at the PSC prefer to deal in hard numbers and solid commitments when determining how New Charter intends to meet its obligation to New Yorkers, and all signs indicate the cable company was less than forthcoming. In colloquial terms, New Charter’s response to the PSC’s math can be summed up, ‘Whatever, you can trust us to work out the details after the merger.’

Alleged Deal “Benefits”

New Charter’s promises to invest more capital in New York than Time Warner Cable came with no specific investment commitments, despite repeated efforts to pin New Charter down on its spending plans. Some of the details about New Charter’s spending proposals are redacted in the document, but it isn’t difficult to discern reading between the lines New Charter has no plans to continue Time Warner Cable’s Maxx upgrade program beyond commitments already made, which in New York is limited to New York City, leaving all of upstate New York off the Maxx upgrade list. PSC staffers believe if Time Warner Cable remained independent, some or all of upstate New York would receive those Maxx upgrades in the near future.

New Charter claims another merger benefit is their plan to upgrade Time Warner customers with new and improved IP-capable ‘Worldbox’ equipment and DVR’s offering more recording capacity. While conceding there were some minor benefits from offering customers more capable equipment, PSC staffers were skeptical New Charter’s plan represented much of a “consumer benefit,” because the equipment is not cheap and New Charter’s plan to eliminate analog television signals will mean every customer will have to rent one of Charter’s new boxes or a near equivalent.

New Charter’s promises of faster Internet speeds and upgraded cable systems would normally be seen as a direct consumer benefit, except Time Warner Cable already committed to its own Maxx upgrade effort that often outperforms what New Charter is promising. “Digitalization and associated speed increases can only truly be considered a benefit if [New Charter] can adequately demonstrate that Time Warner would not have otherwise completed a similar transition to an all digital, faster network in a similar timeframe [roughly 30 months],” PSC staffers concluded.

New Charter’s promise to expand low-income Internet access to Time Warner Cable customers, utilizing Bright House Networks’ Connect2Compete program, comes with many of the same restrictions Comcast’s own Internet Essentials program include. That issue was hotly debated during Comcast’s attempt to acquire Time Warner Cable, and many public interest groups opposed the merger for that reason. New Charter has also made no commitments to continue Time Warner’s no-restriction/no-contract/no-prequalification affordable $14.99 Internet service. In fact, the merger may worsen the affordable Internet problem, not improve it.

New Charter’s proposed expansion of Time Warner Cable’s Wi-Fi hotspot program is vague and mostly undefined beyond a general commitment to deploy at least 300,000 new out-of-home Wi-Fi access points across its national footprint within four years. New York regulators want to know how many of those would be in New York. Using the same formula to find how many New Charter customers are located in New York, it seems reasonable that redacted sections regarding the Wi-Fi hotspot program included an inquiry if New Charter planned at least 30,000 new access points for New York. New Charter did mention that once the proposed transaction is complete, it expected to evaluate the merits of leveraging in-home routers as public Wi-Fi access points, much like Comcast is doing today. Because Time Warner Cable has no firm plans about its Wi-Fi hotspot deployment program beyond this year, PSC staffers found it difficult to determine which company had the better Wi-Fi proposal for New Yorkers.

New Charter’s plans for expanded business broadband were also found to be vague, making it difficult to measure how much benefit New Charter would bring commercial clients in New York.

Status Quo

Time Warner cable systems will become indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of New Charter. New Charter states that they are not seeking authority for the transfer of customers or for any changes in rates, terms or conditions of service and New Charter will also continue to provide Lifeline Discounted Telephone Service (Lifeline).

The PSC expects that customers will keep the same digital phone number they had with Time Warner; will have the same billing account information; and, other technology will continue to work seamlessly. In other words, the transaction should be technologically transparent for consumers.

The regulator also acknowledges that, after the proposed transaction, there should be no diminution in the number of service provider options available to consumers in the video market because Charter and Time Warner do not have overlapping service areas in New York. Since the potential for direct competition no longer exists, this assertion is in no way a benefit of the proposed transaction, it simply maintains the status quo.

The Bad and the Ugly

Despite claims from both cable companies there will be no negative impact as a result of the proposed transaction, PSC staff identified a number of serious issues that are likely to result if the merger is approved without any enforceable conditions or commitments:

Charter will be among America’s top junk bond issuers. (Image: Bloomberg News)

New Charter intends to load itself with massive debt to pay for the merger. As a result, the combined company’s credit rating will take a significant hit. PSC staffers fear New Charter will be vulnerable if economic conditions decline, even to the point of default or bankruptcy. But before that happens, New Charter’s need to cope with its debt could result in reduced investment in system upgrades.

“If the operating environment declines for cable companies […] New Charter will have more difficulty maintaining the investments necessary to bring expanded products and provide good service quality to its customers and, thus, this represents the single most substantial risk of the proposed transaction,” the PSC staff warns. “Accordingly, the Commission should seek to mitigate this risk and ensure that New York receives net benefits that are sufficient to offset this and the other potential harms.”

After requesting Charter disclose its often hidden regular, non-promotional prices most cable customers eventually pay, the PSC discovered contrary to Charter’s claims its prices are lower than Time Warner Cable, in fact they are often higher. Time Warner Cable customers typically also receive more cable television channels for their dollar than Charter customers do. Consumers who bundled multiple services together got the best savings, but even those deals were priced comparably to what Time Warner Cable charges. In short, promises of savings are illusory.

Time Warner Cable offers $14.99 to anyone without paperwork. Charter does not.

Broadband customers will also lose less-expensive broadband options they receive from Time Warner Cable. New Charter will drop Time Warner’s $14.99 “Everyday Low Price” 2Mbps Internet package, along with its Basic 3Mbps ($29.99) and Standard 15Mbps ($34.99) plans. New Charter’s least expensive broadband option for all consumers will be its Spectrum Internet 60Mbps plan, which carries an initial promotional price of $39.99 a month and a regular price just under $60.

“Time Warner’s lower priced offerings represent choices for New York consumers,” PSC staff concluded. “Any loss of these services would likely result in consumers paying more to ensure they have access to the same level of high-speed Internet service and its important resources.”

Jobs: New York is at risk of losing Time Warner Cable’s five call centers employing about 1,996 staff, 61 retail/walk-in centers employing 2,674 staff, nine corporate offices employing around 1,257 staff, nine service/maintenance locations employing approximately 1,687 staff, two media offices employing 435 staff, and 11 other service related functions employing about 1,003 staff, with total employment in the state of nearly 9,052.

PSC staffers have only received a commitment New Charter will not reduce the number of “customer facing” jobs in New York, but has said nothing about where the rest of its New York employees might be heading.

“There is a real danger that New Charter will look to gain operational efficiencies by moving/consolidating customer-facing jobs and other positions to out-of-state locations, despite any claims to the contrary,” the PSC staff reports. “Out-of-state service centers would make it difficult for it to maintain its current level of customer service. Longer wait times and lack of local knowledge could lead to increased frustration and dissatisfaction on the part of New York customers, and a significant decline in the overall level of service provided.”

What New York Regulators May Demand from New Charter to Approve a Merger

The PSC wants Charter to develop gigabit broadband for New York’s top-five cities.

When the PSC staffers added everything up it found the proposed merger offered little benefit to New Yorkers and would not result in a net positive benefit for New York. The staff recommended the merger be denied unless specific commitments are made to sweeten the deal for New York customers.

First, New Charter should be required to develop a strategic implementation plan to build-out its all-digital network to every remaining unserved or underserved Charter and Time Warner franchise area in New York. This would mean that any resident in a town serviced by either cable company would be able to buy service even if the company does not now offer it. Currently, areas considered unprofitable to serve within a franchise area are often bypassed. This would no longer be permitted, and New Charter would have to wire any commercial building, business, school, or home.

Second, Charter’s record of performance in New York is already less than impressive. In Columbia County, Charter operates an ancient one-way video service-only cable system serving Chatham, N.Y. The PSC staff recommends Charter be required to bring that cable system up to date. More broadly, the staff recommends Charter be forced to spend more money on system upgrades and improved service than Time Warner Cable would have on its own.

Third, qualifications to subscribe to Charter’s proposed $9.95 discount Internet program should be broadened to exclude fewer customers. Its speed should also be raised to at least 10Mbps. For everyone else not qualified to subscribe to Connect2Compete, the PSC staff recommends requiring New Charter to continue offering Time Warner’s Everyday Low Price $14.99 Internet tier at an enhanced speed of 3Mbps for a minimum of five years.

Fourth, Time Warner customers in New York should be granted promotional broadband pricing without modem fees for a minimum of three years, making New Charter’s ongoing price of its 60Mbps tier $39.99 a month, not the $59.99 a month Charter typically charges after one year.

Fifth, New Charter should be required to offer broadband service at speeds up to 100Mbps throughout its New York footprint within 30 months of the close of the proposed merger. New Charter should also be compelled to install infrastructure capable of offering 1,000Mbps (1Gbps) service in New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany by 2020.

Six, New York should require New Charter to change its current merger proposal to decrease leveraged debt and present a plan to restore the company’s credit rating to a level more comparable with Time Warner Cable.

Seven, New Charter should submit to oversight of its customer service performance by New York regulators, which will monitor how New Charter treats its customers. If the company falls below acceptable service standards, the PSC will have the authority to intervene based on an agreement with New Charter.

Finally, New Charter will agree to limit any significant changes to its New York call center or other customer-facing positions for at least two years and provide 90 days notice of any significant job relocations or reductions.

Less than three months before announcing it would acquire Time Warner Cable in a $55 billion deal, Charter Communications quietly dropped usage caps, in place on its broadband plans since 2009, without explanation and the FCC wants to know why.

FCC officials have sent a letter to Charter requesting a range of information about the company’s broadband services, including information about Charter’s since-dropped usage cap program. The federal agency reviewing its buyout of Time Warner Cable wants to know when Charter dropped its usage caps and why.

Charter Communications has promoted “no usage caps” as a selling point to convince regulators its purchase of Time Warner Cable is a consumer-friendly transaction. Charter has promised a cap-free Internet experience for Time Warner Cable customers for three years, but has not committed to offer unlimited broadband service beyond that date.

Two months before Time Warner Cable planned a since-dropped 2009 market test of usage caps in New York, North Carolina and Texas, Charter Communications confirmed it was introducing “monthly residential bandwidth consumption thresholds” on its broadband customers ranging from 100GB for customers with speeds of 15Mbps or slower and 250GB for customers subscribed to 15-25Mbps service.

“In order to continue providing the best possible experience for our Internet customers, later this month we will be updating our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to establish monthly residential bandwidth consumption thresholds,” Charter’s Eric Ketzer told DSL Reports at the time. “More than 99% of our customers will not be affected by our updated policy, as they consume far less bandwidth than the threshold allows.”

Few customers realized Charter had placed a cap on Internet usage because the cable company treated the limits as “soft caps” — guidelines they could cite if they found a customer using a very large amount of bandwidth. But customers were not charged overlimit fees and few ever heard from Charter about their usage, even if it well-exceeded their allowance.

In front of Time Warner Cable offices in Rochester, N.Y. protesting Time Warner Cable’s proposed usage caps. (April 2009)

Only a handful of companies, including national providers like AT&T (for DSL) and Comcast (in usage cap market trial areas), have followed up usage allowances with stinging overlimit fees for those exceeding them, applied to customer bills. The practice is far more common among smaller and regional cable companies like Alaska’s GCI, which earned 10 percent of its broadband revenue billing customers for excess usage.

In March of this year, Stop the Cap! reported Charter quietly dropped usage caps (or “thresholds”) from their Acceptable Use Policy, ending six years of usage capped service — less than three months before announcing it was acquiring Time Warner Cable.

Time Warner Cable’s own experience with usage caps was short-lived after Stop the Cap! and other consumer advocates and elected officials launched a protest campaign against Time Warner Cable’s plans to expand a test of usage-based billing beyond Beaumont, Tex. to Rochester, N.Y., Greensboro, N.C., and the cities of Austin and San Antonio in Texas.

Time Warner proposed four tiers of usage allowances: 5, 10, 20, and 40 GB priced from $29.95 to $54.90 a month. The overlimit fee was to be $1/GB. Sanford Bernstein, a Wall Street research firm, predicted an average family subscribed to Time Warner’s top 40GB usage plan would pay around $200 a month in overlimit fees if they used Netflix more than 7.25 hours a week.

Within two weeks of launching protests in the four cities where Time Warner was planning to add caps, the plan was shelved permanently. But many Time Warner Cable customers have remained wary of the company’s plans regarding usage caps. Time Warner’s retooled, optional usage capped tiers offered to customers looking for a discount have proved dismal failures since their introduction, with fewer than 1% of Time Warner customers finding usage-limited Internet access compelling.

Rationing Your Internet Experience?

Consumer advocates also fear usage caps could reappear under Charter as quickly as they disappeared. Stop the Cap! is suspicious of Charter’s time-limited commitment to keep customers free of usage caps for three years. We are lobbying state and federal regulators to permanently extend that commitment as a condition of approving any merger between Charter and Time Warner.

“Customers must be assured they can always choose a reasonably priced unlimited use Internet option,” said the group’s founder Phillip Dampier. “If Charter/Time Warner Cable/Bright House wants to offer optional discounts for customers volunteering to limit their personal use, we are not opposed to that. But based on Time Warner’s own record, you can count on only a few thousand customers willing to voluntarily surrender unlimited, flat rate access.”

Stop the Cap! believes there is no credible reason Internet providers should be imposing compulsory usage caps or usage billing on anyone.

“Broadband is a huge money-maker and the costs to offer it continue to drop even as provider profits rise,” said Dampier. “Rationing broadband with a usage allowance is as credible as rationing Niagara Falls or breathing.”

The FCC is also requesting documentation detailing Charter’s proposed expansion of Wi-Fi hotspots in Time Warner Cable areas and company plans to boost standard broadband speeds from 15Mbps to 60Mbps. Charter has until Oct. 13 to respond.

Comcast today quietly announced its broadband customers in Fort Lauderdale, the Keys and Miami, Fla., will find a broadband usage cap of 300GB per month imposed on their Internet access starting Oct. 1, 2015, along with the option of buying a new $30 insurance plan to protect against overlimit fees and restore unlimited access.

Stop the Cap! reader Jose from Hialeah informed us Comcast formally began notifying affected customers in e-mail earlier today and updated their website (thanks to DSL Reports):

***An important update about your XFINITY Internet service:

We’re writing to let you know that we will be trialing a new XFINITY Internet data plan in your area. Starting October 1, 2015, your monthly data plan will include 300GB. We’ll also trial a new “Unlimited Data” option that will give you the choice to purchase unlimited data for $30 per month in addition to your monthly Internet service fee.

The majority of XFINITY customers use less than 300GB of data in a month, and therefore will not be affected by these changes. If you are not sure of your monthly data usage, please refer to the Track and Manage Your Usage section below.

Here are the details of the plan:

You’ll get 300GB of data each month. If for any reason you exceed the 300GB included in your plan in a month, we will automatically add blocks of 50GB to your account for an additional fee of $10 each. We’re also implementing a three-month courtesy program. That means you will not be billed for the first three times you exceed the 300GB included in the monthly data plan.

Here are the details of the Unlimited Data option:

If you don’t want a 300GB data plan, the new Unlimited Data option is an alternative that provides additional choice and flexibility, especially for customers who use lots of data. You can choose to enroll in the Unlimited Data option at any time for an additional $30 a month, regardless of how much data you use. Enrollment in this option goes into effect on the first day of the subsequent calendar month.

Notifications:

If you are on the 300 GB plan, we will send you a courtesy “in-browser” notice and an email letting you know when you reach 90%, 100%, 110%, and 125% of your monthly data usage plan amount. You can also elect to receive notifications at additional thresholds as well as set up mobile text notifications. Notices will not be sent to customers who enroll in the unlimited data option.

$30 a month will let Floridians bypass Comcast’s overlimit usage tolls.

What is remarkable about the introduction of Comcast’s latest usage cap trial is the naked monetization scheme that accompanies it. Comcast’s old arguments that usage caps provide an even usage experience and fairness for all customers has been replaced with a new $30 insurance plan that effectively restores the unlimited usage plan customers had until this month… for $30 more a month than they used to pay. Once Comcast collects your $30, the sky is the limit as far as usage is concerned.

Customers are howling about the changes on Comcast’s social media platforms and customer support forums. Stop the Cap! strongly urges Comcast customers to also complain to the Federal Communications Commission using this online complaint form. The more Americans that complain about capped Internet, the more likely the FCC will act on the issue.

“Comcast can just do whatever they want without asking or giving notice,” writes Jason. “So basically we all just got a $30 a month increase in our Comcast bill, such BS! I’ve been a Comcast customer over 20 years. I am done. This was the last straw.”

“Kiss my business goodbye,” wrote another customer. “I have had nothing but trouble with Comcast since I’ve had it.  Weekly outages, incompetent techs on the phone, etc. AT&T U-verse may not have speeds that are as fast as Comcast, but the service was reliable, and they didn’t try to stab us in the back with ridiculous fees. Hasta la vista, Comcast!”

For now, the Unlimited Data Option is only available to customers in Florida. All other Comcast customers living under the company’s usage caps will continue to face overlimit fees of $10 for each 50GB of usage they run up past their 300GB usage allowance.

Comcast has also suddenly clarified exactly which customers are facing a life with usage caps by publishing a lengthy list of zip codes where unlucky customers will not be allowed to receive unlimited broadband. (Last week, Stop the Cap! shared with readers the story of Comcast customers in Georgia being misled about usage caps by Comcast employees. Woodstock’s two zip codes – 30188 and 30189 – appear on the below list.):

Alabama

35020, 35021, 35023, 35111, 35211, 35401, 35403, 35404, 35405, 35406, 35440, 35444, 35446, 35447, 35453, 35473, 35475, 35476, 35486, 35487, 35490, 35630, 35631, 35632, 35633, 35634, 35645, 35660, 35661, 35674, 35677, 35741, 35748, 35750, 35756, 35758, 35759, 35763, 35773, 35801, 35802, 35803, 35805, 35806, 35810, 35811, 35816, 35824, 35899, 35901, 35903, 35904, 35905, 35906, 35907, 35952, 35953, 35954, 35961, 35972, 35987, 36528, 36571, 36572, 36575, 36582, 36587, 36602, 36603, 36604, 36605, 36606, 36607, 36608, 36609, 36610, 36611, 36612, 36613, 36615, 36617, 36618, 36619, 36652, 36693, 36695

Arizona

85145, 85619, 85653, 85658, 85704, 85705, 85709, 85712, 85713, 85715, 85718, 85719, 85735, 85737, 85739, 85741, 85742, 85743, 85745, 85746, 85749, 85750, 85755, 85757

Arkansas

72301, 72303, 72331, 72364, 72373

Florida – New Area for 300GB Usage Cap; Unlimited Data Option available for $30 extra per month.

33001, 33004, 33009, 33010, 33012, 33013, 33014, 33015, 33016, 33018, 33019, 33020, 33021, 33023, 33024, 33025, 33026, 33027, 33028, 33029, 33030, 33031, 33032, 33033, 33034, 33035, 33036, 33037, 33040, 33042, 33043, 33044, 33045, 33050, 33051, 33054, 33055, 33056, 33060, 33062, 33063, 33064, 33065, 33066, 33067, 33068, 33069, 33070, 33071, 33073, 33076, 33109, 33122, 33125, 33126, 33127, 33128, 33129, 33130, 33131, 33132, 33133, 33134, 33135, 33136, 33137, 33138, 33139, 33140, 33141, 33142, 33143, 33144, 33145, 33146, 33147, 33149, 33150, 33155, 33156, 33157, 33158, 33160, 33161, 33162, 33165, 33166, 33167, 33168, 33169, 33170, 33172, 33173, 33174, 33175, 33176, 33177, 33178, 33179, 33180, 33181, 33182, 33183, 33184, 33185, 33186, 33187, 33189, 33190, 33193, 33194, 33196, 33199, 33233, 33242, 33301, 33304, 33305, 33306, 33308, 33309, 33310, 33311, 33312, 33313, 33314, 33315, 33316, 33317, 33319, 33321, 33322, 33323, 33324, 33325, 33326, 33327, 33328, 33330, 33331, 33332, 33334, 33337, 33351, 33355, 33388, 33394, 33434, 33441, 33442, 34142, 34974

Georgia

30002, 30004, 30005, 30008, 30009, 30011, 30012, 30013, 30014, 30016, 30017, 30018, 30019, 30021, 30022, 30024, 30025, 30028, 30030, 30032, 30033, 30034, 30035, 30038, 30039, 30040, 30041, 30043, 30044, 30045, 30046, 30047, 30052, 30054, 30055, 30056, 30058, 30060, 30062, 30064, 30066, 30067, 30068, 30069, 30071, 30072, 30075, 30076, 30078, 30079, 30080, 30082, 30083, 30084, 30087, 30088, 30090, 30092, 30093, 30094, 30096, 30097, 30098, 30101, 30102, 30103, 30104, 30105, 30106, 30107, 30108, 30109, 30110, 30111, 30114, 30115, 30116, 30117, 30120, 30121, 30122, 30123, 30125, 30126, 30127, 30132, 30134, 30135, 30137, 30139, 30141, 30142, 30144, 30145, 30146, 30147, 30149, 30150, 30152, 30153, 30157, 30161, 30165, 30168, 30171, 30172, 30173, 30176, 30178, 30179, 30180, 30182, 30183, 30184, 30185, 30187, 30188, 30189, 30205, 30213, 30214, 30215, 30220, 30223, 30224, 30228, 30230, 30236, 30238, 30248, 30250, 30252, 30253, 30257, 30260, 30263, 30265, 30266, 30268, 30269, 30272, 30273, 30274, 30276, 30277, 30281, 30288, 30290, 30291, 30292, 30294, 30296, 30297, 30303, 30304, 30305, 30306, 30307, 30308, 30309, 30310, 30311, 30312, 30313, 30314, 30315, 30316, 30317, 30318, 30319, 30320, 30322, 30324, 30326, 30327, 30328, 30329, 30330, 30331, 30332, 30334, 30336, 30337, 30338, 30339, 30340, 30341, 30342, 30344, 30345, 30346, 30349, 30350, 30354, 30358, 30359, 30360, 30361, 30363, 30369, 30410, 30411, 30413, 30414, 30417, 30423, 30427, 30428, 30429, 30434, 30439, 30442, 30445, 30457, 30467, 30471, 30477, 30501, 30504, 30506, 30507, 30517, 30518, 30519, 30520, 30527, 30529, 30530, 30533, 30534, 30542, 30543, 30548, 30549, 30554, 30558, 30564, 30567, 30575, 30606, 30607, 30620, 30622, 30624, 30634, 30635, 30643, 30655, 30656, 30666, 30673, 30677, 30680, 30701, 30733, 30735, 30746, 30802, 30805, 30807, 30808, 30809, 30812, 30813, 30814, 30815, 30816, 30817, 30824, 30828, 30830, 30901, 30904, 30905, 30906, 30907, 30909, 30912, 30914, 31002, 31063, 31064, 31068, 31096, 31301, 31302, 31304, 31305, 31307, 31308, 31309, 31312, 31313, 31314, 31315, 31316, 31318, 31320, 31321, 31322, 31323, 31324, 31326, 31328, 31329, 31331, 31333, 31401, 31404, 31405, 31406, 31407, 31408, 31409, 31410, 31411, 31415, 31419, 31421, 31543, 31545, 31546, 31555, 31560, 31566, 31568, 31569

Illinois

62910, 62960

Indiana

47520, 47586

Kentucky

40150, 40160, 40162, 40175, 42001, 42002, 42003, 42027, 42029, 42048, 42053, 42058, 42069, 42082, 42086, 42127, 42134, 42141, 42152, 42223, 42321, 42323, 42324, 42326, 42330, 42332, 42337, 42344, 42345, 42367, 42374, 42701, 42702, 42712, 42716, 42718, 42724, 42726, 42732, 42733, 42740, 42748, 42749, 42754, 42757, 42758, 42764, 42783, 42788

Louisiana

71201, 71202, 71203, 71209, 71225, 71227, 71229, 71234, 71238, 71280, 71291, 71292, 71294

Maine

03901, 03903, 03904, 03905, 03908, 04003, 04008, 04011, 04032, 04066, 04078, 04079, 04086, 04222, 04287, 04530, 04562, 04565, 04579

Mississippi

38611, 38618, 38619, 38621, 38632, 38635, 38637, 38641, 38649, 38651, 38654, 38661, 38664, 38666, 38668, 38670, 38671, 38672, 38674, 38676, 38680, 38683, 38801, 38802, 38803, 38804, 38824, 38826, 38828, 38829, 38834, 38835, 38843, 38846, 38849, 38855, 38856, 38857, 38860, 38862, 38866, 38868, 38869, 38876, 38879, 39041, 39042, 39043, 39046, 39047, 39056, 39066, 39071, 39073, 39079, 39110, 39145, 39151, 39154, 39157, 39167, 39170, 39174, 39175, 39193, 39201, 39202, 39203, 39204, 39206, 39208, 39209, 39210, 39211, 39212, 39213, 39216, 39217, 39218, 39232, 39269, 39272, 39301, 39302, 39303, 39304, 39305, 39307, 39309, 39320, 39325, 39335, 39338, 39342, 39347, 39348, 39355, 39364, 39366, 39367, 39401, 39402, 39406, 39422, 39437, 39439, 39440, 39441, 39442, 39443, 39455, 39465, 39475, 39477, 39481, 39773

South Carolina

29108, 29127, 29401, 29403, 29404, 29405, 29406, 29407, 29408, 29409, 29410, 29412, 29414, 29418, 29420, 29424, 29425, 29426, 29429, 29438, 29439, 29445, 29449, 29451, 29455, 29456, 29461, 29464, 29466, 29470, 29482, 29483, 29485, 29487, 29488, 29492, 29628, 29803, 29822, 29829, 29831, 29841, 29842, 29847, 29860, 29901, 29902, 29904, 29906, 29907, 29911, 29920, 29924, 29944, 29945

Tennessee

37010, 37013, 37014, 37015, 37020, 37022, 37025, 37026, 37027, 37029, 37030, 37031, 37032, 37033, 37036, 37037, 37042, 37046, 37048, 37049, 37051, 37055, 37059, 37060, 37062, 37064, 37066, 37067, 37069, 37071, 37072, 37073, 37074, 37075, 37076, 37080, 37082, 37083, 37085, 37086, 37087, 37090, 37098, 37115, 37119, 37122, 37127, 37128, 37129, 37130, 37131, 37132, 37135, 37137, 37138, 37141, 37143, 37145, 37148, 37149, 37150, 37152, 37153, 37165, 37166, 37167, 37172, 37179, 37181, 37185, 37186, 37187, 37188, 37189, 37190, 37201, 37203, 37204, 37205, 37206, 37207, 37208, 37209, 37210, 37211, 37212, 37213, 37214, 37215, 37216, 37217, 37218, 37219, 37220, 37221, 37228, 37229, 37232, 37235, 37236, 37238, 37240, 37243, 37246, 37306, 37318, 37324, 37330, 37352, 37366, 37398, 37701, 37705, 37709, 37710, 37713, 37714, 37716, 37719, 37721, 37722, 37725, 37726, 37737, 37738, 37742, 37748, 37754, 37755, 37756, 37757, 37763, 37764, 37766, 37769, 37770, 37771, 37772, 37777, 37779, 37801, 37803, 37804, 37806, 37807, 37820, 37821, 37828, 37829, 37830, 37840, 37841, 37843, 37845, 37847, 37849, 37852, 37853, 37854, 37862, 37863, 37871, 37872, 37876, 37882, 37886, 37887, 37892, 37902, 37909, 37912, 37914, 37915, 37916, 37917, 37918, 37919, 37920, 37921, 37922, 37923, 37924, 37929, 37931, 37932, 37934, 37938, 37996, 37998, 38002, 38010, 38011, 38014, 38015, 38016, 38017, 38018, 38019, 38028, 38029, 38036, 38039, 38046, 38048, 38049, 38052, 38057, 38060, 38061, 38066, 38067, 38068, 38069, 38075, 38076, 38103, 38104, 38105, 38106, 38107, 38108, 38109, 38111, 38112, 38113, 38114, 38115, 38116, 38117, 38118, 38119, 38120, 38122, 38125, 38126, 38127, 38128, 38131, 38132, 38133, 38134, 38135, 38137, 38138, 38139, 38141, 38152, 38157, 38305, 38326, 38339, 38357, 38365, 38367, 38375, 38504, 38547, 38549, 38553, 38555, 38556, 38557, 38558, 38560, 38565, 38570, 38571, 38572, 38577, 38583

Abbes Nacef was not very happy when he opened his web browser a few days ago to see a message inserted at the top of his screen.

“Your Internet service has reached the maximum limit of allowable overage charges. If you wish to continue service, please contact our business office to discuss your account.”

Nacef, who lives in Monastir, a Tunisian city best known for its tourism, was surprised because it was the first sign his Internet account had gone over the limit.

“While you can get uncapped DSL in Tunisia, it is not very good service and in my area it is not offered,” Nacef told Stop the Cap!. “Most in our neighborhood rely on a wireless ISP service which is less costly than 3G or 4G mobile service, but is capped and charges roughly $25 for each extra gigabyte allotment.”

Nacef’s call to his provider was not pleasant. He had already accumulated almost $180 in charges for the month of August, most in overlimit fees. The culprit was quickly identified — Microsoft Windows 10, which took several attempts to reach Nacef’s computer over a challenging Internet connection. But Nacef also learned his computer was repeatedly requesting updates from Microsoft, including three software patches that would not complete and were sent over and over for almost two weeks.

“It was the fifth call my ISP had received about this problem, and they were very annoyed also because Microsoft Windows 10 assumes you will use their Edge browser which defeats the early warning messages from my ISP that usage limits are approaching,” Nacef said. “When I switched back to my old browser the bad news was there, but it was too late.”

His ISP has agreed to cut the charges in half and has warned all of its customers if they want Windows 10, the ISP will offer them a copy on a returnable USB memory device for free.

Nacef thinks the huge multiple download attempts to receive Windows 10 itself was responsible for most of the extra usage, but he is wary about the frequent software updates and the fact they are shared with other users by default.

That is what may have tripped up Rob DuGrenier who paid an exorbitant $150 this month for 1.5Mbps Internet service just to get a 75GB usage allowance for his immediate family in far northern Québec. The alternative was an overlimit fee of $20 for each 5GB allotment of usage over the usual 30GB allowance granted to “Power” users.

“Internet is not an option for our family for medical reasons, but this hurts,” DuGrenier writes. “It is definitely Windows 10 and there is something wrong with it because our ISP reports we are sending a lot more data than we are receiving, and there are no viruses or malware on the computers.”

Internet access is northern Québec is slow and costly.

His ISP now suspects Microsoft is using his connection to distribute software updates to a number of other users across northern Canada. When DuGrenier’s family disabled the option that opted them in to distributing Microsoft updates to other customers, upstream traffic dropped 98%.

“Were we sending Windows 10 itself all over northern Quebec and Nunavut? We just don’t know and Microsoft has not responded,” DuGrenier reports. “They have billions, I do not. They should be paying my Internet bill this month.”

The worst of the reported problems of bill shock are occurring in remote areas where Internet service can be a mixture of wired and wireless connections that are often slow and usually usage-limited. Windows 10 was designed to reduce bandwidth demand on wireless connections, assuming they would be metered. But how Microsoft detects which networks are wireless and metered and which may only partly be so is apparently a work in progress.

This morning, the Sydney Morning Herald reports at least one customer on a Pacific island was slammed with a catastrophically high Internet bill. Maureen Hilyard in the Cook Islands owes her ISP $390 this month, all because of automatic updates from Microsoft for Windows 10.

“In this context, where Internet access is both painfully slow and seriously expensive, these forced updates are almost literally forcing people off the Internet and are resulting in massive excess data charges,” EFA executive officer Jon Lawrence told the newspaper.

The Cook Islands

Hilyard is a customer of Bluesky, primarily a satellite Internet Service Provider that dominates the Cook Islands, which have no other options for Internet access. A basic account costs $31.50 a month, but that provides just 3.5GB of data for the entire month. Automatic overlimit charges of $0.03 per megabyte accrue after the allowance is used up.

The most likely victims of Windows-induced bill shock subscribe to usage-limited wireless or satellite Internet services. While many providers throttle the speeds of customers who reach the usage limit, others charge penalty rates. Microsoft has no way to know which is true. Instead, the company claims it looks for evidence of a wireless connection before performing updates and when it finds one, it assumes it to be metered. But wired connections stay firmly in the unmetered category, whether they are usage-capped or not. Customers are invited to choose by digging through confusing settings menus.

Even more problematic is the built-in peer-to-peer technology that gives Microsoft’s servers a break and uses your Internet connection to share the latest Windows software updates with other Windows users across town and beyond. Microsoft has offered no provision to track this usage, but users can opt out with this advice from the Sydney Morning Herald:

Users can tweak their Windows 10 system settings by enabling a “metered connection” by searching for “Change Wi-Fi settings” in the start menu, clicking on “Advanced Options” and enabling “Metered connection.” This lets Windows 10 know the Wi-Fi connection you’re on is capped, so instead of forcing a software update onto your PC or tablet, it will notify you first. You can then choose to delay the upgrade until you are on an uncapped connection, or until you’ve rolled over into a fresh month of data.

This workaround only applies to Wi-Fi connections, however, not Ethernet connections.

A second workaround actually comes in an update which Microsoft itself released. It’s a bit more fiddly though, as it involves manually uninstalling driver updates and then downloading a special troubleshooter app to prevent them from installing again automatically. The full instructions are available online.