Broadband data caps suck. Now you can help get rid of them

Broadband data caps cost me money every single year and continue to be a source of ongoing anxiety. They’re inequitable, unnecessary, and predatory. That the FCC is finally soliciting public comment and taking aim at data caps is long overdue.

We’re barreling towards one of the most consequential elections of our lifetimes, but eliminating broadband data caps is nearly as important. You need to make your voice heard, and I’ll show you how to send comments directly to the FCC. But first, let’s spend a bit talking about just how terrible data caps truly are.

Data caps cause stress and anxiety

Broadband internet is part of modern daily life, as much as water or power is. Any tap-dancing around its legal definition just wastes time.

On average, I pay over $200 each month to Comcast for a basic package of TV channels and internet speeds up to 400Mbps. (Comcast recently doubled the speeds for free. Why? I don’t know.) But there’s a catch: I have a cap on how much data I can use. If my family of four consumes more than 1.23TB per month, I’m hit with additional charges.

The additional fee structure is labyrinthine and involves creating additional “data blocks” of 50GB for an additional $10, up to a maximum of $100. But wait! There’s a one-time courtesy waiver per year, where no fees are charged. But wait! That waiver disappears entirely if you exceed the cap twice a year. But wait! Comcast never charged data overage fees at all in 15 northeastern states due to competition from Verizon’s FIOS service. But wait! That agreement went away in 2020, restoring the caps. But wait! The caps vanished yet again in 2021 after officials in those northeastern states protested.

Did I mention that in July, when I exceeded my data cap, I was told it was covered by my courtesy month… but Comcast went ahead and charged me anyway? That was a “mistake,” they said. I’m sure it was.

My daily routine now includes checking Comcast Xfinity’s ongoing metering of my broadband internet usage. Do I have room on the cap to upgrade my family’s computers? What about my work laptops for PCWorld? Will I have enough data left to download that new game I want to play? My family of four doesn’t do that much on the internet, but our monthly data allowance disappears quickly nonetheless.

“To me, the word that sticks out to me in that message is ‘stress,'” wrote FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in the FCC’s Notice of Inquiry (PDF) regarding broadband data caps. “The mental toll of constantly thinking about how much you use a service that is essential for modern life is real as is the frustration of so many consumers who tell us they believe these caps are costly and unfair.” Perfectly said.

Data caps are inequitable and unfair

Most major US cities offer a choice between two or more broadband ISPs, and that competition helps drive prices down.

But in many suburbs, and especially in gated communities or apartment complexes, residents don’t have a say in their broadband provider. That’s why I was eager to try T-Mobile’s 5G wireless home broadband in 2021: it was cheaper and without data caps. (Sadly, my home just wasn’t close enough to the tower for sufficient bandwidth at the time.)

From my house, I can see the neighboring city where a local ISP (called Sonic) basically offers unlimited gigabit internet service at a fraction of the price Comcast charges — all without data caps. But I can’t personally dig those ditches and bring that fiber to my home, and I haven’t yet persuaded my town council to do so, either. So I’m stuck in a broadband monopoly I have no say over. All I can do is call Comcast every year and argue for a lower contract rate.

The fact that most of the eastern seaboard doesn’t have to deal with Comcast’s data caps, while the rest of us do, is infuriating.

Data caps are artificial and arbitrary

Yes, I could probably pay extra for unlimited broadband, and so could you. But why should we have to?

Virtually all wireless service providers provide unlimited calls and texts, and many offer unlimited wireless data, too. Overseas, I can buy a SIM card with unlimited data and tethering and use that in place of a broadband ISP, both for calls as well as my laptop’s internet needs. (I recently did just that in Taiwan and Germany.)

Surely a massive company like Comcast, who made $4 billion in profits alone last quarter, could plow some of that back into relaxing its data cap restrictions for everyone?

But they haven’t. And they won’t. Which is why the government might step in — and why you should encourage them to. Here’s how.

How to file a public comment at the FCC against data caps

To file a public comment, go to the FCC’s Express Comment Filing System. This is a web form with a number of fields to fill out.

The most important field is the first one: Proceeding(s). You’ll need to enter the specific docket number here. In this case, the docket can be found on the FCC’s Notice of Inquiry (PDF). Or I can just tell you what it is for your convenience: 23-199.

In the web form, you need to enter just the docket number into the Proceeding(s) field. After you type in 23-199, you should see a small pop-up with 23-199 | Data Caps in Consumer Broadband Plans. Select it.

From there, you can fill out the remaining fields yourself. When you enter your comments, remember that this is NOT anonymous. You’re entering your comment into the federal record and whatever you write will be searchable and readable by the general public.

Pay attention to the comment deadline, too. In this case, you have until November 14, 2024 to file a comment. After that, you have until December 2, 2024 to file a reply to another comment.

Tell your story! For once, the government is listening.