GigaOM: Over 60% of US Broadband Subscribers have Data Caps

Stacey Higginbotham [pictured] writes to GigaOm about the recent developments in usage-based billing policies in the US broadband market:

"Comcast is expanding its usage-based broadband trials. Given the larger roll out, it looks like a 300 GB cap plus a $10 overage fee that gets you 50 more GB is the winner .. which translates roughly into 40 cents per hour of HD television streamed via the internet .. And it’s not alone. Caps are on the rise in the U.S.:

[see also "Comcast Response to Recent Claims: Higher Base Cap w/Tiered Plans or Overage Fees" - here]

"Look, I’m sick of writing this same story about how caps aren’t necessary, how they act as a curb on innovation, how they protect a television business that won’t adapt and how the cable companies don’t actually have a profitability problem when it comes to investing in their networks. What’s happening here is a five-year erosion of unlimited broadband brought about by a fundamentally uncompetitive market. And this massive shift on broadband policy was utterly ignored by the FCC, which refused to even gather data about caps for years?.

See "Looks like Comcast is quietly pushing a 300 GB cap and overage charges" - here.