By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Comcast & AT&T raise data caps (digital future)

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/04/comcast-boosts-data-cap-from-300gb-to-1tb-unlimited-data-will-cost-50/

" Comcast today announced that it will boost its data cap from 300GB per month to 1TB beginning June 1, but the company will also charge more to customers who want unlimited data.

....

After the June 1 change, fewer customers will need to buy unlimited data—but it will cost them $50 a month to do so instead of $30 or $35. Overage fees will stay the same, $10 for each additional 50GB. Thus far, Comcast has allowed customers to exceed the cap in three "courtesy months" before charging them overage fees.

....

The change comes as more and more customers go over the 300GB cap. In late 2013, Comcast was saying that only 2 percent of its customers used more than 300GB of data a month. By late 2015, that was up to 8 percent.

At 300GB a month, the caps were low enough that customers making heavy use of streaming services such as Netflix or Sling TV had trouble avoiding overage charges. A terabyte should provide relief for most people, as Comcast said today that "more than 99 percent of our customers do not come close to using a terabyte" and that "typical" customers use about 60GB a month.

"What can you do with a terabyte? A whole lot," Comcast said. "You can stream about 700 hours of HD video, play 12,000 hours of online games, and download 60,000 high-res photos in a month."

AT&T recently decided to step up enforcement of its own home Internet data caps, which range from 150GB to 1TB a month depending on what plan a customer buys. "

______________________

Now the SCD patented by Nintendo seems a lot more viable, although I'm not sure about the rest of the world (internet).

What about the future of video games, do you see the end of physical media or optical drives, especially for the next gen?  Competition will only make internet advancements cheaper and more accessible especially with Google Fiber growing, At&T Gigapower etc.



Around the Network

I was thinking of switching to DirectTV but I think id have to go with ATT for Internets. Guess I will niy make that switch. I used over 400GB just in my Xbone last month.



I'm surprised companies still have data caps for regular household internet. I'd never go with a company that had that type of policy ( I understand a lot of people have no choice though since they're often the only ISP in the area)
Anyway, at least they upped the cap to 1tb, I know I go well over 300 GB just using my consoles.



So are data caps the norm in the US? Pretty crap if it is.



Ka-pi96 said:
And adding $20 a month to unlimited data? Disgusting!

I feel for you Americans, I'd hate data caps. Luckily here in the UK unlimited data is not only the standard but is also cheap.

Same here on IoM, I don't think I can ever live on a data cap, I consume so much data on a daily basis.



Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see

So pay up motherfuckers you belong to "V"

Around the Network

Eventually there will be no more optical drives. That goes without saying.Its already redundant tech inside a console now as it does nothing more than acts as a medium to move and install data onto an internal HDD and DRM checker.



That's fairly cool really, when you consider that there are day 1 patchs for games now which are 10+GB for games as well as digital versions of games going into the 60GB region for stuff like GTAV then this is good news for gamers, considering that you could very quickly eat through 300GB when the Summer sale hits on Steam :)



Why not check me out on youtube and help me on the way to 2k subs over at www.youtube.com/stormcloudlive

Thank god I have unlimited data for both home and cellular! :D



Datacaps are ridiculous, glad i never had to deal with it



Intrinsic said:
Eventually there will be no more optical drives. That goes without saying.Its already redundant tech inside a console now as it does nothing more than acts as a medium to move and install data onto an internal HDD and DRM checker.

By following this logic, the CD-Drive was a redundant technology on the PC as soon the first High Speed (768kbps) DSL moden was avialable. Yes, games do not run entirely from disc now but I would not call it redundant since it still holds value for those without unlimited Data and it works quite well as a DRM tool.