data caps

Bell's Limbo Dance -- Company Lowers Usage Caps, Raises Max Overlimit Fee

Stevie Converse — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:51:18 -0500

Full article: Stop the Cap!
Phillip Dampier
Bell customers across Ontario and Quebec are noticing the limbo dance is back in vogue as Bell Canada lowers the bar on usage caps for its Fibe fiber to the neighborhood service and boosts the maximum overlimit fee to $80.

As Networks Speed Up, Data Hits a Wall

Stevie Converse — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:37:34 -0400

Full article: New York Times
Jenna Wortham
The newest smartphones are intended to run on speedy 4G networks that allow people to effortlessly stream music, watch Netflix movies and tune in live to a Mets game, wherever they are. But there’s a catch, of course. Cellphone plans that let people gobble up data as if they were at an all-you-can eat buffet are disappearing.

Let's Talk About the Broadband Cap Gap

Stevie Converse — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:50:27 -0400

Full article: GigaOM
Stacey Higginbotham
Comcast's monthly 250 GB data cap might have been fine for data usage in 2008. But the media usage has risen and the cap hasn't increased by a commensurate amount. As residential broadband becomes essential for how we do our jobs, as well as for consumer entertainment and other web-based products, it's time for big companies to start taking a hard look at how ISPs policies will affect their employees and their ability to offer services and perhaps give a call to their favorite lobbyist. If left unchecked, this won't stay a consumer issue for very long.

Comcast Bans Seattle Man from Internet for His Cloudy Ways

Stevie Converse — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 08:31:56 -0400

Full article: Wired
Ryan Singel
The end of the internet comes not with a bang or a procession of four lolcats of the apocalypse, but just with two blinking lights on a modem. At least that's how it came for Andre Vrignaud, a 39-year-old gaming consultant in Seattle, when Comcast shut him off from the internet Monday for using too much data. Vrignaud, it seems, committed the foul of using more than 250 GB of data on Comcast two months in a row, triggering the company's overage policy that results in a year-long ban from using its services.

Happy Anniversary. Love, Verizon.

Stevie Converse — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:50:39 -0400

Full article: Free Press
Josh Levy
Almost a year to the day after Verizon announced it would cease offering unlimited mobile data plans, we're being handed a stinker of an anniversary gift in the form of leaked details about Verizon's upcoming data caps.

FCC May Weigh Phone Data Caps

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:03:10 -0400

Full article: ITworld
Kevin Fogarty
Consumer and small-business advocacy organizations are asking the FCC to step in and limit the ability of ISPs to put caps on the amount of data broadband customers can use, warning that 56 percent of all broadband connections come with data caps.

Internet Service Providers Cracking Down on Heavy Users

Stevie Converse — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:01:00 -0400

Full article: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Jim Gallagher
People who watch lots of movies and videos on the Internet will run into a toll booth if they get their Internet service through AT&T. Starting May 2, AT&T will set Internet usage caps for its DSL and U-verse customers. Repeatedly go over the cap, and you'll pay extra. Charter and Comcast already have data caps.

Verizon Soft-Caps Make Sense, But Carry a Harsh Penalty

Lindsy Embree — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:37:25 -0500

Full article: GigaOM
Kevin C. Tofel
When Verizon triumphantly announced it would be carrying the iPhone, the carrier assured the public that its network could handle the data load. We may now know why Verizon seemed so confident: the carrier will employ both bandwidth throttling for heavy network users and data transcoding techniques to reduce strain on the network. That may sound reasonable, but the carrier may penalize heavy users an extra month.

Verizon Soft-Caps Make Sense, But Carry a Harsh Penalty

Lindsy Embree — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:37:25 -0500

Sprint Puts Off WiMax Data Cap

Lindsy Embree — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:34:49 -0400

Full article: IDG News Service
Stephen Lawson
Sprint Nextel saw subscriber behavior change after it introduced a 5GB monthly cap on its 3G data plans, and that's part of the reason the carrier is wary about capping data consumption on its 4G WiMax service it said.