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Beware, the latest scam by Comcast-xFinity is to offer an upgraded or trial TV package if you don't use their cable TV service but do have their old 250 gig Internet access service. Their new plans offer 50 gigs of data and up with escalating charges.
What they do is offer the tv service trial but automatically without your authorization or agreement, change your internet access plan. While its faster it has a low data cap.
If you cancel the trial TV package they do not return you to what you had but keep you in the new Internet access plan. If you complain they simply say the old plan is no longer available and thus can't put you back into a plan that they no longer offer.
The fight continues.
Do not ever accept a trial from Comcast xFinity if you have a good plan no longer offered, you will have to fight tooth and nail to get it back if you can get it back at all.
I see yet another class action lawsuit in their future.
Beware, the latest scam by Comcast-xFinity is to offer an upgraded or trial TV package if you don't use their cable TV service but do have their old 250 gig Internet access service. Their new plans offer 50 gigs of data and up with escalating charges.
According to them it should be 1TB per month regardless of tier.
Comcast xFinity is starting to meter usage following the lead of mobile telecoms.
It is subtle.
There is no discernable benefit to a consumer for speeds greater than they've offered for years. In the near future, selling speed will be a zero sum gain. Additional revenue has to come from somewhere. It will come from data use caps.
Once there is fiber to the home, that fiber can supoort far greater speeds than now offered. The costs for the source points is minimal. It is difficult to sell faster speeds unless the customer experiences problems.
How can discern the difference between a realized 150 megs per second and something higher? Very few people. Only those few see a value and will pay for higher. So where does the need for additional revenue fulfillment come from? Content? Maybe.
Data caps. Why data caps? Because it affects 100% of the customer base. There is far more money charging everyone and extra dollar every month than a lot of charge to the relative few. Besides, nothing stops them from charging the few for more speed anyway.
All access providers want to eliminate unlimited or very high data plans with grandfathered pricing structures. Comcast just found a way to get the customers with those plans to give them up without disclosing that the decision to even give a trial package of a different service also removes them from the grandfathered access plan.
Sure, the customer can fight but we all should know how that usuall ends up for all but the most dedicated.
Comcast xFinity is starting to meter usage following the lead of mobile telecoms.
The original cap they tried was 300GB, the new one is 1TB. To put this into perspective a Netflix HD video might be about 2.7 GB's per hour. You could watch 370 hours of Netflix per month or 12 hours a day.
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Content? Maybe.
These caps are the direct result of Net Neutrality and high bandwidth services like Netflix more people are using. This is not a bad thing because you will get equal access to any content or service whether Comcast is providing it or someone else.
The "unlimited" plans in the past were a farce because they knew 99% of the users would not utilize much. That's changed so they need to adjust their pricing structure.
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Data caps. Why data caps?
With net Neutrality it's the only thing they can charge you for.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
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Originally Posted by thecoalman
The original cap they tried was 300GB, the new one is 1TB. To put this into perspective a Netflix HD video might be about 2.7 GB's per hour. You could watch 370 hours of Netflix per month or 12 hours a day.
Or three users @ 4 hours/day each. That isn't that much if you have multiple kids with smart devices.
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These caps are the direct result of Net Neutrality and high bandwidth services like Netflix more people are using. This is not a bad thing because you will get equal access to any content or service whether Comcast is providing it or someone else.
Net Neutrality was the status quo before. Companies wanted to provide tiered service in violation of that spirit, so it was codified into law.
Last edited by rcsteiner; 08-23-2016 at 12:54 PM..
Net Neutrality was the status quo before. Companies wanted to provide tiered service in violation of that spirit, so it was codified into law.
To clarify offering "unlimited" service previously was not an issue because they knew 99.9% of the users were going to consume very little bandwidth. That has changed dramatically and now all their customers are likely to use high bandwidth services like Netflix, Youtube or whatever. Because their only source of revenue is the service itself this is no longer sustainable under Net Neutrality. The business model needs to change and that change is going to be a more utility like pricing structure where you pay for what you use.
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Originally Posted by rcsteiner
Or three users @ 4 hours/day each. That isn't that much if you have multiple kids with smart devices.
There may be bright side, perhaps it will spur competition where none exists.
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