Comcast must be held accountable for customers? data cap complaints

Comcast imposes broadband-usage caps and overage fees on its customers, and its customers are filing FCC complaints concerning those fees and other billing errors. But the FCC has so far failed to investigate the billing practice despite calls from Free Press and other advocates demanding action.

Free Press, an Internet and media consumer advocate organization, has issued a statement directed at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) demanding the agency investigate the thousands of data cap complaints from Comcast customers.

“Data caps have a very real impact on Internet users’ wallets and online behavior,” said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. “These kinds of limits dampen the use of broadband by discouraging use of the applications that drive economic growth and innovation from Internet content creators. The steep cost of broadband services in the U.S. is already a significant barrier to access for many. These punitive caps create even more problems for cash-strapped Americans seeking to get online.”

Wood concluded: “It’s long past time for lawmakers and public interest regulators to get answers about Comcast’s justification for its data caps, and the impact these caps have on the affordability and openness of high-speed networks.”

Free Press to FCC: Comcast Must Answer for Unnecessary Data Caps (Free Press, Nov. 4, 2015)