Comcast mulls 250GB monthly bandwidth cap: report

First came the news that Time Warner is testing bandwidth caps in Texas, and now here's Comcast, apparently considering a cap of its own—a 250GB cap, mind you, compared to Time Warner's stingy 5-to-40GB plans.

According to DSLreports.com, the bandwidth cap proposal has "a lot of momentum" within the Comcast ranks, although nothing's set in stone yet. The info comes from an unnamed Comcast "insider"; the carrier itself has yet to officially comment.

Anyway, the plan calls for a 250GB monthly cap for all Comcast subscribers, with a once-a-year "get out of jail free" card for users who exceed the limit, according to DSLreports. After that, subscribers would pay $10 for every 10GB they use over the limit.

There's nothing fun about bandwidth caps and overage charges, of course, but at least Comcast's proposal is one I could live with. 250GB a month comes out to about 8.3GB a day, equivalent to an HD movie download with a gig or two to spare.

That sounds a lot better than Time Warner Cable's upcoming trial in Beaumont, Texas, that would charge subscribers $1-a-gig extra for exceeding monthly bandwidth caps ranging from 5GB to 40GB, with the 40GB plan potentially costing $50-$60 a month. As I pointed out at the time, renting just eight HD movie downloads (at about 5GB each) would exceed a 40GB monthly cap.

On the other hand, a 250GB bandwidth cap sounds reasonable—and I'd rather have the limit spelled out in black and white, rather than wonder whether my provider is throttling my usage even through I'm on a supposed "all you can eat" plan. It's well worth noting that Comcast has been under fire from the FCC for allegedly interfering with and even disconnecting heavy bandwidth users on its network, even though Comcast currently has no official usage limits.

What do you think—could you live with a 250GB bandwidth cap?

Related:
Comcast Considering 250GB Cap, Overage Fees [DSLreports]