- Consumers have told the FCC they’re not too happy about having data caps on their internet plans
- But providers usually set their caps high enough that most customers are unlikely to go over the limit, said OpenVault
- The challenge is consumers are usually unaware of how much data they’re using
Ever had concerns about going over the limit with your broadband connection? The FCC wants to get to the bottom of data caps, as it recently launched a notice of inquiry to examine how usage limits on both fixed and mobile service impact internet usage for consumers.
“In light of the critical importance of broadband internet access service, we seek comment to better understand the current state of data caps and whether data caps cause harm to competition or consumers’ ability to access broadband internet services,” the FCC wrote.
From the consumer’s perspective, they’re none too thrilled about having data caps on their plans. More than 600 people have reached out to the FCC expressing their frustrations.
A Comcast customer in Florida said they had to upgrade their plan to avoid hitting a data cap, and that the provider “charges an insane amount” for exceeding the limit.
Another consumer from Illinois wrote data caps not only “curtail the ability” to stream high-definition content, participate in video calls and download large files, but they also “discourage[s] exploration of new online services and platforms due to the fear of exceeding the allotted data allowance and incurring additional charges.”
But according to OpenVault CEO Mark Trudeau, data caps aren’t really that big of a deal, because they’re usually set high enough that most consumers are unlikely to exceed the limit.
Cox and Xfinity for instance both have monthly data caps exceeding one terabyte. Many major fiber providers, like AT&T, Frontier, Google Fiber and Verizon Fios, don’t have data caps at all.
On the fixed wireless front, T-Mobile has a 1.2 TB data cap while Verizon's Home Internet doesn't have a cap. Verizon has said its fixed wireless subscribers consume an average of just over 300 GB of data per month, while T-Mobile pegged average usage for this cohort at 450 GB per month.
Trudeau told Fierce data caps were a lot more prevalent pre-Covid before operators had the chance to add more bandwidth and capacity into their networks. Typically, ISPs found a “very small percentage” of customers were causing capacity constraints.
“If one or two customers on a given node is causing issues for 300 others, where those 300 are not getting the service that they paid for, then that’s a problem right?” he said.
The main driver for usage-based billing wasn’t to increase revenue but to “balance the network a little more.” Once Covid hit, remote work and video calling caused data usage to skyrocket. Many operators relaxed their data caps during the pandemic and “just never went back to them.”
“Nobody wants to be perceived as holding people back from such an essential service,” said Trudeau.
According to OpenVault’s Q2 2024 Broadband Insights report, the average broadband subscriber used around 586 GB of monthly data in the quarter, a nearly 10% increase from 534 GB in Q2 2023.
Lack of awareness
How could a consumer exceed a one-terabyte data cap? Someone could leave their video camera on all day long and “drive a tremendous amount of upstream usage,” Trudeau noted. Or a person may have left their Wi-Fi network open and not realize other people have hopped onto their service.
In some cases, a subscriber could be reselling broadband service in their apartment building. “And that’s not even legal,” he said.
The challenge is that consumers are usually unaware of how much data they’re using, said Bryan Darr, VP of Smart Communities at Ookla.
“Many people see the internet as a utility,” Darr told Fierce. “If you follow that line of reasoning, we don't expect to have unlimited usage of electricity, water, natural gas.”
It’s commonplace for people to turn off the water after showering or lower the temperature of their thermostats before leaving for vacation. But for broadband, data usage varies widely.
Some subscribers use services that demand less data and may never hit the caps. Others may watch a lot of HD video content that uses “much more data than standard definition.”
“Scrolling through social media feeds for hours can ‘push’ hundreds of videos to the user, many of which may be of no interest – they just start running,” Darr said.
He added while older networks may have capacity issues, other networks may have plenty of their own capacity “but cannot access enough middle mile fiber to meet the demand of their heaviest users.”