This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Comcast announced Thursday that it is experimenting with raising its monthly data cap that limits how much a customer can surf the Internet or stream video. It will start with two trials in select markets.
The cable and Internet provider said customers in one trial will be capped at 300 gigabytes per month. Currently, Comcast Internet subscribers can download up to 250 gigabytes of data per month before speeds are throttled down.
In another trial, the cap would be raised to 300GB for the first three lowest tiers (which range in price from $9.95 to $62.95 per month). The allotment would be higher for those in the two highest tiers, called Blast and Extreme ($72.95 to $199.95 per month).
In both trials, customers can get additional chunks of 50 gigabytes for $10 if they go over their limit.
"We're removing the static cap," Comcast executive vice president David L. Cohen said Thursday in a conference call with news media. "We're increasing the initial data threshold and moving to a more flexible approach."
But he did not say which markets would begin the trial or when.
Cohen did say that pricing would not change for their Internet services.
Meanwhile, Comcast will no longer enforce its current 250GB-per-month cap, though Cohen said it would continue to monitor those high-data users and alert them when they go over.
Cathy Avgiris, Comcast's general manager for Communications and Data Services, said a "vast majority" of Comcast customers don't reach anywhere near the 250GB cap and that the average subscriber uses only about 8 to 19 gigabytes per month.
"We just didn't like the message we were sending to customers that they had a static 250GB cap," Cohen said. "We're trying to send a signal to our customers. . . we want you to use our service and feel free to go on the internet."
Comcast is experimenting with the new caps in order to meet the needs of customers who are using more data with the popularity of streaming movie and music services like Youtube, Netflix and Spotify.
Comcast itself has introduced a new app for the Xbox 360 that allows gamers who own that console to stream Comcast cable TV shows and movies through it.
Typically, it could take anywhere between 1.5 to 3 gigabytes to stream one movie on Netflix, depending on whether it's shown in high definition. Online activities such as surfing websites and reading email usually take the least amount of data.
Comcast and other Internet service providers, however, have implemented caps mostly to target the small minority of heavy users, they say, that engage in peer-to-peer services like bittorrent.
Google+: +Vincent Horiuchi