Comcast Suspends Data Caps In Wake of Coronavirus

Comcast has confirmed that the company will suspend all usage caps and overage fees in response to COVID-19, as millions of Americans begin hunkering down at home to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. “With so many people working and educating from home, we want our customers to access the internet without thinking about data plans,” the company said in a statement. “While the vast majority of our customers do not come close to using 1TB of data in a month, we are pausing our data plans for 60 days giving all customers Unlimited data for no additional charge.” Comcast normally imposes a 1 terabyte per month usage cap, charging users $10 per each additional 50 GB of data users consume beyond that. Experts on Thursday noted that such surcharges aren’t technically necessary, operate as little more than a cash grab on captive customers in uncompetitive markets, and urged all US ISPs to suspend the practice as millions of Americans work and learn from home. Comcast’s decision follows on the heels of similar announcements by AT&T and Centurylink in response to pressure from consumer groups and lawmakers.