Cox Communications will allegedly start testing overage fees for home broadband this summer in preparation for a nationwide deployment, according to a rumor. The potential extra costs to Cox subscribers arrives at the same time as another rumor claiming the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may start policing bandwidth caps of consumer broadband services.
Sources of DSLReports claim Cox will be trialling the overage fees in its Cleveland, Ohio market from June until September. Customers will apparently be advised of the changes on May 19, and will see extra fees on their bills for the testing period charged at $10 for every extra 50GB. During the test period, the subscribers will receive a credit for the same amount as the overage charge, but would be expected to pay the fees starting from October.
Cox services, including Cox TV Connect, Digital Telephone, and Home Security, will not count towards the usage cap. Customers will be informed by email and browser pop-ups when they reach 85 percent and 100 percent of their limit. Currently, bandwidth limits are quite generous on Cox, ranging from 150GB per month on the Starter plan and raising to 2TB on the Ultimate plan, though the most popular Preferred plan offers 350GB.
According to StopTheCap, FCC insiders claim the regulator could start policing the caps, if Comcast attempts to expand its usage metering outside its test market and into a national rollout.
“Under Title II, the agency is empowered to watch for attempts to circumvent Net Neutrality policies. Usage caps and charging additional fees to customers looking for an alternative to the cable television package will qualify, especially if Comcast continues to try to exempt itself.” claims the source.
Comcast’s cap testing is relatively similar to Cox. Current test markets since 2012 have restricted customers to 300GB of monthly usage, with a $10-per-50GB overage fee, though there are no such restrictions on its gigabit plans. “Two and a half years is exceptionally long for a ‘market trial,’ and we expected Comcast would avoid creating an issue for regulators by drawing attention to the data cap issue during its attempted merger with Time Warner Cable,” claims the source. “Now that the merger is off, there is a growing expectation Comcast will make a decision about its ‘data usage plans’ soon.”
