Another argument for Regulation-- Comcast screws consumers

[Armstead]

http://reverbpress.com/news/tech/comcast-screws-customers-with-data-caps/
Ditching Cable? Desperate Comcast Slaps Captive Broadband Customers With Hefty ‘Data Cap’ Fees

September 6, 2015Elisabeth Parker Tech

Cutting the cord on your overpriced “100 Channels of Sh*t” cable TV plan? As former subscribers embrace streaming media services like Netflix and Hulu, Comcast finds a way to staunch their bleeding red ink. Comcast plans to punish their captive broadband customers with hefty fees for going over that 300 gigabyte data limit you don’t know about.

300 GB might sound like an awful lot of data. But if you spend a lot of the time on the Internet, those gigs can go awfully fast.

But what about the new “net neutrality” rules? Well, Comcast and other big carriers are suing the feds. In the meantime, they’ve got other ways to punish us for streaming media from sources other than the ones they own. Bob Sullivan from Geekwire reports:

Comcast gave some users the bad news Thursday — not surprisingly, before a long weekend. Consumers who exceed 300 GB in a month will have to pay for overages at $10 per 50 GB tier.

Not surprisingly, they have the option to pay an extra $30 to get the service they have currently, without caps. Folks from Atlanta Georgia and other markets have been stuck with this data cap — once touted by Comcast as extremely munificent — for years. Now, Comcast is slowly-but-surely spreading their data cap charges to markets in whatever states will let these corporate crooks get away with it, including: Ala., Arizona, Ark., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., La., Maine, Miss., and Tenn.

.....Thanks to deregulation — the big telcos have gobbled up all the more local, innovative and customer-driven companies. If you don’t like Comcast, fine: You can go to AT&T, and they will provide lousy service and treat you like crap, too....

[questionseverything]

1. comcast is the perfect example of a monopoly

we do not have real capitalism because comcast has no competition

[displacedtexan]

2. I notice that California is missing from that list.

Just another reason to be glad I live in San Francisco... lots and lots of internet options here. If and when I dump Comcast altogether, I'll have several companies to choose from.

My brother in TX was just told by UVerse that they can't guarantee that his streaming service from Netflix and Amazon will continue to work well once he drops his UVerse cable channel package. What a crock! They're gonna get us any way they can.

Truly heavy sigh.

[LiberalEsto]

3. Cable companies have never actually been regulated in any serious way

Back in the early days of cable, cable providers got cities and towns to sign contracts so there would be a cable monopoly in each community.

The municipalities were supposed to regulate the cable monopolies, but any attempts at regulation were extremely lax as a rule. And of course some elected officials who were doing the "regulating" were happy to let the cable companies do whatever they wanted, in exchange for campaign contributions and/or tickets to events and soforth.

As a result, cable consumers have been socked with rate increase after rate increase, service cut after service cut, sometimes two or three in a year, with no way to fight back. This will not change until municipalities around the nation get rid of these sweetheart monopolies.

[Armstead]

5. Where I live the Fed funded a public broadband highway

From the economic Stimulus funds. The state built the lines, and then local c=givernments have set up a municipal co-operative to operate broadband in each town.

Ought to do that throughout the country.

[yeoman6987]

4. I told friends they would end up paying what they did

before in no time. They didn't believe me. As if cable companies were going to allow everyone to pay 50 dollars for Internet and nothing else....yeah right. Anyone who didn't see this coming needs to start having a reality check.