FCC asked to investigate need for data caps

Washington, DC-based tech policy groups including New America Foundation and Public Knowledge have asked the FCC in a letter (pdf) to investigate Internet data caps in the US. This is due to the danger of providers acting in "anticompetitive monopolistic ways," the groups wrote, and insisted AT&T becomes the main focus of such an investigation. AT&T was fingered because it charges extra fees for exceeding the cap. As such, it's motivated to leave caps in place even as its own network capacity is expanded.

While Comcast doesn't charge overages, it's guilty of not increasing its 250GB monthly data caps despite the company's network upgrades that have significantly bumped up total capacity. AT&T has also introduced a new 150GB cap for basic DSL users which is much lower than those brought in years ago.

The groups want the FCC to determine whether any ISP-offered services are excluded from the cap, how often the caps are enforced, how customers are warned and if enforcement is related to network congestion. Also noted in the letter is that artificially limiting Internet use is against the FCC's policy of encouraging broadband deployment and use.

Data caps are much lower in Canada, with many tiers limited to as little as 5GB or 15GB from major providers, depending on the plans. A similar investigation into Canadian caps would therefore be much more important. [via Ars Technica]

By Electronista Staff