Comcast Considering Capping Downloads

Comcast, which has been plagued by complaints about its practice of restricting network access for some heavy users, is weighing the idea of a straight 250GB cap on monthly downloads, with additional fees for exceeding that limit.Comcast has recently come under fire for restricting the traffic of some heavy users. The company has also long had a policy of threatening extremely heavy users with the cancellation of their contracts. Now the cable giant is considering trying to improve the transparency of its policies by explicitly capping allowable downloads at 250 GB a month, allegedly enough for 50 HD movies, 250 regular movies, or 6,000 songs. Users who exceed the cap could be charged $15 for every 10 extra GB.

Jennifer Khoury, a company spokeswoman, said the company is "currently evaluating this service and pricing model to ensure we deliver a great online experience to our customers."

At least one analyst was skeptical, though. Phil Redman, research vice president at Gartner, said, "Once you're on an unlimited plan, it's hard to go back. On the wireline side, it's almost an inalienable right to use as much bandwidth as you want for a set price."Associated Press