Written by Brett L. Sappington, Director of Research

As household data volumes increase, many operators in the US are grappling with the addition of data caps to their broadband services. Time Warner cable and other operators have felt the wrath of subscribers over these caps, and many are hesitant to implement hard caps, charging consumers for overages.

Comcast is experimenting with a new structure, eliminating their 250 GB per month cap and replacing it with a new tiered offering for use over 300 GB per month. So, they replaced their cap with...well...a different cap. The new tiered plan works just like the old cap though with 50 GB per month more data. Go over. Get charged.

By increasing the data volume, Comcast decreases the number of consumers that bump the cap, hopefully minimizing the consumer outcry. Comcast still provides an exception to the cap, sorry - "tiered pricing", for their Xfinity app.

With AT&T, Suddenlink, and other operators taking the broadband cap path, consumers can expect tiered pricing to be the reality for broadband within the next few years.