The future just keeps looking brighter for those who make money from data caps, and more limited for everyone else. The latest data out on home broadband caps now shows that if the Comcast and TWC merger goes through, 79% of internet subscribers — four in every five Americans with a broadband connection — will face a monthly data cap on their plans.
The most recent math comes from GigaOm, who have been tracking broadband data caps for ages. They last took a stab at calculating the number back in April, and came up with a similar 78%.
However, the projections are able to be more specific, and less conjecture, now that we have a few key pieces of information. First, the Comcast-TWC plan to spin off 4 million subscribers to Charter: Charter has a data cap, and so once the deal is completed, those four million consumers will too.
Second, there is more certainty about Comcast’s plans for the future. Their “data threshold” program has so far only been tested in some markets, but Comcast recently made clear that it fully intends to have its data caps and usage-based billing set in place within five years.
That timeline would put it post-merger, meaning the cap would apply to the combined subscriber base of Comcast and TWC — right now, thirty million customers, and only likely to climb.
Latest stats show Comcast/TWC merger will cap 79% of broadband subscribers [GigaOm]
by Kate Cox via Consumerist
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario