Comcast Says 'The Market' Will Determine Expansion of Usage Caps

Comcast this week proclaimed that "the market" will determine just how quickly the company's usage caps continue to expand. Comcast recently raised its usage caps from 300 GB to one terabyte to pre-empt possible FCC action. Though users will still have to pay $10 for each additional 50 GB consumed, or pony up $50 extra each month to avoid usage caps entirely. The company recently expanded the cap "trial" into Chicago and other areas of Illinois, as well as portions of Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan.

While most of us realize that these limits are a glorified rate hike on uncompetitive broadband markets aimed at protecting legacy TV revenues from Internet video, Comcast Cable President Neil Smit told attendees of the company's earnings call the company will be "flexible" and let "the market" dictate the pace of usage cap expansion.

"We think we’re going to continue to adjust and look at it as the market evolves and as usage evolves," stated Smit. "We have different pricing models, some based on speed, some based on usage, and we’re going to be flexible and kind of let the market tell us which way is best for consumers and how we add the most value."

The problem of course is that in much of Comcast's footprint, "the market" is less competitive than ever. AT&T and Verizon are actively exiting the DSL business across huge swaths of territory, actively trying to drive users away with a combination of apathy and price hikes on last generation speeds. Some of these markets have been sold to alternative telcos (like Frontier or CenturyLink), buyers who similarly won't see much competitive to upgrade.

Meanwhile, a growing number of these alternatives either just began imposing their own caps (AT&T), or plan to do so later this year (CenturyLink). So when Comcast says the economics of offering cheaper streaming options are "unproven" or "the market" will dictate usage caps, the company actually means its monopoly control lets it ignore the consumer and do whatever it damn well pleases.