ISPs tell government that congestion is “not a problem,” impose data caps anyway
Found on Ars Technica on Wednesday, 30 July 2014
After consulting focus groups of Internet customers, government researchers have come to a conclusion that should surprise no one: people don't want data caps on home Internet service.
GigaOm surveyed 15 ISPs last November and found that eight capped data, at least for some customers. Those ISPs with data caps include Comcast, AT&T, CenturyLink, Cox, Charter, Suddenlink, MediaCom, and CableOne.
It's less about caps, but more about the advertising. If an ISP offers a 100M flatrate, customers expect that they can use the full bandwidth 24x7, all month long. It doesn't matter if the small print on page 315 of the contract says that there are caps. Just make it clear when they sign up.