The Associated Press recently published a report on Comcast’s plan to meter the Internet through data caps and customers have pointed out that these caps are just the right size to discourage people from getting all their television through streaming services instead of through a traditional cable TV package.
These data caps were created not out of necessity, but by Comcast’s desire to fight the growing popularity of using the internet as a substitute for cable television. Comcast tells the Associated Press that roughly 8% of its customers go over 300GB per month but you can definitely expect that number to increase the more people rely on streaming services for television. Along with these plans of data caps, Comcast has been slowing connections for users who frequently use streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.
As the Internet continues to grow and become more easily accessed across the world, it will begin to find replacements for outdated technologies. Cable television is no longer a necessity when someone who is apt at using the Internet can find all of their television shows online. Comcast may try to throw obstacles in its way, but progress will never slow down for old technologies.
I find this article interesting because this year I am living on campus and next year, I am living off campus. On campus I am able to stream all the videos and music I want without my Internet ever slowing down. Granted the Internet does crash every once in a while, the Internet speed is incredibly fast and does not have a cap. And the best thing is both cable and Internet are free. Even though I do have a TV and free cable, I barely watch it. I only watch sports channels out of convince of not having to look for games online. But other than that I make my laptop into a hop spot and watch Netflix, and YouTube or listen to Spotify and Pandora on my TV, though my chrome cast. I think that Comcast should give out separate plans for those who do use cable and for those who just use the Internet. I know their prices are high already for bad internet, so why not focus on what is become more popular?
I think that this is a creative way for comcast to try and to get people to watch and pay for their cable services rather than have people only use internet services. I don’t agree with comcast’s plan to do this. If comcast wants so get more people to watch cable tv, I think that they should either let people choose the channels they want to get or reform their pricing policies. If comcast were to allow people to choose what channels they wanted to watch instead of making people buy huge packages of channels that they probably wont watch. Also, I feel that if comcast were to lower their price of the cable service that they offer they would be able to get people to watch shows on a tv more than on a phone.
I don’t see a reason for a set of limits on peoples internet usage. Wouldn’t be surprised if the government somehow got involved in this one. They ended up getting involved with regulating commercial volume after enough people complained. I’m with you in attempting to ditch the cable company. My family and I have talked about ways to usurp it, however, the technology isn’t quite there yet. We pay well over 100 dollars per month for what amounts to channels we barely watch and low end internet. I think its sad the way that companies are enabled to gouge consumers. Limiting internet streaming could even become an unfair trade practice if particular streaming services are affecting too much. I don’t see getting better anytime soon.
I find this article to be very interesting to me. I am always streaming on my phone, from Twitch to YouTube and even Netflix. I can understand the reasoning behind having to set up these limits, but I don’t believe that it will have an sort of backing. This will inadvertently cause more damage to the company that it will good. My family uses internet, phone, and cable from Comcast but the prices are hefty and unnecessary. Of recently we have been throwing around the idea to get rid of cable, to reduce the price, and to use the internet to stream movies and TV shows to our television. I am well aware that we are not the only ones who do this. Many people resort to this due to its cheaper pricing and the greater accessibility. Many people will leave this company and search for a new one without limitations to how much they can stream.
Here’s a link for anyone looking for the original associated press article:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3eed82ff6ab848f294e621c7d21f9690/how-comcast-wants-meter-internet
I think that the Internet Service Provider market is a fascinating one. Comcast’s move towards limiting data I think over-prioritizes their traditional cable business, possibly at the cost of being a competitive internet service provider. Unfortunately, in many parts of the country, people don’t have much choice in the way of internet providers. For a related read on why theres so few choices for most consumers, I would recommend this wired article (http://www.wired.com/2013/07/we-need-to-stop-focusing-on-just-cable-companies-and-blame-local-government-for-dismal-broadband-competition/)
To offer a contrasting view from Comcast’s move to limit data, in parts of the country where its available, Google Fiber offers unlimited data at comparatively incredible speeds. To quote Brad Tuttle in his Time article, “For $70 a month, Google Fiber provides Internet that’s roughly 100 times faster than the national average for broadband. Customers are also given the option of basic Internet on par with other broadband service for free, after paying a one-time fee of $300, or $25 monthly for 12 months.” (http://time.com/money/3737568/google-fiber-prices-comcast/)
I think consumers are already moving away from traditional cable TV services and to streaming and other on-demand sources of video entertainment. I tend to think thats the direction in which the market is headed. I tend to imagine that theres no fundamental difference in infrastructure for transferring TV versus internet information. I imagine one day people will pay for internet service, and then subscribe to channel packages which will be streamed much like Netflix is now to various devices – of course I’m no expert and am going mostly on my own hunch. Im curious to hear what others make of this and how this situation will continue to progress as Comcast rolls out this style of pricing in other regions.