One of the most annoying things that ISPs perpetrate on their customers is broadband data caps. It’s one of the main reasons Comcast is the company that everyone loves to hate but AT&T and others also have them. These companies justify the caps by saying that they’re necessary to prevent their networks from being saturated but that hasn’t been true for many years. The truth is that, like exorbitant SMS messaging fees, the data cap fees are merely a way of squeezing more money out of their customers.
The SMS scam came to an abrupt end when the Apple and Android platforms provided their own messaging apps that didn’t use the cell network command channel. Today, SMS is mainly used so Apple and Android users can text each other and is free for almost everyone. Now, another event may be the harbinger of the demise of data caps.
In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and those who can being encouraged to work from home, ISPs are under tremendous pressure to suspend data caps. As Devin Coldewey over at TechCrunch puts it, any ISP who tries to charge data overage fees during the crisis will instantly become radioactive. In Coronavirus could force ISPs to abandon data caps forever, Coldewey argues that ISPs will be forced to suspend the fees or become pariahs. Once their networks operate successfully without data caps and with the increased traffic that working from home will bring for a few months, it will become clear to everyone that there’s no reason for the caps other than to gouge customers.
It’s a persuasive argument but in the comments Neil Jones, who works for a smaller ISP, says that small ISPs must buy their bandwidth from the Tier 1 providers and that they definitely need data caps. Take a look at his comment to see if you agree.
In any event, it will be interesting to see if the ISPs are indeed forced to abandon data caps. We can only hope.