I don't recall my exact wording of the complaint. I wish I had saved it, but it was in regards to the data caps that Comcast is trialing.
In the letter I received they state
The FCC has previously recognized that usage-based pricing for Internet service is a legitimate billing practice that may benefit consumers by offering them more choices over a greater range of service options.
They link an FCC document, the 2015 Open Internet Order, in the footer. And, yeah, the document does imply that in more than one sense. The same document also has this to say about data caps as well.
Since the original transparency rule was promulgated, the Commission has received hundreds of complaints regarding advertised rates, slow or congested services, data caps, and other potentially deceptive practices.
While the FCC does recognize data caps as a business practice, it also very clearly calls it a "deceptive practice". They also go on to say that data caps have potentially negative effects on consumers.
Data caps or allowances, which limit the amount and type of content users access online, can have a role in providing consumers options and differentiating services in the marketplace, but they also can negatively influence customer behavior and the development of new applications
“even if providers do not block content outright, providers can still utilize their market power to harm consumers in more subtle ways, such as by lowering data caps or exempting their own services from such caps”
Another excerpt from the letter I received says
Comcast is trialing an innovative usage-based billing approach that relieves lighter end users from paying the same price as heavier end users, while enabling those heaver end users to continue using as much data as they want without being subjected to a hard cap
They go on to say that the median monthly usage over the last six months was 40 GB. In images posted in this thread from a little while back, in this image in particular, we see that the smallest data option in Tuscon, AZ is 300 GB. So... if the average monthly data usage over the past six months was only 40GB, and this plan is about relieving "lighter end users from paying the same price as heavier end users", why is there not a 50 GB option significantly cheaper than the 300 GB option? Wouldn't that be the fair thing to do in this case?
It's like if a city had a bunch of 1200 sq ft apartments for rent, and the average tenant only uses 500 sq ft of it. Instead of giving them a smaller option to save money, they're just allowing them more room if they choose to have it. That's still not fair. They're still paying for a bunch of space they're not using. I know I'm trying to compare a limited floor plan with unlimited internet usage, but I hope you see my point here.
The letter concluded with contact information to a Comcast Customer Security Assurance rep, should I wish to call them back. I'm sure plenty of you have gotten letters too in regards to your complaints, but I decided to do a little digging into mine and wanted to share my findings. It seems like Comcast is trying to hide behind the FCC's acknowledgment that data caps are a "legitimate billing practice" without fully understanding what the FCC believe about data caps.
Extra note: I did a ctrl+f for "legitimate" in the Open Internet Order linked above. I didn't find any hit relating the word "legitimate" to data caps specifically, but I did find this.
In order to maintain flexibility, the Commission tailored the rules contained in the Open Internet Order to fit the technical and economic realities of the broadband ecosystem. To this end, the restrictions on blocking and discrimination were made subject to an exception for “reasonable network management,” allowing service providers the freedom to address legitimate needs such as avoiding network congestion and combating harmful or illegal content.
Sound familiar? We all learned with the leaked documents that Comcast's data caps have nothing to do with avoiding network congestion. This Open Internet Order seems to discuss "legitimate network management" practices as a whole in regards to what services broadband providers should be providing to end users. The one thing I've taken from all of this is that the data caps have nothing to do with fairness. Hope you all enjoyed the write-up.
by Spiderranger http://ift.tt/1l9Sx0F
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