Internet caps on download amounts are coming, new reports suggest after it was revealed that Netflix counts for nearly one-third of all Internet usage during peak hours, highlighting the growing concern many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are having over their bandwidth use by customers. The reports are a major concern for customers who may be forced to pay fees once they go above certain limits.
Based on reports, ComCast - the largest ISP in the United States - is to roll out a 300 GB monthly limit on Internet use for its customers, which means that once you go over that number, the company will be charging an additional $10 for every 50 GB used. That could potentially wreak havoc on households where multiple computers are using and streaming online content, notably from video-streaming company Netflix.
This is part of the 'cord cutter' trend in many parts of the US and abroad where users opt not to have cable television and in turn stream their video and viewing content online, driving their overall bandwidth dramatically higher than other users with television. ISPs are looking for solutions to those using the high bandwidth and may start charging for too much Internet use.
As a result, Time Warner Cable - a company ComCast is aiming to take over - has an optional plan that offers 30 GB in cap plus a $5 monthly discount. The company says most of their customers, however, opt to go with the unlimited plan at higher monthly fees.
Sandvine has released its latest Global Internet Phenomena report and it says Internet users in the US "consume on average 212 GB a month, more than seven times the usage of a typical subscriber. These 'cord cutters' consume an average of 100 hours of video a month and account for 54 percent of total traffic consumed each month."
This means companies like Netflix, which use a large amount of bandwidth to stream their content, could be forcing ISPs to look twice at how they charge for Internet services and this may have drastic effects for users in the near future.
Sandvine is an Internet equipment company that delivers such products to ISPs, including ComCast, to help those companies manage network use.
"The most striking fact of all may be the revelation that the top 15th-percentile of video users actually consume the majority of monthly network traffic, and that the bottom 15th-percentile of users consume only 0.5 percent," Sandvine writes.
