As broadband caps turn 4, it’s time for the FCC to take action

In the four years since Comcast implemented the country’s first real broadband cap (it took effect on Oct. 1, 2008) the percentage of subscribers with caps on their broadband service has risen to 64 percent. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission only began formally wondering if data caps might need some sort of oversight, or at least sort of qualifier in the last few months.

This is a dereliction of duty from the agency that’s supposed to ensure that broadband is available across the country, an agency whose chairman gives countless speeches emphasizing how important broadband is in the home and as a source for innovation. Yet as the basic pricing for broadband service has changed, the FCC has not kept up. It hasn’t distributed data on the consumers affected, established any sort of independent group to ensure that ISPs were tracking customers’ broadband usage fairly and doesn’t even insist that ISPs who implement caps provide meters to their customers.

There are signals that the agency may be waking up to the problem, so here’s what the FCC at a minimum needs to do if caps are going to be a way of life going forward.

• If ISPs cap broadband, the FCC should track how those caps affect consumers.
• Would you like a meter with that cap?
• If I have a meter, is it accurate?