Wireless data caps more about profit than congestion

[Commentary] Wireless carriers like to say that monthly data caps are necessary to prevent heavy users from slowing down less active ones. I won't argue that data caps have no positive impact on wireless networks -- they can prevent the most egregious overuse of what is a limited resource. But it's a crude tool at best, targeting monthly averages with no regard for whether the network is congested at a particular time or place.

Recent actions and statements from carriers suggest this is the case: data caps are largely a profit play, not an efficient means of preventing network problems. “If you try to use monthly volumes as a way of managing congestion, you never do a very good job of it,” said Sandvine cofounder and CTO Don Bowman. Sandvine is known for its research on Internet traffic and its products that help Internet providers (including Comcast) manage network congestion. Data caps “are more about defining a differentiated value than they are about protecting the network or protecting the other users on the network,” Bowman said. “You don’t want to launch a lower price point and have your higher users jump down into it.”