Comcast Wants to Limit Your Netflix Binges

Comcast customers used to be able to binge on all the Netflix and YouTube videos they wanted without repercussions. Now many are being put on a diet. In a growing number of cities, the nation’s largest cable company has begun imposing extra fees on Internet customers who use what it considers excessive amounts of data. The move could bring in new revenue to offset losses from cord-cutters dropping pay-TV service to stream videos online.

The strategy poses risks. In 2008, Time Warner Cable tried to limit customers’ Internet use then dropped the plan the next year after a public backlash. Comcast has also faced questions from regulators about why its own streaming service doesn’t count toward subscriber data limits, as well as complaints from customers and online video providers. In almost all of Comcast’s test markets, which include Atlanta (GA), Nashville (TN) and Miami (FL), customers who exceed 300 gigabytes a month -- the equivalent of streaming high-definition video five hours a day, by one estimate -- pay $10 more for additional increments of 50 gigabytes.