Comcast's Usage Cap: What Does It Mean?

[Commentary] Comcast has posted a change to its broadband user policy today. It's now limiting subscribers to 250 Gigabytes of monthly usage, which can include e-mailing friends or uploading photos. Near term, the limit may not do much to curtain the average consumer's Web usage. After all, 250 Gigabytes is a lot: You could download 100 HD movies over the Web, and still have some of that capacity left. Chances are, 99% of consumers will not even notice the change — for now. But the decision carries weighty implications for the future. As Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett pointed out in his Aug. 29 note, "While the usage level specified is high, it is now finite.... A line has been crossed." This is the end of unlimited broadband use as we know it. The end of an era. Chances are, other broadband service providers will follow suit and institute similar — or even lower — limits. In the coming years, as users start to download HD movies en masse, and to watch a ton of Web video, even the Comcast cap — a cap that seems ample today — may not seem so high. A growing percentage of users may have to curb their online activities. And that's bad news for Web businesses such as those pushing bandwidth-thirsty videos.