Comcast explores charging customers for internet data used

[unhappycamper]

http://www.wcvb.com/money/comcast-explores-charging-customers-for-internet-data-used/36069756



Company now has more Internet than TV customers

Comcast explores charging customers for internet data used
Published 10:18 AM EDT Oct 27, 2015

This year marked a turning point for Comcast, the cable giant: It now has more Internet than TV customers. And it's trying out how to charge you for the amount of data you use, much the way Verizon and AT&T do for wireless customers.

Why risk doing something that upsets customers? Most large cable companies - AT&T and some smaller providers are the main exceptions - offer unlimited data plans.

The reason is simple. Comcast currently takes in more revenue from video customers than from Internet customers, but that's not likely to be true forever. A small but growing number of consumers are skipping cable subscriptions as hours spent watching video shifts online. So finding a way to charge for heavier Internet use could bolster Comcast's revenue as the ranks of its cable customers shrink.

For instance, the company lost 48,000 cable customers in its just-reported third quarter while adding 320,000 Internet customers. Revenue rose 8.3 percent to $18.7 billion in the July-September period, while net income dropped 23 percent to $2 billion because of a tax gain from last year.

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I'm stuck with Comcast - it is the only internets cable company the City of Boston allows in my area.