Comcast is planning to introduce a new data cap on Xfinity Internet plans starting next year in northeastern states that previously did not have a cap. After the move is implemented, customers will be billed an extra fee for every 50GB above the cap they use in a given month.

　　Cord Cutters News reports that the changes will apply in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia. Those states did not have a data cap before, due to their area competition with Verizon Fios. The cap will be set at 1.2TB, and the policy will begin on January 1, 2021.

　　During January and February, the company will give credit for any overage charges to help get customers accustomed to the new cap. After that point, customers will be charged $10 for additional 50GB blocks, up to a total of $100.

　　Comcast has said that only about 5% of its customers use this amount of data. It offered some stats about how much that data equates to--500 hours of HD video and 34,000 hours of online games--but that doesn't take into account the sometimes large download sizes of current video games and patches. If you download lots of games in a given month, you may need to watch your cap more closely.

　　Comcast has responded to criticism through its social media with a tweet saying the new changes are "based on a principle of fairness."

　　Hey Paul. This data plan is based on a principle of fairness. Those who use more Internet data, pay more. And those who use less Internet data, pay less.

　　— Comcast (@comcast) November 23, 2020

　　It went over about as well as you'd expect.

　　No, this is literally about greed.

　　You want to be a natural monopoly, okay we're going to have you regulated like an actual utility. Get ready for a flood of regulation. It's coming.

　　— Big Debs Energy (@roflbots) November 24, 2020

　　Hey Comcast, of the "5%" of customers this will affect - how many of them are already paying for higher speed internet? I know I am paying a premium for speed so why do I need to pay even more for the data? What's the point of increased speed if my data is capped?

　　— Colin McGinty (@liter_a_cola) November 24, 2020

　　If you want to operate like a public utility, you need to be regulated like one.

　　It's not about fairness, it's about greed, plain & simple. Your own CEO has even commented about your infrastructure being more than capable of handling large amounts of traffic.

　　— Zemus77 ゼムス (@zemus77) November 24, 2020