Major U.S. Internet Providers Agree Not to Terminate Service for Non-Payment, Lift Some Data Caps

[MacRumors]

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in the United States, people are relying heavily on home internet connections for work and school as many employers have asked employees to work from home and schools have canceled classes for the next few weeks.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today said [PDF] that major U.S. internet providers, including Comcast, AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter, Sonic, Cox, Verizon, and more, have all agreed not to terminate service for any residential or small business customers unable to pay their bills due to the coronavirus.

Non-payment will not result in cancelation for the next 60 days, with internet providers also agreeing to waive late fees for payments and open WiFi hotspots to any American who needs them.

Along with the major internet providers, many other smaller internet providers across the United States have also agreed to the terms, which the FCC has called the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. FCC chairman Ajit Pai said that it is "imperative" that Americans stay connected.'

As the coronavirus outbreak spreads and causes a series of disruptions to the economic, educational, medical, and civic life of our country, it is imperative that Americans stay connected. Broadband will enable them to communicate with their loved ones and doctors, telework, ensure their children can engage in remote learning, and--importantly--take part in the 'social distancing' that will be so critical to limiting the spread of this novel coronavirus. That's why I'm asking all broadband and telephone service providers to take the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. I don't want any American consumers experiencing hardships because of the pandemic to lose connectivity.

Some internet providers have also agreed to suspend data caps in states that have them, such as AT&T. AT&T yesterday told Motherboard that it is waiving internet data overages for all customers who do not already have unlimited home internet access.

Comcast has not waived fees for data overages, but it is providing higher connection speeds on its Internet Essentials plan, which is a service for low-income Americans.

Article Link: Major U.S. Internet Providers Agree Not to Terminate Service for Non-Payment, Lift Some Data Caps

 

[Mangos86]

Sweet! Not paying Comcast.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Comca$h doing something for the greater good. I'm shocked.

 

[calzon65]

If we have a mass work-from-home effort, I wonder if will there be a noticeable impact to the USA's internet backbone.

 

[fairuz]

So far things have been working fine.

 

[avi111]

Data cap on home internet? wow.. I feel sorry for American and Canadian users

 

[slvrscoobie]

If we have a mass work-from-home effort, I wonder if will there be a noticeable impact to the USA's internet backbone.

Yea. Lot more data going to NSFW sites during office hours lol.

 

[alexandr]

good to see spectrum is not a part of this)

 

[GreenPixel]

How about the FCC just ban data caps for land lines and we won't worry about this crap any more.

 

[coachgq]

If we have a mass work-from-home effort, I wonder if will there be a noticeable impact to the USA's internet backbone.

maybe I don’t understand but wouldn’t you still have the same number of people on that backbone?
[automerge]1584123368[/automerge]

Data cap on home internet? wow.. I feel sorry for American and Canadian users

Where are you from because I have several standard responses to that depending on where you live.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

maybe I don’t understand but wouldn’t you still have the same number of people on that backbone?

Possibly?

The difference being that instead of 30 people on one larger pipe (an office), you now have those 30 people on their own individual pipes (home), as well as any extra overhead due to VPN usage.

 

[ghanwani]

Just a PR attempt by the oligopoly.

"Everybody else is doing something so before we start looking bad let's do something."

[Airlines waiving cancellation fees, credit cards forgiving late payments, tech companies offering free video conferencing...]

 

[Juicy Box]

Data cap on home internet? wow.. I feel sorry for American and Canadian users

Not every home in the US has data caps, but I feel sorry to the ones that do. I am lucky to have multiple options for ISPs in my area, and none of them have data caps.

It isn't too surprising, but it seems like the areas that have an option of of more than one ISP do not have data caps. The areas that have just one ISP tend to have data caps.

Oligopolies typically won't give anything away that they don't have to, so, many here have a data cap.

Maybe if 5G Fixed Wireless Access expands enough, data caps might be gone for good.

 

[calzon65]

maybe I don’t understand but wouldn’t you still have the same number of people on that backbone?

You are correct, but I was thinking about more people working from home that would probably use more collaboration software (file sharing, desktop sharing, presentation) and more VoIP / video traffic because you have a lot less face-to-face office meetings.

 

[Jessica Lares]

They might not terminate service, but I'm wondering if they're still going to limit browsing like they currently do if you're past due? Like a lot of things will still load, but then a heavy content site will bring up a message about your account needing attention.

 

[tigres]

Data caps at my house will exceed 2 tB, my wife, son and me working from home. Thanks Comcast, should be one hell of a bill go forward

 

[CarlJ]

maybe I don’t understand but wouldn’t you still have the same number of people on that backbone?

If you have a lot of people who were previously working in the office, talking to servers that are in that same office (so the network traffic doesn't leave the building), who are now sitting at home, working on those same servers that are still back in the office, then yeah, that'd add additional load to the backbone.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Comca$h doing something for the greater good. I'm shocked.

Except they’re not (as of right now). They’re only increasing speeds for low income customers above their pathetically low base speeds. They aren’t lifting limits or providing relief for exceeding those limits, which is what’s happening when people work full time from home.

Also, Comcast’s horrible copper network is now reduced to a crawl because of the increase in overall usage, so no matter what “speed” you purchased you’d be lucky to get 10Mbps. What’s more, most Comcast users have no choice. They’re monopolized. But don’t worry, Pai and his pals say Internet service isn’t a public necessity. It’s a luxury.

If this crisis doesn’t prove Americans are incomprehensibly stupid for letting their government officials be so ruthlessly indifferent to the needs of the population nothing will.

 

[Swift]

Watch their profits increase because people will be banging the Internet HARD.-
[automerge]1584129169[/automerge]

Not every home in the US has data caps, but I feel sorry to the ones that do. I am lucky to have multiple options for ISPs in my area, and none of them have data caps.

It isn't too surprising, but it seems like the areas that have an option of of more than one ISP do not have data caps. The areas that have just one ISP tend to have data caps.

Oligopolies typically won't give anything away that they don't have to, so, many here have a data cap.

Maybe if 5G Fixed Wireless Access expands enough, data caps might be gone for good.

Not data caps with Spectrum.

 

[Juicy Box]

Data caps at my house will exceed 2 tB, my wife, son and me working from home. Thanks Comcast, should be one hell of a bill go forward

You could get the unlimited tier, I think it is $50 extra a month, although there was someone that posted on the MR forums a few weeks back that Comcast was offering it for $10 in his area.

 

[california_kid]

Comca$h doing something for the greater good. I'm shocked.

Don't worry they will absolutely and royally screw up your monthly bills shortly after this is over.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Don't worry they will absolutely and royally screw up your monthly bills shortly after this is over.

Oh I can imagine.

 

[Juicy Box]

Not data caps with Spectrum.

I am curious, do you have another option of ISP besides Spectrum?

 

[konqerror]

good to see spectrum is not a part of this)

They are. They're listed under Charter, the company's actual name. (Just like they put Comcast and not Xfinity)

 

[compwiz1202]

Just a PR attempt by the oligopoly.

"Everybody else is doing something so before we start looking bad let's do something."

[Airlines waiving cancellation fees, credit cards forgiving late payments, tech companies offering free video conferencing...]

I'm curious how these companies will handle the missed payment, especially for people who lost jobs whether temporary or permanent, who didn't have a choice to work from home. Are places that are CCs or loans going to let you skip a payment. That doesn't work as well for services like Internet etc, so will they just let you make payment arrangements without fees or penalties?