Comcast to Cap Monthly Internet Use

Comcast will place a limit on how much data its customers can transfer each month. The monthly cap limit of 250 gigabytes will begin on October 1, 2008.

Comcast Corp has updated its user agreement that places a 250 gigabyte transfer limit each month. The company also stated that it already reserved the right to cut off customers who overuse bandwidth.

However, subscribers are confused on what exactly constitutes over-excessive bandwidth usage. The cable company said that most subscribers only use 2 to 3 gigabytes per month.

"We've listened to feedback from our customers who asked that we provide a specific threshold for data usage and this would help them understand the amount of usage that would qualify as excessive," the cable company said in a statement.

When subscribers go over the allowed threshold limit, they will be contacted by Comcast and asked to curb their usage. There are no additional charges, such as over usage fees, mentioned on Thursday's announcement or in the company's updated user agreement.

Comcast said it was forced to curb top users in an effort to keep its network fast and responsive for other subscribers. The company said the bandwidth cap is far above the median range that its customers are already using per month.