Comcast Battles Google Fiber In Atlanta -- With Threat Of Usage Caps Unless You Sign 3-Year Contract
With Google Fiber now starting to encroach on some major Comcast territories, the company's suddenly finding itself in the unfamiliar position of actually having to compete on price. In Atlanta, where Google Fiber is expected to appear later this year or early next, Comcast has been circulating flyers urging locals not to fall for the "hype" of ultra-fast, relatively cheap Google Fiber service.
But given that Atlanta is one of Comcast's growing usage cap "trial" markets, many were wondering just how far Comcast was willing to go in terms of competing on price. With the company's announcement this week that it's beginning to deploy gigabit cable service (technically 1 Gbps downstream, 35 Mbps upstream) in Atlanta, Comcast's strategy has become somewhat more clear. According to the company, Comcast will offer its gigabit service for $70 a month if you sign a contract, but $140 a month if you choose to go without.
The press release not-too-surprisingly chooses to omit this, but if a customer chooses to go the non-contract route, they'll find themselves subject to Comcast's 300 GB monthly usage cap and overage fees:
Much like its usage cap plans, Comcast states these early gigabit cable deployments (Nashville, Chicago, Detroit and Miami on deck) are just trials, and the company's pricing could shift depending on whether this latest long-term contract gambit is effective at keeping potential Google Fiber customers from jumping ship.
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But given that Atlanta is one of Comcast's growing usage cap "trial" markets, many were wondering just how far Comcast was willing to go in terms of competing on price. With the company's announcement this week that it's beginning to deploy gigabit cable service (technically 1 Gbps downstream, 35 Mbps upstream) in Atlanta, Comcast's strategy has become somewhat more clear. According to the company, Comcast will offer its gigabit service for $70 a month if you sign a contract, but $140 a month if you choose to go without.
The press release not-too-surprisingly chooses to omit this, but if a customer chooses to go the non-contract route, they'll find themselves subject to Comcast's 300 GB monthly usage cap and overage fees:
"That's Comcast's attempt at price competition, given that Atlanta is one of the markets Google Fiber has targeted for deployment. Comcast tells me that while the $70 option will not feature the company's usage caps (which are being "trialed" in the Atlanta market) users on the no-contract, $140 plan will face usage caps. They also have the option of paying $35 per month extra to avoid said caps."In other words, if you lock yourself down in a three-year contract to avoid usage caps, you'll obviously not be able to sign up for Google Fiber without a major penalty when the service arrives. If a customer chooses to go without a contract to leave their options open -- they'll face either a 300 GB cap and $10 per 50 GB overage fees, or the option of paying a $35 per month fee to avoid the usage caps entirely. So yes, Comcast's "competing," but in only the way Comcast can.
Much like its usage cap plans, Comcast states these early gigabit cable deployments (Nashville, Chicago, Detroit and Miami on deck) are just trials, and the company's pricing could shift depending on whether this latest long-term contract gambit is effective at keeping potential Google Fiber customers from jumping ship.
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