ISPs To Bring Back Usage Caps After Brief Pandemic Hiatus

While it required some nudging, major US ISPs announced last March they would be suspending their usage caps and overage fees for 90 days as millions of Americans hunkered down to slow the spread of COVID-19. They also struck an entirely voluntary deal with the FCC to not kick users offline during this period for nonpayment due to financial hardship, though given the fecklessness of the captured Trump FCC, many ISPs ignored these promises and saw no penalty for it.

Despite the fact that the pandemic is seeing explosive growth across most of the U.S. and financial hardship for many won't be ending anytime soon, most ISPs will begin imposing usage caps and surcharges again starting in July:

"Major Internet service providers are scheduled to end their quarantine benefits soon, once again subjecting Americans to data caps and removing protections if they are unable to pay their bills."

The FCC, so far, has made no comment on whether the hiatus on disconnections, late fees, and usage caps will be extended.

The problem with usage caps in particular is that they're not technically or financially necessary in the first place. They're little more than price hikes on captive customers in uncompetitive markets, and claims they were necessary due to congestion were debunked long ago. They're not even helpful as a price differentiator, given that speed tiers and business class-tiers already perform that function.

ISPs crowed repeatedly about their networks performing incredibly well despite caps being suspended. Such limits routinely confuse customers, and the limits can be abused to give incumbent ISPs an unfair advantage in the streaming wars. In short, broadband usage caps are bullshit, and should be eliminated permanently.

Extending a hiatus on all late fees and disconnections is a thornier issue, given many smaller ISPs can't afford to carry the debt for customer nonpayment indefinitely. That said, giant ISPs like Comcast and AT&T not only enjoy natural monopolies that result in sky high prices, they have received billions in subsidies, tax breaks, and regulatory favors during the Trump administration. As such the idea that not kicking struggling users offline during an historic crisis for another 3-6 months is some kind of extreme burden for them is laughable. AT&T received a $42 billion windfall from the Trump tax cuts alone.

It's entirely possible that ISPs have to once again buckle to public outrage and announce an extension. Especially given the COVID-19 flare ups occurring in Florida, Texas, and California, and the chain of looming financial headaches (missed rent payments, the end of federal unemployment and stimulus assistance). But it's also possible so much is going on that ISPs will be able to quickly revert to imposing arbitrary, unnecessary, and punitive surcharges thanks to feckless regulators and geographical monopolies, neither of which US "leaders" want to do much about.