11/14 Joint Comments Urging the FCC to Adopt Rules to Protect Consumers from Costly Broadband Data Caps

Public Knowledge; the Open Technology Institute at New America; the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society; and the National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low-income clients, respectfully submit these comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s Notice of Inquiry on fixed and mobile broadband internet service data caps and their effects on consumers and competition. We support the Commission’s inquiry to better understand the claims internet service providers (ISPs) make to rationalize imposing data caps on data plans in light of their negative effects on consumers—especially those in the lowest income brackets—and believe that this inquiry will shed light on the critical need to issue a rulemaking proceeding to uncap broadband data plans.

As consumer data usage continues to grow in an increasingly connected world, this inquiry is timely and important. The comments provide information on consumer data usage trends, break down the technical arguments (or lack thereof) for data caps, and ultimately show that data caps are another profit-driving tool for ISPs at the expense of consumers and the public interest.