WASHINGTON—FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency will launch an official inquiry into how data caps impact consumers and competition.
The FCC launched the proceeding after it received nearly 3,000 comments from consumers about broadband provider-imposed caps on how much data they can download and how those limits affect people’s lives.
“For most people in the United States, rationing their internet usage would be unthinkable and impractical,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “But for millions, limitations on how much data they can use online is a constant concern. And many are not happy about it.
“Restricting consumers’ data can cut off small businesses from their customers, slap fees on low-income families and prevent people with disabilities from using the tools they rely on to communicate,“ she continued. “As the nation’s leading agency on communications, it’s our duty to dig deeper into these practices and make sure that consumers are put first.”
In addition to issuing a notice of inquiry into the practice, the FCC also posted hundreds of consumer stories about the impact of data caps. Rosenworcel, a Democrat, had previously launched a portal for consumers to submit their stories so the FCC could hear from households and businesses impacted by limits on broadband usage.
The FCC released excerpts from the posted comments:
- “We have had to unplug our modem to prevent going over our data cap. We have to take our kids to find public wifi to complete their school work. We can't afford $190 a month for unlimited internet.” —Arkansas
- “[Provider] has a data cap on our internet and I provide telemedicine services with video for low-income patients … There is no other high-speed provider in my area that is able to provide reliable internet for me to see patients so I have no choice but to bear the excessive costs they are charging.”—Michigan
- “[Provider] data cap is too low for my family. It sits somewhere around 1.3TB/month. In order to have that high of a data cap, I’m required to purchase the fastest internet speed offered. On top of that, I have to pay either $10/100GB over my cap, or $40 extra/month to make my data cap 5TB/month. So the advertised price of $75/month become $115. It is unfair.”—New Mexico
- “We are a family of 6 and limited resources we have kids in school and 1 in high school that requires a lot of online work also some of our work requires remote work and with a data cap is difficult to budget it in we are forced to use [provider] since its the only provider we have in my area and forced to pay for unlimited or otherwise get penalized to use more data.”—Arizona
- “I am disabled and as such home 24/7 most days. My home internet usage is 2tb a month. During the pandemic [provider] waved the data cap on ACP plans. Since ACP expired my Internet bill increased from $20 to $50 and I now have a data cap of 1.25tb. As a result I have to rely on my phone's hot spot. I've also connected my TV to the public Wi-Fi in my city which is much slower but helps me save data.”—Iowa
The FCC reported that consumers can read these and other stories and submit their own comments here.
The Commission also released a notice of inquiry which launches a formal proceeding so the FCC can solicit public comments from those impacted by data caps. All comments can be submitted and accessed by the public at fcc.gov/ecfs (Docket No. 23-199).
The notice seeks input on the current state of data caps and whether they cause harm to competition or consumers’ ability to access broadband internet services, the FCC said.
The commission will explore why data caps continue to persist despite an increased consumer need for broadband and providers’ demonstrated technical ability to offer unlimited data plans.
The notice specifically seeks comment on current trends in consumer data usage; the impact of data caps on consumers; consumers’ experience with data caps; how broadband subscribers are informed about caps; the impact of data caps on competition; and the FCC’s legal authority to take action.
In response to the effort, Republican commissioner Brendan Carr issued a dissenting statement, saying the inquiry is a step towards imposing price controls on the internet and the FCC lacks the statutory authority to regulate prices.
“In its decision to reinstate utility-style, Title II controls on the Internet, the FCC promised to forbear from all forms of price controls—namely, both ex ante and ex post rate regulation,“ Carr said. ”The first crack in this commitment emerged immediately when the agency allowed New York’s price-control law to move forward without the Commission stating the obvious—New York’s law is plainly preempted by the Communications Act and FCC precedent. And with today’s Notice of Inquiry, the FCC itself starts down the path of directly regulating rates. It does so by seeking comment on controlling the price of broadband capacity (“data caps”). Prohibiting customers from choosing to purchase plans with data caps—which are more affordable than unlimited ones—necessarily regulates the service rates they are paying for.
“Today’s NOI is legally infirm, too, for want of statutory authority,” Carr added. “Indeed, the [6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals] has stayed the FCC’s Title II decision, which is based on the same claims of authority that the FCC invokes today.”
