The carrier has begun sending out emails to customers warning of impending changes to its mobile data offering, including a resolution cap on video streaming and speed throttling for hotspots.
Comcast has developed a bit of a reputation for being generally being disliked by the majority of the public, having even been considered the worst company in America back in 2014. Today’s news probably won’t do the internet service provider any favors, as the company has started informing its customers of limitations it will start imposing on its mobile offering, Xfinity Mobile.
According to a statement issued by Comcast, users – even those on the unlimited plan – will start seeing video streaming quality drop from 720p to 480p over cellular data. The company says this will allow those paying « By the Gig » to save money, as well as keeping those on the unlimited plan further from the 20GB threshold after which the speed is throttled. Streaming over Wi-Fi will remain unaffected.
In addition to the resolution cap, Comcast is also throttling speeds for those who create personal hotspots on the Xfinity Mobile unlimited plan, maxing out at just 600kbps, regardless of whether users have reached the 20GB threshold. Ironically, those paying « by the gig » will still get full 4G speeds, which doesn’t seem to fall in line with the company’s reasoning of « saving you money ».
Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile service was announced in 2016, and it feeds off of Verizon’s LTE service, which might help explain the true motivation for these changes. According to some industry analysts, usage of the mobile network costs Comcast $5 per GB, a price which the company may be unwilling to pay for massive amounts of data used by its customers.
Source: Reddit, FierceWireless via SlashGear
