Comcast Data Warnings Are Real and Hitting the SouthCoast

SouthCoast residents are not too happy with Comcast this month.

According to the company’s press release from Tuesday, November 24, 2020, Comcast announced that as of “January 1, 2021, our 1.2 TB data plan will be rolled out across remaining Comcast service areas.”

Comcast claims that 1.2 Terabytes should be more than enough data for 95 percent of the customer base. “Enough to stream about 500 hours of HD video, videoconference for close to 3,500 hours in a month, watch nearly 1,200 hours of distance learning videos on Seesaw or Google Classroom, play more than 34,000 hours of online games, or stream more than 21,000 hours of music (not cumulative).”

While the company is sure that this decision will only impact about five percent of customers, we’re seeing reports from many SouthCoast residents that they have already started to receive the Comcast data usage warning texts and emails. These texts, often mistaken for a scam, are very real and include a link. It is important that you do not ignore this text and take action so as not to be charged for additional data.

My own dad received an email from Comcast confirming the data usage. His warning came on Saturday, January 16.

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My household has six people, including one middle-school-aged child and a junior in high school. The two of them have been in remote learning all month. There have been times when I’ve had to work from home as well. Even with my little brother gaming, and all of us streaming Netflix, etc., it’s hard to believe that we could reach the 90% threshold in a little over two weeks. And even if we did, we’re in the middle of a pandemic where we’ve been told that staying home is imperative. The internet has become our source to connect, stay productive, and keep entertained through this whole ordeal. The timing of this decision just seems tone-deaf.

We’ve tried to be creative this week. Everything from turning off the Wi-Fi entirely, using our hotspots since we have unlimited data on our cell plan, and downloading the Xfinity app so we can see the usage for ourselves in real-time. Someone told us to make sure the network is secure as well. If February proves to be just as bad, we may have to consider moving to the unlimited data plan with Comcast in order to avoid the extra charges.

According to the press release, customers will get “one courtesy month within a 12-month period.” The email appears to direct that to January and February of 2021 specifically.