Internet and cable provider Comcast will delay its plans to charge a data-overage fee to customers who use more data than their plan allows in a given month, the attorney general of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the company agreed to waive the fee in Northeastern states until July 2021 as people continue to rely on their internet service providers to keep them connected amid the pandemic.
The fee is part of a new data plan from Comcast that would charge customers who exceed 1.2 terabytes of data in a given month. To exceed the threshold, users would have to take part in 3,500 hours of video conferencing or stream five hours of 4K-resolution video every day for a month.
“This is not the time to change the rules when it comes to internet data usage and increase costs,” Shapiro said in a statement. “My office negotiated with Comcast to delay the implementation of these overage charges and waive any early termination fees for customers who opt out through December 2021. We also limited the impact of these changes on low-income households.”
Along with removing data cap charges, Comcast will also allow customers who signed contracts before November 2020 to end their service at any point through December 2021 without being charged a cancellation fee. The company also said that anyone enrolled in their Internet Essentials program will not be charged overages at any point in 2021.
