Vermont Weighs Response to Comcast Data Caps

The Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to support Donovan's letter. The panel plans to make recommendations to the Finance and General Affairs and Economic Development committees, said Sears, who acknowledged possible jurisdictional issues given federal preemptions on states regulating information services. Comcast's agreeing earlier to postpone the cap’s implementation until July, meaning no overage charges until August, hasn’t stopped state and local concerns. See our report here.

ISPs shouldn’t benefit from state broadband funding while “digging deeper into their customer base for profit,” said Sen. Phil Baruth (D). He pitched one way Vermont legislators could respond: "If we were to calculate since the pandemic started, how many customers have been added to each company via our expansion of broadband, and then we were to create some kind of fee on each company designed to claw back some of that new revenue, and then we used that for a grant to pay for low-income [people] who are getting hit with this cap, I think that would be legal and ... a completely fair turnabout on the telecommunications companies.” Sears said the committee could recommend that.

“You can be sure this an area of concern for the attorney general,” especially with unusually high usage in the pandemic from people working and schooling from home, said the AG office’s Public Protection Division Chief Christopher Curtis. “It's this confluence of events related to the pandemic that's causing really high usage of data plans that's not ordinary.” Donovan wrote Comcast that he's getting complaints from the cable company's customers. "Consumers say they have been frustrated to learn that their internet services will be subject to new fees and restrictions, even for those consumers who had signed up for service with a long-term contract. This has been particularly unwelcome news for consumers to receive during the ongoing pandemic, when consumers are experiencing financial insecurity and remote work and schooling requirements must be met."

The Department of Public Service agrees with the AG, said Telecom and Connectivity Director Clay Purvis. Massachusetts has a bill to stop caps, he noted. The previous FCC pulled back on regulating broadband, but the federal agency should act, since caps are nationwide, he said. Data caps are an "unfortunate net management tool,” said Purvis. Comcast’s 1.2 TB limit is higher than other ISPs and equals about 13 hours of Zoom in HD daily, seven days a week, he said: Many people won't go over, but larger families “are under threat of hitting that cap.”

Comcast is listening to concerns, said its State Government Relations Director John Sutich. The cable operator gave customers a data usage tool and is trying to be clear and transparent in notices, he said. "We absolutely acknowledge" the internet’s importance during the pandemic, “but there are instances where a few users can drive" large amounts of traffic, he said.

The Vermont panel heard testimony earlier Friday on an anti-robocalls bill that includes $500 for a first violation and $1,000 for subsequent violations, or up to 90 days jail time. At the virtual hearing, Sears sought some revisions to his SB-11 and said the committee will likely take it up again Thursday.

Sen. Joe Benning (R) isn’t sure how much Vermont can do given legal questions, including what happens if the call comes from another state. Sears said he understands that but still thinks it would be worthwhile “to put something on the books.” Vermont AG Chief of Staff Charity Clark supported the bill but noted robocalls rarely come from within the state and are often from overseas.