Verizon Wireless strikes a spectrum deal with Comcast. Comcast launches Streampix to compete with Netflix. Netflix complains that Comcast’s monthly data caps give Streampix an unfair advantage. Sony drops plans for a virtual cable-TV service, also blaming data caps. Verizon says DSL customers can’t save money by canceling phone service and relying on Internet calling. […]
Verizon Wireless’ deal with Comcast is a case in point. The wireless company, partly owned by Verizon Communications, wants to buy spectrum worth $3.6 billion from Comcast and two other cable companies. At the same time, it proposes to jointly market service bundles with Comcast and the other companies — even though its parent, Verizon, is, in theory, one of the cable industry’s few competitors. […]
The Washington group Public Knowledge and other net-neutrality advocates don’t dispute that heavy data demand can pose real problems. But they question the wisdom of broad monthly caps, especially those that lead to degraded or suspended service, when congestion occurs at particular times and in particular locations and can be managed in other ways. […]
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