NEW YORK -- Comcast is expanding its Internet data caps to five new markets including Little Rock.
The cable company is rolling out more caps as the Internet becomes an increasingly popular way to watch TV. Streaming video eats up more data than surfing the Internet and reading email. Comcast this year became a company with more Internet than TV customers.
Little Rock area Comcast customers with Internet service will eventually be charged $10 for every 50 gigabytes they use over a 300 gigabyte limit. Comcast is also offering a $35 "unlimited" option to most of the areas that have data caps. In an email to customers, Comcast said the average monthly data use is 40 gigabytes.
In October, Comcast imposed the 300-gigabyte cap on customers in southern Florida, while adding an "unlimited" plan for an extra fee there and in Atlanta. Those changes meant that about 12 percent of Comcast's market was affected, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett.
The markets added to Comcast's data cap plan are Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Houma, LaPlace and Shreveport, La.; Chattanooga, Gray, Greenville, Johnson City and Rarity Bay, Tenn.; and Galax, Va.