» How the Comcast Bandwidth Cap Effects Web Design

To put it bluntly, I hate Comcast. Pretty much everything about the company and its offerings are mediocre, and now they are going to help the US become mediocre with them. Comcast recently announced that they will begin capping downloads after 250 gigs of data has been transferred per month. While arguably high compared to some other nations, the problem lies in how this will impact innovation. Just as we are beginning to see the web develop into a place where rich media is not only possible but maturing at a rapid pace Comcast decides to send us to a screaming halt.

Working within limitations

Web designers have been working within a huge amount of limitations since the web was conceived. One of the largest limitations faced by designers has always been balancing aesthetic choices with technical limitations like download sizes and speeds. In one swift move, Comcast has now asked us as designers to weight the importance of rich media content. If this trend continues and it spreads to other broadband providers what is to stop them from initiating different lower bandwidth caps?

The impact on media choice

What impact will this decision have on the development of Flash? Even though I don’t think flash is appropriate for all needs, there are situations where it is not only appropriate but even more effective. Flash however demands bandwidth. Compression has improved over the years but visitors worried about reaching their bandwidth cap may be afraid to visit these sites. This is where the real effect on web design could appear. If viewers must weigh the decision to visit a site based on the trade off against bandwidth consumed, then innovation stops. Designers will be forced to design sites that are small in file size and without rich media.

Are they killing (or slowing) the competition

The expansion of broadband has led to many new companies and services that rely on the broadband. We have seen innovation come in the way of ipTV (no doubt Comcast wouldn’t mind slowing this down), Netflix on-demand (competitor to their on-demand services?), and YouTube (pulling younger viewers away from TV). Each of the innovative services that are most hurt by Comcasts decision also seem to be the ones that compete the most with its own services. The potential of damage to these services alone is enough to see that there is a need to question their motives.

The real problem is the service sucks

The real problem here is that the level of service we are paying for just isn’t meeting the demand. This new policy is just a band-aid on a gaping wound. Hopefully some of the other providers will capitalize on this opportunity and distribute their better services to these Comcast users. Either way I hate Comcast and if I had another choice of provider it most certainly would not benefit them.

What are your opinions, how do you think this will effect innovation in web design? I am also really interested in what the people in areas with bandwidth caps do now. If you already have to deal with bandwidth caps, how do you deal with it?

08/30

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9 Responses to “How the Comcast Bandwidth Cap Effects Web Design”

g
August 31st, 2008 at 8:18 am

I don’t think that this cap will affect web design too much, at least not right away. The big thing I think you touched on was the idea of killing the competition. If you have the ability to download or stream HD quality videos, why do you need cable? The internet is directly threatening cable. If nothing else I think that this is what is going to ultimately drive things such as tiered internet. The cap isn’t what we should worry about, it’s merely an introduction to what could be if big business had their way.

What if they lowered or raised that cap based on how much you can pay? Now that would affect web designers, and well…everyone. Google net neutrality. There already is a system in which you can pay more for faster internet. Take Verizon FiOS (fiber optic service), I could pay $140 / month and get 50 Mbps/20 Mbps as opposed to my $45/month 1-3mbps/1 if im lucky mbps on time warner cable’s cable internet service.

The thing I am more worried about is the idea of “premium” and “basic” internet, where rather than speeds and bandwidth caps, you have caps on which actual sites you can visit. YouTube and Google could be used on the premium service where as Daily Motion and yahoo could be used on the basic. Anyways, we’ll see where this goes in the next decade or so…
Zinni
August 31st, 2008 at 8:59 am

g

Well Comcast got slammed by the FCC for throttling BitTorrent traffic, which I think is good. I think people would really get upset if they had to start paying premium fees to their ISPs just to use certain sites. This bandwidth cap, is something that is my sneaker, and most consumers probably will never even know about it until they get a call from comcast one day, because little Billy has been watching too much YouTube and playing too much Xbox Live.
Jennifer Kyrnin
August 31st, 2008 at 10:00 am

It’s funny, when I first heard about this cap, I got really ticked because we were planning on buying something similar to the Roku box for Netflix - and this cap would definitely impact us. (Good thing the streaming video choices on Netflix are so bad…) I never even thought about how it would affect my job!

I agree that this isn’t going to impact most people immediately. 250GB is a lot. But video is only just taking off on the Web. Like 2 years ago it was nearly impossible to get a good stream on a Web page without a lot of really fancy equipment and server-side software and hardware.

And when you combine that with the W3C taking a closer look at Web video to make it “play nice” (http://webdesign.about.com/od/w3c/a/what_is_w3c.htm) these caps are going to start hurting a lot sooner than most people think.
CP
August 31st, 2008 at 4:25 pm

Somehow, I can’t imagine Blockbuster and Netflix are going to let this happen without a serious fight. This is even more fuel for my tank to take my city completely wireless with the help of an ISP other than Comcast.
Qbrushes
September 1st, 2008 at 12:18 am

250gb!! I get capped at 20GB down here in Aus

Qbrushes’s latest post: Hyper Brushes
Stephen
September 1st, 2008 at 9:54 am

20gb!! I get capped at 3GB down here in South Africa (and I’m paying the equivalent of $80 p/m). I’m pretty much out of the race when it comes to developing media rich online websites.
e
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:20 pm

I share your hate for Comcast. They can’t even provide the bandwith they promise. When I was paying for 6Mbps service I was only getting 3Mbps, then I upgraded to 15Mbps and I would get 6Mbps on average.

I’m now a happy FIOS customer. I pay for 20/20 and I get 20/20. That’s how it should be.

Notice they released the bandwidth cap a few months before the XBOX360 dash update that includes Netflix OnDemand…
T
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:46 pm

What will happen to Xbox live users though? I personally, do play a lot of Xbox live because where I live there is hardly anything to do. I’m the nerd at my school, so naturally I don’t have many friends to keep me occupied outside except for a few and their nerds as well, so naturally we play Xbox Live together since we live somewhat far away.
Mike
September 17th, 2008 at 11:13 am

This is just another way for comcast to raise the cable bill. I hate comcast. I had Suscom for 6 years never had a problem the service was great. Then in 2005 comcast buys suscom and from that day on my service sucks. My cable bill just keeps going up each month. I have 4 kids and they use the internet plus i use the internet and play online games VIA xbox,xbox360,nintendo wii ect… what about us gamers. Its bull! Just one game on Xbox live is about 1.5gig. And if i watch a movie that is about the same or even larger. Then you have the online games played like Gears of Wars, Halo ect…add all that up and all the internet use in my home with the cap i am now screwed. Its like filling your tank full in your car and them telling you that the tank must last you 3 weeks. Its Bull. I guess the BBS scene will be coming back to life!

They should be sued for false advertisement because it clearly says unlimited internet use!