Comcast Will Refund Your Bill $5 If You Stay Below 5GB a Month – Thanks?

In our ‘are you serious…?’ moment of the week, a recent Bloomberg article re-opened the conversation about Comcast’s expanding data caps, and discovered an interesting little bit of information.

We have complained pretty regularly, that while we’re pretty much in favor of one monthly cost for all internet customers, if Comcast is to expand their data caps, that they should make it a sliding scale, giving a price break to those who don’t use nearly as much data as the average streamer.

It turns out the US’s largest cable internet provider is starting a similar program, but with a laughably small amount of a refund. For users who stay below 5GB of usage a month, they will receive a $5 refund on their monthly bill. That’s right, a whole five dollars.

For those less aware of just how much data all the things you do on the internet use, 5GB is barely enough to watch two movies on Netflix or stream some HD video via YouTube. Basically, this $5 refund is only going to apply to people who barely use their home internet to check email.

Comcast has stated that only 8% of customers go over their arbitrary caps, which actually ends up being 1.8 million people. We’d be curious to see some numbers surrounding how many people are able to stay below 5GB a month. We’re guessing it’s probably a diminishing audience as more and more people turn to streaming services for their home entertainment. Sure with a traditional cable subscription, it might be easier to maintain such low usage, but all for a petty $5 refund?

What a joke.