Even though the coronavirus pandemic still has a large portion of the country in lockdown, many major ISPs are deciding that it’s time to return to normal – both on their data caps for internet usage and for their leniency on customers missing payments.
The FCC’s “Keep Americans Connected” program, which involved more than 800 companies pledging to keep customers connected, waive late fees, and eliminate data caps during the pandemic. For residential or small business internet customers, that guarantee expired on June 30, and that’s exactly when several companies made their changes.
Here’s a look at the latest COVID-19 policies from some of the largest internet providers.
AT&T
As of mid-July, AT&T is extending its data cap waivers through the end of September. A small caveat though, that does not apply to digital subscriber line broadband where the caps may be as low as 150 gigabits. Customer late fees and terminations for non-payment returned June 30. There is a waiver process you can apply for if you still need assistance, but that’s not a guarantee.
CenturyLink
Data cap limits for CenturyLink customers are waived until August 1. Their late fee policy and termination for non-payment policy returned to normal on June 30.
Charter
Charter doesn’t have data caps, so their policies weren’t affected here. But they did end the termination policy and late fees were reinstituted on June 30. Charter is also asking the FCC to allow them to start enforcing data caps – more on that here.
Comcast
Those with Comcast internet will have data caps once again, but the company announced that it has raised the cap from 1TB to 1.2TB. Comcast says 95% of customers stay under that amount monthly. No data overage charges will be given until August or September, depending on billing cycles.
Cox
Data caps are already back in place for Cox customers, but its limit has been raised to 1.25TB. According to the company, this data cap should affect less than 10% of customers.
Frontier Communications
Frontier High-Speed Internet service has no data caps, so Frontier customers can continue using their internet as normal, without worrying about going over a limit.
Verizon
Customers who were enrolled in the “Keep America Connected” program prior to July 1 will be rolled into the company’s “Stay Connected” program that offers assistance for those who can’t pay their bill because of a COVID-19 related issue. Customers who were not enrolled at that time are back to regular billing. For more information, visit Verizon’s COVID-19 response page.
Windstream
There are no data caps in place for Windstream customers usually, and they never announced any relief programs for businesses or individuals affected by COVID-19, so things here are running as usual.
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