Comcast, the second-largest internet service provider in thr US, said it would set an official limit on the amount of data subscribers can download and upload each month.
An Associated Press report said on October 1, the cable company will update its user agreement to say that users will be allowed 250Gb of traffic per month, the company announced on its web site.
Comcast has already reserved the right to cut off subscribers who use too much bandwidth each month, without specifying exactly what constitutes excessive use, the Associated Press report said.
'We've listened to feedback from our customers who asked that we provide a specific threshold for data usage and this would help them understand the amount of usage that would qualify as excessive,' the company said in a statement on its web site.
Customers who go over the limit are contacted by the company and asked to curb their usage.
'We know from experience the vast majority of customers we ask to curb usage do so voluntarily,' the company said.
Curbing the top users is necessary to keep the network fast and responsive for other users, Comcast has said.
Comcast stressed that the bandwidth cap is far above the median monthly usage of its customers, which 2GB to 3GB.
Very few subscribers use more than 250 gigabytes, it said. A user could download 125 standard-definition movies, about four per day, before hitting the limit.