It has also been asserted that data caps are meant to help protect pay television providers that may also be owned by an ISP from competition with over-the-top streaming services.
[1] At contemporary data consumption rates, each family member of four would need to separately watch 100 movies in a month to approach the cap.
[4] In the United States the Federal Communications Commission has fined service providers for offering unlimited data in a way that misled consumers.
[9] Suddenlink CEO Jerry Kent made a similar assertion in an investors' call, stating that the "days" of having to make investments to keep up with customer demand were "over", and there would be "significant free cash flow generated from the cable operators as our capital expenditures continue to come down.
Comcast defended the exemption by stating that the service is not delivered over the public internet; it can only be used while connected to the provider's home Wi-Fi router.