Data cap

A data cap, often referred to as a bandwidth cap, is a restriction imposed on data transfer over a network. In particular, it refers to policies imposed by an internet service provider to limit customers' usage of their services; typically, exceeding a data cap would require the subscriber to pay additional fees. Implementation of a data cap is sometimes termed a fair access policy, fair usage policy, or usage-based billing by ISPs.

American ISPs have asserted that data caps are required to provide a "fair" service to their respective subscribers. The use of data caps has been criticized for becoming increasingly unnecessary, as decreasing infrastructure costs have made it cheaper for ISPs to increase the capacity of their networks to keep up with the demands of their users, rather than place arbitrary limits on usage. 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.

Example caps

In 2016, Consumer Reports concluded that a 1TB data cap is unlikely to be exceeded when the bulk of one's data usage is 4K video. In their example, watching all four seasons of House of Cards in 4K quality would consume slightly over half of a 1TB data cap.

When the internet connection is also used for video games or online back-ups, a 1TB cap can be exceeded more easily. In a 2019 article on Vice, the author shared their experience of draining 14% of their monthly 1TB data cap in two days by downloading Destiny 2 and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint from Steam.