Internet Providers Lift Data Limits During Coronavirus Crisis

As cities across the United States go into a state of shutdown, or close to it, to follow “social distancing” guidelines designed to slow the raging coronavirus pandemic—which as of Thursday afternoon had killed a reported 201 Americans—people finding themselves unable to do much outside their homes will likely spend even more time on the internet than they already do. In fact, according to PornHub statistics cited by Forbes.com, the demand for online porn has already seen a sharp increase, particularly in Italy, a country hit so hard by the coronavirus outbreak that it closed its borders and severely restricted travel for its own citizens and residents earlier this month. But porn fans—and other internet users—looking to increase their consumption to pass the hours spent in coronavirus-induced self-isolation will be getting a break from some of the major internet service providers. To prevent customers from incurring additional charges that could be burdensome during the economic slowdown triggered by the coronavirus crisis, several major ISPs have removed “caps” on the amount of data users may consume on a monthly basis. According to a report by PCWorld magazine, AT&T has announced that all customers will be switched to unlimited broadband data plans at no extra charge for home wifi networks during the coronavirus shutdown of public life. The telecom giant has also pledged that starting on Thursday and for the next 60 days, customers who fall delinquent on paying their bill will not be cut off from their service. Late payment fees will also be waived for those customers over the two-month period. Comcast announced a similar data cap policy, saying that limits on data usage will be removed for home internet customers, according to a report by The Verge. T-Mobile announced that smartphone users will now be exempt from data caps over the next 60 days as well. The company also said that it would provide free calls to countries “severely impacted” by the deadly pandemic. Charter Spectrum does not offer data-capped internet plans, but the company said that for the next 60 days, it would provide free broadband and wifi for households containing a child who is a student in any grade, kindergarten through college, as long as those households were not already Charter subscribers. For a more complete list of ISPs and their coronavirus policies, visit this link.  Photo By cogdogblog / Wikimedia Commons