Xfinity Mobile customers to be limited to 480p streaming, 600Kbps hotspot

Subscribers will have to pay for 720p streaming later in the year.

Xfinity Mobile, Comcast's MVNO that's powered by Verizon's network, is about to get some new restrictions. Subscribers of the service are now getting emails from Comcast informing them about the changes, and they have to do with video streaming and mobile hotspot speeds.

As it currently stands, videos you stream using your Xfinity Mobile data are presented in 720p HD. Starting soon, however, the resolution will be lowered to 480p SD.

Customers can reach out to Comcast and request to be upgraded to 720p for free (Comcast is marketing this as a way to help people use less data and save on their monthly bills) but it will eventually transition to a paid upgrade later in the year.

This is something we see with just about every carrier in the U.S., but the changes to mobile hotspot use is a bit more damning. Instead of your regular 4G hotspot speeds, Comcast is throttling these to a measly 600Kbps.

While the video streaming change applies to all Xfinity Mobile subscribers, the slower hotspot speeds are only going into effect for those on the unlimited plan. If you pay by the gig, Comcast is more than happy to let you go through your $12/GB data as fast as possible.

If you're an Xfinity Mobile customer, what do you think about these changes?