![]() "You couldn't actually enjoy the experience of videos and downloads. "When smartphones started coming out, the networks weren’t up to snuff," Parsons says. Back then, it was a moneymaker: You could offer unlimited data because people wouldn't use a lot of it, and it didn't cost a lot anyways. That model still made sense when the phone carrier introduced data plans for smartphone users-so much sense that by 2008, AT&T actually forced all iPhone 3G customers to buy an unlimited data plan. Customers loved the certainty: the same bill, every month, with no separate charges for roaming or long distance calls. The unlimited model was born in the late 1990s, when AT&T launched its first One Rate phone plan, explains Kirk Parsons, senior director of telecom services at J.D. The two biggest American carriers have been trying to wean customers off of unlimited data plans for a while now, or else the wireless companies risk becoming victims of their own success.įirst Unlimited Calls, Then Unlimited Data ![]() AT&T hasn't offered an unlimited plan in four years. In fact, Verizon hasn't sold a single new unlimited cellphone plan in two years. Maybe Verizon has less to worry about-according to CIRP, it has already moved the vast majority of its customers off unlimited plans. Verizon had planned to slow speeds for the heaviest users on 4G, but it shelved that idea after receiving its own stern warning from the FTC. Similarly, Verizon throttles the top 5% of customers still on 3G. ![]() Likewise, while T-Mobile has repeatedly said it does not throttle its unlimited customers, its fine print notes that the top 3% of users might see their data slowed "during times and in places of network congestion." Sprint says that users who consume more than 5 GB are generally at risk for throttling, though it varies by month. But while AT&T's alleged behavior is particularly egregious, the carrier wouldn't be the only one to limit data use on so-called "unlimited" plans, as Ars Technica has reported.įor example, Sprint's My Way plan promises unlimited data for the life of the line of service, but read the fine print: The carrier also throttles the top 5% of its users, as part of its "network management" strategy. "The issue here is simple: 'unlimited' means unlimited."ĪT&T calls the charges "baseless" and says it warned customers that heavy users could be throttled. "AT&T promised its customers 'unlimited' data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise," FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez says in a statement. Altogether, the New York Times estimates, about 25% of AT&T's unlimited data plan customers were affected. In some dense metro areas like New York and San Francisco, AT&T allegedly throttled users who consumed as little as 2 GB a month. The practice of reducing data speeds for heavy users, called "throttling," can make it very difficult to complete routine tasks like browsing the web or using GPS navigation. ![]() In a complaint filed Tuesday, the federal agency alleges that AT&T has been slowing data speeds for consumers on "unlimited" plans, in some cases by up to 95%. ![]() But that choice is looking particularly unfortunate in light of the Federal Trade Commission's latest lawsuit. Almost half of all AT&T mobile customers are still clinging desperately to a grandfathered cellphone plan with unlimited data, according to a survey from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). ![]()
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