AT&T Throttling Speeds on Unlimited Data Plan Users

A place to talk about all things mobile
Post Reply
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

AT&T Throttling Speeds on Unlimited Data Plan Users

Post by Apoptosis »

If you got a text message from AT&T that says you are going to be throttled and are on an unlimited plan this is to be expected... Here is what AT&T has to say on the issue.

With mobile data usage continuing to skyrocket and the availability of spectrum scarce, AT&T, like other wireless companies, manages its network in the most fair way possible so that we can provide the best possible mobile broadband experience for all our customers.

How we’re managing the network only affects a small minority of the heaviest smartphone data users still on unlimited plans. Put another way, this does not impact more than 95 percent of our smartphone customers.

Our unlimited plan customers have told us they want more clarity around how the program works and what they can expect. Here’s what customers need to know:

· Customers with a 3G or 4G smartphone – who also still have our unlimited data plan – will see speeds reduced if they use 3GB (gigabytes) of data or more in a billing cycle. Speeds will return to normal at the start of the next billing cycle. For context, less than 5 percent of smartphone customers use more than 3GB per month.

· For customers with a 4G LTE smartphone – who also still have our unlimited data plan – data speeds will be reduced if usage is 5GB (gigabytes) or more in a billing cycle. Speeds will return to normal at the start of the next billing cycle.

Customers will get a text message from us before experiencing a change in speed.

Even with reduced data speeds, these customers will still be able to surf the web, stream audio, email and do most other smartphone activities and continue to use an unlimited amount of data each month.

Not impacted by this program, launched last year, are customers on our tiered data plans.

The reason reduced speeds only apply to unlimited smartphone customers is because their data usage is significantly higher than those on tiered plans. For example, in January, the top 5 percent of our unlimited data plan customers used an average of over 50 percent more data than the top 5 percent of customers on tiered plans.

Because spectrum is limited and data usage continues to soar, we manage our network this way to be as fair as possible and so we can provide the best possible mobile broadband experience to everyone.

We encourage all of our customers to use Wi-Fi whenever possible – especially when watching video, which is the most data-intensive activity.

That’s because data activity over Wi-Fi does not count against the threshold for unlimited customers that triggers reduced data speeds or against customers’ tiered data plans. Customers can find out more at www.att.com/datainfo
Find us on Facebook to discover the faces behind the names!
Follow Me on Twitter!
Clouseau
Legit Aficionado
Legit Aficionado
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:04 pm

Re: AT&T Throttling Speeds on Unlimited Data Plan Users

Post by Clouseau »

Was expecting this since the Blackberry Z10 was launched. Put it on the playing field as the iphone plans so no one can call foul.
Antec900 case|PhenomII 940 (3.57Ghz @ 1.4625v)|Zalman CPNS9700NT|M3A32-MVP Deluxe WiFi/AP|Bios 1903|MSI HD6950 Twin Frozer III|Catalyst 11.11|8GB(4x2GB)DDR2-800@840 G.Skill PI-Black (4-4-4-10 @ 1.82v)|2xWD1600YS in Raid0|Antec HCP 1200|Pioneer BDC-202 Blu-ray ROM|ASUS E616A3T DVD-ROM|ASUS DRW-1814BLT DVD-RW|VISTA Ultimate x64 SP2
User avatar
bubba
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Posts: 4765
Joined: Sun May 01, 2005 10:24 am
Location: STL

Re: AT&T Throttling Speeds on Unlimited Data Plan Users

Post by bubba »

Nothing new, only one that I know of that doesn't throttle is T-Mobile, but their coverage sucks. Sprint says they don't unless they determine it is "abusive"
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
-Thomas Jefferson
Post Reply