AT&T to Throttle Speeds for Some Unlimited Data Users

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Ask AT&T for a definition of the word ‘unlimited’ and the answer may just surprise you. For about 5% of the extreme data users on the AT&T unlimited plan, ‘unlimited’ will be what AT&T says it is. Throttling will begin on October 1st on many unlimited plans and once you hit the bandwidth threshold, reduced internet speeds will instituted until the next billing cycle.
AT&T says that this only affects 5 percent of the heavier data users on the service. These people use more than 12 times the rest of data users combined.
 
do people who live in countries with much better communication infrastructure have data limits?

I don't understand how these companies who are profitable can justify this stuff.
 
You're not allowed to throttle "heavier" users at a buffet... Even if they eat more than other people do
 
I still don't understand how a plan can be called unlimited if it's limited by more than the max bandwidth times the contract length, are there no rules in America to do with false advertising?

Surly the 5% are paying for the unlimited plan because they want to use so much?
 
Lawsuit to define unlimited as if the word actually requires it. Nothing will be done because AT&T has all of congress in it's back pocket. All of them.
 
Yeah but really, 5% of your customers use 12 TIMES COMBINED the bandwidth of the rest. If this really is the case I don't see anything wrong with the idea though the throttling should be clearly stipulated contracts.
 
so instead of upgrading their infrastructure they prefer to go ahead and screw their customers.lol
 
One could say... they are still receiving unlimited data, its just slower. Especially since all ISPs use "up to" qualifier when advertising speeds.

The use of "unlimited" is just an outright lie most of the time... there really should be laws defining rules about using it, since apparently companies cannot be decent enough to actually sell their product/service honestly.

Web Hosts, Netflix, ISP... all use the term, and virtually ALL have vague exceptions in the small fine print that NEVER is printed on advertisements or sign up pages. You have to specifically look for it in the TOS.

If you want to advertise "unlimited" your service better be unlimited.PERIOD. Otherwise go tiered service.
 
so instead of upgrading their infrastructure they prefer to go ahead and screw their customers.lol

Upgrade their infrastructure just to satisfy the needs of 5% of their customers? Sounds good on paper but not cost effective. When governments do stuff like this it's called waste but for some reason when businesses do it it's called screwing customers.

Fascinating.
 
Yeah but really, 5% of your customers use 12 TIMES COMBINED the bandwidth of the rest. If this really is the case I don't see anything wrong with the idea though the throttling should be clearly stipulated contracts.

BS. They don't just throttle the heaviest few, they throttle most people so they can charge the most overage $$$.
 
Upgrade their infrastructure just to satisfy the needs of 5% of their customers? Sounds good on paper but not cost effective. When governments do stuff like this it's called waste but for some reason when businesses do it it's called screwing customers.

Fascinating.

I would agree, but having to deal with ATT at work, I have to say Their current infrastructure is a piece of shit, and needs to be upgraded to get at least semi decent connections. As it is, it is abysmal.

So it wouldn't be upgrading just to satisfy 5% of their customer it would be upgrading to deliver on their contracts, to those 5% AND everyone else.
 
Upgrade their infrastructure just to satisfy the needs of 5% of their customers? Sounds good on paper but not cost effective. When governments do stuff like this it's called waste but for some reason when businesses do it it's called screwing customers.

Fascinating.

Oh please ATT could barely satisfy iPhone users. Verizon, ATT, and Sprint receive crap tons of government contracts at pretty high prices. There's just no reason why ATT can't upgrade it's network. If I recall they beat out Verizon for a couple of quarters when they had exclusive rights to the iPhone.

Then again ATT still does have the fastest "3G" network. Too bad their marketing department sucks. "There's so much about our network we almost can't speak about it." WTF kind of marketing slogan is that?
 
I would agree, but having to deal with ATT at work, I have to say Their current infrastructure is a piece of shit, and needs to be upgraded to get at least semi decent connections. As it is, it is abysmal.

So it wouldn't be upgrading just to satisfy 5% of their customer it would be upgrading to deliver on their contracts, to those 5% AND everyone else.

Oh please ATT could barely satisfy iPhone users. Verizon, ATT, and Sprint receive crap tons of government contracts at pretty high prices. There's just no reason why ATT can't upgrade it's network. If I recall they beat out Verizon for a couple of quarters when they had exclusive rights to the iPhone.

Then again ATT still does have the fastest "3G" network. Too bad their marketing department sucks. "There's so much about our network we almost can't speak about it." WTF kind of marketing slogan is that?

I use Verizon and Sprint so I don't have any first hand experience with AT&T's service. I've never had any problems with Verizon and Sprint so if those two need to update their infrastructure it's not effected me personally, not that I've noticed.
 
you know sprint might not be the best, but i'll keep supporting them as long as they keep their true unlimited. Hell if they were an internet provider i'd sign up
 
this is what happens when they oversell a shitty cell network.

5% use more than the other 95% combined.
that means each hog use 19x more than the average user.

average user uses ~200MB.
Hog uses 3.8 GB

conclusion- shitty, oversold network based on year 1989 standards.
How the fuck do you expect someone to use less than 300MB per month, with today's media rich websites ?

in the retail sector, when something is sold out, they don't sell anymore of it.
when ATT is actually sold out of capacity, they keep squeezing people in anyway.
 
Time to switch to Comacast Buisness class internet with Phone for $93 a month.

I have Charter business class cable. No bandwidth caps ever under my contract, even if I decide I want a faster speed later on. Gotta love it. Ha. :D
 
you know sprint might not be the best, but i'll keep supporting them as long as they keep their true unlimited. Hell if they were an internet provider i'd sign up

I think Sprint is the only one left with true unlimited data and no throttling. I would like to switch to them if it weren't for crappy phones and lousy coverage where I'm at.
 
Lawsuit to define unlimited as if the word actually requires it. Nothing will be done because AT&T has all of congress in it's back pocket. All of them.

But it can't come from the customers, remember that arbitration agreement we discussed earlier this week?
 
do people who live in countries with much better communication infrastructure have data limits?

I don't understand how these companies who are profitable can justify this stuff.

that is why they are profitable, they all use the "%5 od users use %100 of the bandwidth" BS speech claiming it ruins it for everyone else, meanwhile it just means that they dont have to spend money to upgrade back end systems, instead throttle anyone who actually uses what THEY paid for.

i would think a lawsuit, since it is not unlimited, but of course, some fine print will save their butts.
 
Don't they post a profit of $3,500,000,000 like every quarter? Wonder if they could put a few dimes of that into infrastructure rather than pissing off their customers.

Oh wait, they don't have to!
 
Tmobile does the same thing...Its unlimited but once you reach a certain number they throttle back your speeds. I think its like anywhere from 2-5 gigs depending on your plan. I don't ever hit that much though cause I am usually using work o home wireless.
 
I wonder if that $39 Billion could have gone into infrastructure upgrades... Would be a hell of a lot easier than buying a competitor and eventually spending more to switch the network over...

If At&t is (slowly) rolling out LTE, what is the point in buying T-Mobile? To run LTE and HSPA concurrently?
 
Damn you people fucking bitch allot about nothing.. I worked for AT&T doing customer service & the people that this are going to effect are using 20+ GB a month. Also of note it didn't say 5% of there users.. Its 5% of there heavy users.

And the people who who that much are doing it be tethering & don't have the tethering plan in almost all cases..

I am on my phone constantly.. I surf more from my phone then I do from my computer (work or home combined) & I still only use about 50-60mb a month because I utilize wifi more often then not (work & home). Most of my data usage that actually goes over the network is all maps because I am typically driving if I don't have wifi.
 
My Evo Shift on Sprint used 12gb of data last month no tethering.

4G Data + youTube = pure fun.
 
Can I get out of my contract due to this? Is this something I havd to agree to?
 
Damn you people fucking bitch allot about nothing.. I worked for AT&T doing customer service & the people that this are going to effect are using 20+ GB a month. Also of note it didn't say 5% of there users.. Its 5% of there heavy users.

And the people who who that much are doing it be tethering & don't have the tethering plan in almost all cases..

I am on my phone constantly.. I surf more from my phone then I do from my computer (work or home combined) & I still only use about 50-60mb a month because I utilize wifi more often then not (work & home). Most of my data usage that actually goes over the network is all maps because I am typically driving if I don't have wifi.

Here is a thought, your a minority.. that this wont affect.... not everyone goes and switches to some WiFi connection they find out in public... not everyone sits at home on their phone browsing, but out in public.....
 
Honestly, they really shouldn't call things "Unlimited" if it ain't what customers expect it to be.

I've hit the data throttle before on T-mobile, @ 5GB due to streaming music. Ended up on speeds lower than EDGE for the remainder of the month.
 
I think Sprint is the only one left with true unlimited data and no throttling. I would like to switch to them if it weren't for crappy phones and lousy coverage where I'm at.

I've got Sprint's unlimited plan and I can't get a good signal anywhere in my house. Most times I can't even get a 4G signal.
 
I've got Sprint's unlimited plan and I can't get a good signal anywhere in my house. Most times I can't even get a 4G signal.
At least you have Sprint 4G less than 500 miles from you... I would go with Sprint, but their network sucks MAJOR ass here in Mobile, AL (Houston, Atlanta, Nashville and Jacksonville are the closest Sprint 4G cities). Which is funny, because T-Mobile just launched 3G here (late June/early July), and we already have HSPA+ active...
 
Damn you people fucking bitch allot about nothing.. I worked for AT&T doing customer service & the people that this are going to effect are using 20+ GB a month. Also of note it didn't say 5% of there users.. Its 5% of there heavy users.

And the people who who that much are doing it be tethering & don't have the tethering plan in almost all cases..

I am on my phone constantly.. I surf more from my phone then I do from my computer (work or home combined) & I still only use about 50-60mb a month because I utilize wifi more often then not (work & home). Most of my data usage that actually goes over the network is all maps because I am typically driving if I don't have wifi.

From dictionary.com

un·lim·it·ed   
[uhn-lim-i-tid]
–adjective
1.
not limited; unrestricted; unconfined: unlimited trade.
2.
boundless; infinite; vast: the unlimited skies.
3.
without any qualification or exception; unconditional.

The above is what I am bitching about... "Unlimited" service, that isn't unlimited.

If they have 5% of high bandwidth users abusing the "Unlimited" plan (which by definition can't be true no matter HOW much data they are using), they should just tier the service to the amount that is not "abuse" and STOP advertising the plan as "unlimited".

Doing this would not effect the users they are supposedly looking out for. They then could get more money from the "abusers" or they would fall into expected usage.

Its like paying for "Unlimited car washes for a year"... You go in each day to get your car washed and they tell you "ummmm you can't get a wash, normal people only get 1 wash a week. Come back next week for your unlimited, once per week wash"
 
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