Study: Throttling Unlimited Data Plans Is Pointless

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You guys don't need some study to tell you what you already know....but it is kinda nice to have this ammo the next time you are chatting with your cell phone provider. ;)

“When we look at the top 5% of data users, there is virtually no difference in data consumption between those on unlimited and those on tiered plans—and yet the unlimited consumers are the ones at risk of getting their service turned off,” Validas wrote in its report. “So it’s curious that anyone would think the throttling here represents a serious effort at alleviating network bandwidth issues. After all, Sprint does seemingly fine maintaining non-throttled unlimited data for its customers.”
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Sooo... why throttle at all? That just aggravates the customer. I don't buy it.

Previous articles have said the top 5% were the largest drains on the network and the telcos would only throttle if there was actually an impact to their network. It makes sense when you consider how easy it would be to go over that limit if you are streaming video all the time or illegally tethering.
 
there is no damn such thing as "illegal" tethering, quit sucking the corporate teat
 
But I thought that bandwidth was a gigantic reservoir full of bytes!

Those unlimited bandwidth hogs are draining the bandwidth reservoir and taking all our bytes! Soon there will be no bandwidth left for the rest of us to scoop up.
 
I'm not convinced that Validas conclusions are that accurate since the elimination of unlimited plans was mostly in the last year, means that there should be far fewer tiered plans in their study pool. Also their study pool is rather small compared to the total customers of each company.
 
They're just trying to get more $$$, switching people off unlimited data is just the next step. They won't stop until the average phone bill is $250 or something like that.
 
fattypants said:
But I thought that bandwidth was a gigantic reservoir full of bytes!

Those unlimited bandwidth hogs are draining the bandwidth reservoir and taking all our bytes! Soon there will be no bandwidth left for the rest of us to scoop up.
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:p

According to Validas’s findings, throttling may indeed simply be a ploy to push unlimited users into newer tiered plans.
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Hummm. Welp, we gotsta shakedown our customers to keeps the shareholders happy.
 
AT&T is evil, but I'm not sure why you can complain about "unlimited" for $30 users getting less performance than 3GB for $30 users; it just makes sense to give people paying the same for less priority on the network. I'd bet voice calling has priority over data too (where it shares spectrum).

If they're throttling in absence of congestion, that's kind of a dick move, but I'd imagine congestion is more or less always present; and it's rather difficult to independently verify anyway.

On the plus side, AT&T did donate $3 billion to T-Mobile's network buildout. :)
 
FndTheRver said:
They're just trying to get more $$$, switching people off unlimited data is just the next step. They won't stop until the average phone bill is $250 or something like that.
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You think they'll stop then??? ;)
 
Actually, charging for what you do with your bandwidth once you have it is actually illegal via fcc rules. The carriers do not own your phone...you do. We need a general referendum and reclassification of wireless phone companies.....because there are NONE.

What we have gentlemen is wireless internet service providers, and all standards of service, billing and privacy should apply (x2).

How many of you are also sick of the joke on your bills? Your going tell me I paid 60$ for voice/ 5 text and then 30 for my net data? Last I checked this was an all digital system....last I checked it all went over the same networks voice today is voip by another name. Data usage for text and voice is microscopic...

Friends data usage raises each year with a very high curve...as it SHOULD. The world we live in now, and the promise of the digital frontiers to be (AR/VR/ HD stream...what ever you can and cannot imagine) requires this. Your phone SHOULD be of equivalent data usage to your home network... Yes there is only so many frequency bands on 3g or any wireless tech for that matter.... but sooner or later and by later I mean 10 years at most we will each be living under multiple blankets of network coverage in any metro area... Trying to setup long-term data bleed offs should get one brought before congress as fundamentally dangerous to society.
 
toast0 said:
AT&T is evil, but I'm not sure why you can complain about "unlimited" for $30 users getting less performance than 3GB for $30 users; it just makes sense to give people paying the same for less priority on the network. I'd bet voice calling has priority over data too (where it shares spectrum).

If they're throttling in absence of congestion, that's kind of a dick move, but I'd imagine congestion is more or less always present; and it's rather difficult to independently verify anyway.

On the plus side, AT&T did donate $3 billion to T-Mobile's network buildout. :)
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Priority for people paying the same for less? What crock of shit is that? You should get what you pay for. PERIOD. Simple as that.

Problem is AT&T is throttling the top 5% in a specific region. I remember reading an article not to long ago about someone who got that 5% warning when they hit 2GB. Their plan? The 30$ unlimited grandfathered plan. When 30$ now gets you 3GB there is no way in hell ATT should say a damned thing under any circumstance till he hits 3GB. But no they started throttling him at 2GB because he was in that 5% for his area.
 
Throttling, is punishment in hopes that you will leave.

Just like with internet in your home, they don't want the top 5% of users as customers.

The top 5% of bandwidth users are like the fat guy at the Chinese buffet. You can't really tell them to leave and never come back or else risk the possibility of bad press or legal issues, but you do want them to take their business elsewhere.
 
I wonder how many people stopped to consider the actual science and physics behind smart phone use?

If I understand the folks in the physics department at the university where I work, even with several bands of wavelengths to operate within, there's a finite number of frequencies that can be used. Considering the near-exponential growth of data users since 2007, theoretically we will run out of bandwidth in the near future (which is part of the reason why telecomms are trying to pry away some of the low-frequency UHF bands from television broadcasters & the government, along with the fact they penetrate denser materials - meaning I can finally get cell reception in that basement classroom I hate so much).

Throttling, it seems - at least from a rational/logistical perspective (instead of a corporate greed/conspiracy perspective - you do realize none of the Big Four have posted a profit this quarter, right?) - staves off bandwidth starvation (read: everybody's data speeds are slow) until they find something else that works.
 
OldPueblo said:
Sprints 3G network is pre-throttled. Always.
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As a Sprint user, I find this unsurprising. I get TERRIBLE speed even when I have solid signal. I've gone so far as to turn off my 3G altogether and just rely on wifi, because the drain on my battery is 1/4 of what it would be with 3G on. Maybe it's just Tallahassee and all the trees, but I doubt it - my girlfriend's Verizon machine gets great speed.
 
Sprint's 3G is just god awful, less than 200kbs down, even on full 4G I only get about 3-4MBs.
 
yojimbo said:
Throttling, it seems - at least from a rational/logistical perspective (instead of a corporate greed/conspiracy perspective - you do realize none of the Big Four have posted a profit this quarter, right?) - staves off bandwidth starvation (read: everybody's data speeds are slow) until they find something else that works.
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Except Verizon lost money because they had to pay 3.4B for pension/severance charges.

AT&T lost money because of the same pension/severance charges, the TMO breakup fee and yellow pages writeoffs

TMO and Sprint is losing customers to prepaid and the big two and other well documented issues that they've both had for years.

Not to mention the big two's profit margins also increased.

TMO, and Sprint are really the only ones who are looking at the spectrum crunch realistically. TMO is reclaiming most of their 2g network (which they say only 10% of their users still use) for H+ and LTE, and Sprint will reclaim the old Nextel network for their LTE network. I fully understand that no one can completely sunset 2G because legal commitments, FCC rules and inconveniencing some users but they don't have to leave that spectrum completely untouched. The name of the game is to tie up as much spectrum as possible to stop competition than to handle growth.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
Sooo... why throttle at all? That just aggravates the customer. I don't buy it.
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$$$

A buddy of mine had the AT&T unlimited plan on his LTE phone. His speeds would drop to 150B/sec when he got throttled.

He got frustrated, so he bought a more expensive tiered plan.
 
NickJames said:
Sprint's 3G is just god awful, less than 200kbs down, even on full 4G I only get about 3-4MBs.
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Dude, it's a cell phone. I look at it as getting those kinds of data transfer rates on a cell phone is pretty fucking impressive.

Damn, I remember getting my first 14.4 modem and using Telix with the ZModem protocol to dial into local Bulletin Board Systems. Man that was screaming fast.

...but now we're bitching about "only" getting ~200k to 8M data rates on our cell phones. :p
 
DejaWiz said:
Dude, it's a cell phone. I look at it as getting those kinds of data transfer rates on a cell phone is pretty fucking impressive.

Damn, I remember getting my first 14.4 modem and using Telix with the ZModem protocol to dial into local Bulletin Board Systems. Man that was screaming fast.

...but now we're bitching about "only" getting ~200k to 8M data rates on our cell phones. :p
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Dude your car goes 15mph, in my day we rode in carts! Be happy!
 
sleepeeg3 said:
...or illegally tethering.
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You've got it backwards. It is the restricting of tethering that is illegal - it is the carriers like Verizon that are breaking the law, not the customers who are tethering (which is explicitly within their legal rights!).
 
I don't quite get the cell phone craze, myself. (..and, no, I don't need it explained to me..)
 
Nobody should be throttled until the network is saturated, at that point, EVERYBODY should be throttled such that resources are shared equally.

To do otherwise is not "net neutrality". The only exception should be 911 calls?
 
I have AT&T $30 unlimited plan. I just got a letter in the mail yesterday saying I was "caught" using tethering and if I didn't call them they would automatically change me to the $50 a month 5gb tethering plan.

I called and asked them what day I was supposedly using tethering (haven't used it since beginning of January) and they said they can not tell me because it is proprietary information. So I told them to block tethering on my account and they said they cannot.

I am getting sick and tired of AT&T.
 
OldPueblo said:
Dude your car goes 15mph, in my day we rode in carts! Be happy!
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You're Amish, aren't you?

Hope you don't get caught using the internet on that fancy cell phone you've been hiding from the rest of the villagers... they'll shave your beard off!
 
B34M3R said:
I am getting sick and tired of AT&T.
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me too.

I'm also on the grandfathered unlimited plan and while I wasn't very happy about the throttling, I could understand their reasoning. However, where I draw the line is reading about unlimited customers getting throttled for using less data than the tierd plans. That's complete bullshit. If AT&T doesn't want to honor their end of the deal, they should just force people off the plans when they re-sign. What they're doing now is passive agressive and childish. They're spitting on the people that made them successful again

I've been a loyal customer of AT&T since 2007... I've always paid my bills on time and generally don't use a ton of data, but keep the unlimited to avoid overages 'just in case'. If this is how they're going to treat me and the rest of their longtime customers, I'll happily go to a competitor. I don't want to have to worry about suddenly getting piss poor speeds because I was a top 5% using a measly 1GB of data
 
I just don't understand how people use so much data. I just use my phone to check email and occasionally surf the web and I only use about 10MB a month. If you stream music try using this thing called the radio, its free and unlimited, or just download your music a head of time. I don't see why you would need to tether unless you live in the middle of nowhere and it is your only option besides satellite. I get at least 1.7MB/s at home and at work I (gasp) work. I don't think it would be hard for most of you to cut back on your data use if you tried.

Personally I think throttling should be done based on the need of the local cell network and done to everyone on that network or, if possible, to the high users at that time. But until you people start voting with your wallets, data will continue to get more and more expensive. My phone bill for 4 lines with Tmobile is less that $120/month w/ taxes.
 
[21CW]killerofall;1038421727 said:
I just don't understand how people use so much data. I just use my phone to check email and occasionally surf the web and I only use about 10MB a month. If you stream music try using this thing called the radio, its free and unlimited, or just download your music a head of time. I don't see why you would need to tether unless you live in the middle of nowhere and it is your only option besides satellite. I get at least 1.7MB/s at home and at work I (gasp) work. I don't think it would be hard for most of you to cut back on your data use if you tried.

Personally I think throttling should be done based on the need of the local cell network and done to everyone on that network or, if possible, to the high users at that time. But until you people start voting with your wallets, data will continue to get more and more expensive. My phone bill for 4 lines with Tmobile is less that $120/month w/ taxes.
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The thing is, not everyone has open (let alone secure) wifi avalible everywhere they go.

We only just got it here at work and it dropped my data usage from around 3-4GB a month to a fraction of that (less than 500MB). I stream (not music) XM Radio to my phone all day while I'm working... so that's where a large portion of the usage was coming from.

Back before they opened up a wifi hotspot here, I could of dropped my usage by listening to a show the following day (buying it online and adding it to my library), but honestly... I pay about 100 a month for my phone after fees and taxes... I see no reason not to use what I'm paying for.
 
I got my first high data usage text this month when I hit 2.00gb exactly so I know it's not a 5% thing.

I surf the internet an hour a day on my commute (light rail). I sync my home email and use Good for my work email. I use google docs a lot, use logmein once or twice a day, and upload any photos I take to google+, plus occasionally watch youtube videos. I only have wifi access at home. Now that I got my new phone I use around 2gb a month.
 
dr.stevil said:
The thing is, not everyone has open (let alone secure) wifi avalible everywhere they go.

We only just got it here at work and it dropped my data usage from around 3-4GB a month to a fraction of that (less than 500MB). I stream (not music) XM Radio to my phone all day while I'm working... so that's where a large portion of the usage was coming from.

Back before they opened up a wifi hotspot here, I could of dropped my usage by listening to a show the following day (buying it online and adding it to my library), but honestly... I pay about 100 a month for my phone after fees and taxes... I see no reason not to use what I'm paying for.
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I can't use wifi as my phone doesn't have a wifi radio in it and I still only use 10MB a month. There are just other ways I can satisfy my needs with out having to use my cell phone. I am not allowed to use my cell phone at work so that is a nonfactor. (I think that most businesses should do this as they are paying for your time and you should only use it on breaks.) If I want to listen to music during my commute I have my mp3 player or a am/fm radio in my car. But my phone isn't an expensive phone either as it is just above a feature phone in terms of what it can do, which is basically just internet and email. I guess some people have to be connected to everything 24/7 where I only need email 24/7. If you need all that connectivity then you have to pay for it.
 
LightningCrash said:
$$$

A buddy of mine had the AT&T unlimited plan on his LTE phone. His speeds would drop to 150B/sec when he got throttled.

He got frustrated, so he bought a more expensive tiered plan.
Click to expand...

Yup. Throttling has nothing to do with maintaining the integrity of the network. It's all about getting paid.
 
[21CW]killerofall;1038421727 said:
I just don't understand how people use so much data. I just use my phone to check email and occasionally surf the web and I only use about 10MB a month. If you stream music try using this thing called the radio, its free and unlimited, or just download your music a head of time. I don't see why you would need to tether unless you live in the middle of nowhere and it is your only option besides satellite. I get at least 1.7MB/s at home and at work I (gasp) work. I don't think it would be hard for most of you to cut back on your data use if you tried.

Personally I think throttling should be done based on the need of the local cell network and done to everyone on that network or, if possible, to the high users at that time. But until you people start voting with your wallets, data will continue to get more and more expensive. My phone bill for 4 lines with Tmobile is less that $120/month w/ taxes.
Click to expand...

I regularly use 4-5gb/mo(unlimitted Verizon) with my Droid Incredible II. I mostly listen to Pandora and Sirius at work because AM/FM radio is full of nothing but HORRIBLE pop garbage and the occaional good classic rock songs. I would use my work's WiFi, but I would rather not use up my work's bandwidth, plus streaming music is blocked. Other then that, I do email, occasional surf and you tube video.

Thankfully, I have not been throttled yet. I am sitting at 3.84gb now and bill cycle ends on the 6th.
 
they're too cheap to upgrade their hardware.

in the dedicated server market, 2gb = 6 cents.

when will cell phone data become that cheap ?
 
They are scamming their users because they can't get any significant increase of customers. So to keep making more money they have to provide the same for more money.

The market is saturated already. Is there anywhere in America that the carriers can get into easily and without tons money? No. So this is what's left in order to make more money.
 
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