FTC Sues AT&T For Limiting Unlimited-Data Customers

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This certainly has been a long time coming. Aside from the part where AT&T will settle without admitting guilt, are we taking bets on the what the actual settlement will be?

The Federal Trade Commission filed a federal court complaint against AT&T Mobility, LLC, charging that the company has misled millions of its smartphone customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds, in some cases by nearly 90 percent. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company failed to adequately disclose to its customers on unlimited data plans that, if they reach a certain amount of data use in a given billing cycle, AT&T reduces – or “throttles” – their data speeds to the point that many common mobile phone applications – like web browsing, GPS navigation and watching streaming video – become difficult or nearly impossible to use.
 
People will probably get a credit on their bill. I've had the unlimited data option for about 5 years now. I never use more than a few gigs of data a month, so don't think I was ever throttled.
 
This certainly has been a long time coming. Aside from the part where AT&T will settle without admitting guilt, are we taking bets on the what the actual settlement will be?


So...

"AT&T reduces – or “throttles” – their data speeds to the point that many common mobile phone applications – like web browsing, GPS navigation and watching streaming video – become difficult or nearly impossible to use."

What? You can do any of those things on UMTS or EDGE, although I will admit streaming video is not happening without some serious lag. I'm pretty sure none of those contracts say unlimited LTE, especially since they stopped those unlimited contracts what, 2-3 years ago? Before LTE was even fully rolled out. Also, try streaming any video in a football stadium on game day - ain't gonna happen even with no throttling.

Also, T-Mo throttles, Sprint throttles, even Big Red throttles. Are there going to be similar complaints or did someone forget to pay the vig?
 
The word unlimited shouldn't be used. It means no limit when there are limits.
 
Verizon's doing it, too, in my anecdotal opinion. Sue them as well. Shit, just sue them for being Verizon. Also, when did it ever come about that companies could break the law, negotiate a deal, and pay their way out of trouble without ever admitting guilt. Corporations are people (now) but I don't ever remember hearing people getting this option in court.
 
What? You can do any of those things on UMTS or EDGE, although I will admit streaming video is not happening without some serious lag. I'm pretty sure none of those contracts say unlimited LTE, especially since they stopped those unlimited contracts what, 2-3 years ago? Before LTE was even fully rolled out. Also, try streaming any video in a football stadium on game day - ain't gonna happen even with no throttling.

Also, T-Mo throttles, Sprint throttles, even Big Red throttles. Are there going to be similar complaints or did someone forget to pay the vig?

Are you actually defending these asshats? :eek: I paid for an unlimited data plan. Period. That means I should be able to use any AT&T network, at full speed, as much as I want. That's how it was sold to me, that how the contract read, and that's how the store salesperson described the plan to me. Today I overpay for an unlimited grandfathered family plan - and they are giving better packages away to new subscribers for a lower rate with these recent "double your data" promotions.

My contract is up this month, and it'll be prepaid forever and always from now on. Screw AT&T. I hope they pay billions (but we all know that won't happen).
 
As having had 2 lines with unlimited data, Once of the two since they first offered it for the iPhone 3. Well I think this could bode well. Heck might even take care of one months of bills. Or perhaps a free phone upgrade.
 
"Undisclosed amount"

That said, I don't like this. Bottom line is that the details of the contract are spelled out, and not even in legalese. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for people who sign contracts and don't read them.
 
When I first got the iphone 5 the LTE speeds were out of this world I used over 5gig in like 2 hours watching true 1080p videos on the puffin app. Those speeds disappeared and never returned not long after that
 
When I first got the iphone 5 the LTE speeds were out of this world I used over 5gig in like 2 hours watching true 1080p videos on the puffin app. Those speeds disappeared and never returned not long after that

I think they even sent me some kind of message about it but I can't remember
 
"Undisclosed amount"

That said, I don't like this. Bottom line is that the details of the contract are spelled out, and not even in legalese. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for people who sign contracts and don't read them.

Actually for those of us that have had the UNlimited since effectively day one. They were never "spelled out" to us. At least not that I can recollect. When I puchaed an Iphone on launch day I had it and the unlimited data. Heck back when I had the unlimited data for my first smartphone. (not a touch screen.) I had unlimited data.

And Before 4g it was never "throttled" that I can remember.
 
Actually for those of us that have had the UNlimited since effectively day one. They were never "spelled out" to us. At least not that I can recollect. When I puchaed an Iphone on launch day I had it and the unlimited data. Heck back when I had the unlimited data for my first smartphone. (not a touch screen.) I had unlimited data.

And Before 4g it was never "throttled" that I can remember.

Maybe I should qualify that statement then:
If there was a relevant statement in the service contract, then this is a crap suit. If not... then have att 'em FTC!
 
Actually for those of us that have had the UNlimited since effectively day one. They were never "spelled out" to us. At least not that I can recollect. When I puchaed an Iphone on launch day I had it and the unlimited data. Heck back when I had the unlimited data for my first smartphone. (not a touch screen.) I had unlimited data.

And Before 4g it was never "throttled" that I can remember.

I'm with you, I've been on the unlimited plan since they even offered it for iphone. But I do feel like they throttled speeds even before LTE and 4G
 
I saw speeds of over 50mbps when I first got iphone 5 LTE, shortly after I was getting throttled and to this day can't even get over 5 Mbps with a good signal
 
My wife went over 5 gbs and got throttled shortly after. Even apps like spotify and pandora were impossible to stream. She didnt receive any notice from att via text or email. I hope this forces att to either give us a refund or not throttle us at all.
 
I saw speeds of over 50mbps when I first got iphone 5 LTE, shortly after I was getting throttled and to this day can't even get over 5 Mbps with a good signal

My wifes iphone can only get 1-2mbps. Youre lucky if you get close to 5.
 
Verizon's doing it, too, in my anecdotal opinion. Sue them as well. Shit, just sue them for being Verizon. Also, when did it ever come about that companies could break the law, negotiate a deal, and pay their way out of trouble without ever admitting guilt. Corporations are people (now) but I don't ever remember hearing people getting this option in court.


That's called a plea of nolo contendere. It's not in all jurisdictions but it means that the defendant is providing no contest to the charges without admitting guilt. They do this when they feel they can't beat the evidence, but still contend they're not guilty.

Not in all jurisdictions because some feel that if you're really not guilty, you should get a trial.
 
Are you actually defending these asshats? :eek: I paid for an unlimited data plan. Period. That means I should be able to use any AT&T network, at full speed, as much as I want.
What is full speed? Bandwidth is a finite resource, so you could get anywhere from 1gbps to 10mbps depending upon how much saturation there is. Lets just pretend for a second that they didnt deliberately throttle, at what point do you feel you are being robbed when your network performance degrades?
 
Hopefully they sue Verizon for this nonsense next...data caps and throttling are just in place to get customers to pay more money for less service. It's scummy business practices like this that give capitalism a bad rep.

I've been paying Verizon for unlimited data since the Samsung SCH-i730 came out; for the past nine years I've paid my fees, and never changed the "terms and conditions" of the amount Verizon gets from me...why in the hell should they get to do the same? Ditto for everyone on AT&T unlimited plans.

We are loyal customers, and for our loyalty and continue payments, we get screwed harder and harder year after year. I can't get service in a Verizon store anymore, because despite paying for service, if they even look at my account, it gets switched from unlimited (an exaggeration, but not by much). I have to pay full price for new phones, and get no subsidies despite paying more then new customers. One of my closest friends suffers the same crap with AT&T as well.

So yeah, I hope the FCC keeps up the pressure, and keeps fighting for customer rights. It's a longshot hope I know, but I support the FCC fully in their action against AT&T!
 
What is full speed? Bandwidth is a finite resource, so you could get anywhere from 1gbps to 10mbps depending upon how much saturation there is. Lets just pretend for a second that they didnt deliberately throttle, at what point do you feel you are being robbed when your network performance degrades?
I would prefer we deal with the problem rather than pretend for a second that it didn't exist. Intentional degradation of network speed for any reason other than congestion or problems/downtime should be outlawed (as part of Title II utility protections).

IMO it should also be noted that while one hand imposes usage limits and throttling on the internet, the other hand (e.g. Google/Youtube and most other content sites) have stopped buffering this content to local hard drives. Which means you now accumulate endless usage to watch or listen to the same content, every time it is repeated. The lack of buffering has relegated internet video to something substantially less useful than even cable TV.
 
I would prefer we deal with the problem rather than pretend for a second that it didn't exist. Intentional degradation of network speed for any reason other than congestion or problems/downtime should be outlawed (as part of Title II utility protections).

IMO it should also be noted that while one hand imposes usage limits and throttling on the internet, the other hand (e.g. Google/Youtube and most other content sites) have stopped buffering this content to local hard drives. Which means you now accumulate endless usage to watch or listen to the same content, every time it is repeated. The lack of buffering has relegated internet video to something substantially less useful than even cable TV.
I would like to give his post those internet points we hand out.

Good points.
 
A while back when I didnt have access to WiFi for quite a long time they throttled me so badly I couldnt even watch Netflix without buffering every 2 minutes. When I called they basically told me to pound sand, "We sent you a letter detailing the new policy sir." I called bullshit and they said we'll cancel your plan and you can just pay the early termination fee. I was royally pissed off. I've been a customer since the iPhone 3G came out. If I didn't have such a cheap plan that I've been grandfathered into I'd have dumped them years ago. For the 60 bucks a month I pay, I should get unlimited data, not this 3GB then we throttle you garbage.

Count me in for the settlement or class action lawsuit if there is one.
 
A while back when I didnt have access to WiFi for quite a long time they throttled me so badly I couldnt even watch Netflix without buffering every 2 minutes. When I called they basically told me to pound sand, "We sent you a letter detailing the new policy sir." I called bullshit and they said we'll cancel your plan and you can just pay the early termination fee. I was royally pissed off. I've been a customer since the iPhone 3G came out. If I didn't have such a cheap plan that I've been grandfathered into I'd have dumped them years ago. For the 60 bucks a month I pay, I should get unlimited data, not this 3GB then we throttle you garbage.

Count me in for the settlement or class action lawsuit if there is one.

Yea I wanna know how we can get involved in this!
 
My favorite were the people using hundreds of GB per month complaining about it. Unlimited Data meant unlimited data on your phone, not unlimited tethering for your entire household. That's the users who ruined it for everyone else. It never mentioned unlimited tethering in the contracts AFAIK.
 
Now we just need those pricks at the FCC slam Cox, Comcast, Time Warner and every other ISP that sells you an internet package for say, 15/1 and gives you 2/.5 every second you're online except for when you run speed tests.
 
Flawless is illegal to use in describing jewelry i.e. diamonds. Unlimited is not up for interpretation by big business.
 
It seems to me that wireless broadband providers should operate like wired broadband providers and sell bandwidth in tiers. You can have your 128kbps package, 512kbps package, 1mbps, 5mbps, 25mbps, etc. On top of that levy a data cap just like wired ISP's do, of say 50-100GB or whatever. People have been conditioned to accept 5GB as some sort of bounty because when wireless internet was first offered it was such a struggle to give people even a few megabytes worth of data. I remember looking down at my blackberry whenever it would say "EDGE" connected and be like "awww yeaahhh". And then omg 3G felt like all we'd ever need. Cellular internet has just been playing catch up for a long time.
 
I seem to remember back in Day AT&T claiming "unlimited" in their comercials. Where AT&T got busted in all this was the fact they selectively only throttled the customers on the Unlimited grandfathered plans. When asked about how to stop future throttle their solution was to renew the contract on one their limited plan's, Pretty much trying to bully their customers in to it. Kinda like a landlord that wants to make a renter leave. If instead of just doing it that small % customers, they did it to everyone on the tower that is getting near max they wouldn't be in this spot to start with.
 
My favorite were the people using hundreds of GB per month complaining about it. Unlimited Data meant unlimited data on your phone, not unlimited tethering for your entire household.

Last time I checked my phone came from the factory with the option to.....

wifi1.png




That's the users who ruined it for everyone else.
Yes, it has nothing to do with making more profit and everything to do with just doing what is right, got it. :rolleyes:


It never mentioned unlimited tethering in the contracts AFAIK.
Did you read your entire contract upon receiving it, just wondering? Of course you did, because you're special. What good is a contract a normal person doesn't even understand? Disregarded.
 
When I got my unlimited data plan I expected unlimited data for MY PHONE not to use it to replace my ISP. I'm not sure how you can be reasonable and defend the people who did that. I'm not talking about tethering every once in a while if you really need to, but actually using it all the time and downloading hundreds of GB. If I lend you my car and say you can drive it, will you also drive hundreds of miles on it just because I didn't specify what you can or can't do?
 
When I got my unlimited data plan I expected unlimited data for MY PHONE not to use it to replace my ISP.

PHL7NXv.png


I'm not sure how you can be reasonable and defend the people who did that.
You mean the people like myself that save money using my smartphone with the capabilities it came from the manufacturer supporting?

I'm not talking about tethering every once in a while if you really need to, but actually using it all the time and downloading hundreds of GB.
376GB to be exact. :D

If I lend you my car and say you can drive it, will you also drive hundreds of miles on it just because I didn't specify what you can or can't do?
I paid $650 for my phone and I pay $75 a month for unlimited internet. I'm not borrowing shit here.

As for how far I'd drive your car, that depends entirely on the car you have. If it's a Neon I'd drive it to the store and back. Hopefully it has tinted windows. However if you own a 2015 McLaren P1 I'd drive it from NY to Texas and if you knew me, you wouldn't have expected anything less. A car like that is meant to be driven, much like an unlimited data plan, it was meant be used, unlimitedly.

Whatever can be put through the device is what it supports.
 
It seems to me that wireless broadband providers should operate like wired broadband providers and sell bandwidth in tiers. You can have your 128kbps package, 512kbps package, 1mbps, 5mbps, 25mbps, etc. On top of that levy a data cap just like wired ISP's do, of say 50-100GB or whatever. People have been conditioned to accept 5GB as some sort of bounty because when wireless internet was first offered it was such a struggle to give people even a few megabytes worth of data. I remember looking down at my blackberry whenever it would say "EDGE" connected and be like "awww yeaahhh". And then omg 3G felt like all we'd ever need. Cellular internet has just been playing catch up for a long time.

I still only have 3g service and it works fine for my needs.

kc76Y9O.jpg


I'm almost always near a WiFi spot. The bit I use it for (GPS nab, price shopping, reading news on the go etc) 3g works fine. I text more than anything. Cant see paying for unlimited data when my unlimited home and work wifi have me covered. Go MVNO or GTFO for me.
 
Oh good. Hopefully that'll put an end to this bullshit on my corporate phone. When I hit the 7GB limit on an unlimited data plan, they announce they're going to throttle my connection and that means 50 KBps or so.
 
When I picked up my OG Note a few years back, I was informed by the rep that my 'Unlimited' plan would run at lower speeds when I went past 5GB of usage in a month. I've only done it once, but I did get a text message, and I had to stream Netflix from a hotel to do it.

If ATT didn't bother actually telling everyone like they told me- I could see a reason for the uproar.
 
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