AT&T Wireless Bandwidth Throttling: The Backlash Has Begun - micklethavite

AT&T has begun strangulation bandwidth speeds for its "unlimited" tune data customers who gobble up inordinate amounts of data on their smartphones–even as it promised it would back in June. Now that the unlimited wireless bandwidth party is over, some unhappy AT&T customers are speaking up and crying soiled.

Contempt AT&T's assertion that throttling would only affect a tiny top 5 pct of information users some customers claim that the clampdown on radio receiver bandwidth appears to be affecting a larger parcel of AT&adenosine monophosphate;T's 17 million radio set client base. Among those World Health Organization believe they are being throttled, some claim that AT&T's bandwidth restrictions are worse than those of unusual carriers. They also complain that AT&T is illegible about its throttling policy and that they are getting hosed by a new pricing scheme.

AT&T isn't unusual in moving away from all-you-can-eat information plans and pushing customers toward tiered service plans. Verizon, T-Mobile, and others in the wireless manufacture have ditched unlimited plans as wellspring. And they, too, have visaged client backlashes.

AT&T Undocumented Limits

For the disc, AT&T has explicit in the media that if you use to a higher degree 2GB of wireless data per calendar month you fall behind into the 5 percent of its customers WHO may be subject to strangling. An AT&T representative unchangeable the limit but said that exceeding 2GB of data is no ensure that you'll live throttled. AT&T told the Empire State Times that whether the action IT takes under the throttling insurance will actually slow users' tune data speeds depends on the individuals' usage patterns and on the quick availability of net capacity or spectrum.

Unfortunately, AT&T doesn't make this point guiltless along its site, which leaves many customers in the dark. We did find a footnote linked to the old Unlimited plan on the AT&T site, but IT directed us to original information plans instead of to a new policy. When we named customer patronize, an AT&A;T spokesperson same that she didn't rich person any entropy about what spic-and-span limits the Unqualified plan obligatory, and she directed U.S. back to the AT&T site.

In contrast, Verizon offers explicit counseling along its throttling policy, as do wireless carriers such as T-Mobile.

Pricing Conundrum

AT&T's existing Untrammelled customers are grandfathered into the toter's $30-per-month Outright plan and are special (theoretically) to 2GB of radio receiver data transfers per month. After that, AT&T importantly reduces its transferee speeds, according to user feedback.

Severally, AT&T offers a $30-a-month plan for 3GB of information downloads. That option has some customers colic: "that's one GB more than the 'untrammelled plan' allows before AT&T considers you among the top five percent of its 'heavy users' subject to a punishing hotfoot throttle."

IT just seems fair to charge two groups of users the equivalent number for two different information caps (evening if one of them isn't technically a cap). The only silver liner Here might be that Untrammeled customers South Korean won't face nasty surprise "overage fees."

Unfair Throttling

As if pricing and policy issues weren't enough, a growing chorus of AT&T customers straight off take a firm stand that they are seeing data throttling earlier they gain the 2GB limit. AT&adenylic acid;T customers take been chiming in at fashionable venues such as John Delude's blog and the site Furor of Mac. Commenters at both sites insist they are seeing choking of their AT&T wireless speeds after equally little equally 1.5GB of data use.

Of course, in the absence of whatsoever independent verification of these claims, they could be a widespread case of sour grapes.

Stopping point Holdout

Not all phone carriers limit user data, however. Sprint famously allows untrammeled data without restrictions. Yes, Sprint is in fourth place among the big four carriers, but its policy still makes AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon look like cheapskates.

(PCWorld's Gobbler Spring contributed to this report)