Few weeks back we had reported that AT&T was throttling down top 5% of the unlimited data plan subscribers to 2G speeds. If that was not bad enough, users have reported that they have been downgraded to those pathetic 2G speeds after using less than 2GB of monthly usage.
AT&T has said that the average usage by the top 5 percent unlimited data users, indeed comes to around 2GB per month, but that isn't the only criteria to throttling:
Mr. Siegel [AT&T rep] said that even if you do exceed 2 gigabytes of data usage and qualify as one of the top 5 percent, that doesn’t absolutely mean you’re going to be throttled. AT&T will only reduce speeds for the top 5 percent of users in areas where network capacity or spectrum is insufficient, he said. In other words, throttling is done on a case-by-case basis, not based on a hard number, according to AT&T’s claims.
“There’s a very good chance you wouldn’t be slowed,” Mr. Siegel said. He added that in the last month, less than 1 percent of AT&T smartphone customers were affected by the policy.
AT&T however, hasn't explained, why does it offer a 3GB usage plan for the same price as the unlimited plan at standard, non-throttled speeds, even in congested areas. This hasn't gone down too well with users, and understandably so. Not surprisingly, some have even taken AT&T to court over this issue.
There might finally be some good news for these users who are being unfairly treated by AT&T. Associated Press has just reported that a judge in Californian court has awarded an iPhone user $850 because AT&T reduced his download speeds.
Pro-tem Judge Russell Nadel found in favor of Matt Spaccarelli on Friday in Ventura Superior Court. Spaccarelli filed a small claims case against AT&T last month, arguing the communications giant unfairly slows speeds on his iPhone 4's unlimited data plan.
AT&T's area sales manager declined to comment on the ruling, but argued in the court that AT&T had the rights to modify or cancel customers contracts.
The court ruling could have serious consequences for AT&T as it could pave the way for more lawsuits against AT&T or at least force AT&T to stop throttling these unlimited data plan subscribers.
[via Associated Press]
Nice a win for the little guy. I’m going to California on vacation in a couple months for E3 last year I used 4gb of data in just that week alone with videos an pics that I shot and uploaded to YouTube and Facebook so it’s good to know I have an option if I get one of those throttling text messages
We all need to punish AT&T and put together a class action law suit. We have to hit them where it hurts. The “wallet.” I alway thought class action law suits were stupid cause every one got like $10 or $20 out of it. But there are approx 17 million AT&T wireless users with unlimited data plans. 17 million time $10 or $20 will hurt them enought to hopefully stop throttling.
I totally agree! I just got a this text message from AT&T and a email stating that my service is going to be slowed because I’m in the top 5%. This is non-sense & I definitely plan on taking action
Any lawyers reading this, please we need a class action law suit against AT&T.
unfortunately, you can’t sue using a class action lawsuit, since it’s in your contract that you signed with AT&T.
•SERVES THEM RIGHT!• AT&T BETTER RECOGNIZE AFTER THIS . PEOPLE WILL STAND UP ,WONT TAKE THEIR SHiSNiT ANYMORE !!!
they shouldn’t call it unlimited if they throttle your speed when ever they feel like it.
I will take AT&T to court too.
I agree – they should not be stating “unlimited” with any type of cap. They limit me and I’ll be filing against them as well!
Class action is too easy to defend. Thousands of complainants go away in one ruling. A multitude of small claims suits would cost them much more $$$.
Awesome This article is put very well! I hope AT&T gets there asses sued big time! I like how the data plan comparrd with 2gb, 3gb or even the 5gb compared to the unlimted data plan! Damn AT&T trys to screw people with there service and makes there rep pays for it by saying the wrong words that doesnt make any sense or any good reason into even why they throttle there data. Bunch of crap that AT&T try’s to pull. I’ll sign a pettition for an all out lawsuit when ever it happens!! Cuz I mean come lots of people use there smartphone for a purpose like stream music live(radio station), watch netflix, navigation, email.
I agree. I’ve had and kept my unlimited plan since the beginning. Now I get throttling SMS around 2 gigs of use. This is bull. Not only that… AT&T shouldn’t be able to charge extra for tethering either. This is a feature I rarely have a need for. But, when I do need it, I shouldn’t have to pay extra for it. Especially when I was able to tether throught my old Sony Ericsson with no extra charge prior to this.
The thing that hurts them most is bad publicity! If a class action gets a lot of media attention it makes potential new customers have second thoughts about them and that’s really bad news for there annual growth
The contract specifically forbids class action lawsuits but if you have ever received $0.07 from a class action lawsuit, this is really the way to go – $850 with the potential under ATT’s own contract to go for $10,000.00! And as he has set a legal president it will make it a lot easier for other in CA to follow suit.
Woohoo!!
Everyone on AT&T if you need to start out in small claims court then so be it!!!
Then take their asses to high court who can rule in favor of the people and not corporations!!
Class action suits usually also bring acclaimed lawyers to the table. I don’t want to be compensated just thr practice eliminated.
i haven’t gotten throttled as of yet but when i do i will definitely sue them! iphonehacks, please keep us up to date on any potential class action law suites.
i’m going to make them throttle me before the class action kick stated, then i can be awarded. lol…
I’ve been receiving these messages for months now and I’ve been with AT&T since iPhone 1g, sucks that they throttle the unlimited data plans but not the 2gb plans and let them go over the limit to make money out of them. I WILL TAKE YOU ON!
I really hope that someone start a petition of some kind against this throttle b.s. They should consider that we’re the loyal customers thats been with them since the beginning, why punish us?
LOL, this is interesting and will lead to more law suits.
Sad thing is, this was AT&Ts attempt at preventing the illegal tethering from their devices. They offer a tethering service, but many people choose to circumvent it. A number of those same people choose to use it for everything and drive up usage to 20 even 30GB and higher. Implementation in preventing the illegal tethering was poor, and the result, people getting throttled at much lower levels. This was never about unlimited services…. this was about customers stealing bandwidth via tethering. It wasn’t about one customer, it was about the impact on all their customers. AT&T was trying to protect the larger portion of their clientele, from a very small portion of their clients that essentially were bandwidth pirates. People forget that unlike an ISP provider on fiber or cable, 3G bandwidth is very very limited. The point is you all using mywi/pdanet or other programs brought this upon yourself. You abused the limits of your contract with AT&T then got pissed off when they hit you for it. If your going to steal/break the law do it smart. Keep it small and you won’t get caught. Look at bank robbers… “give me all the cash in the drawer” … 5 minutes later dye bomb goes off and they get caught … Go in smart … “give me all the 20s and 50s and count them out like your cashing a check” No dye pack, better chances…. when you abuse any system you have to be willing to pay the consequences for your own stupidity.
I agree that they should throttle the really big abusers, but to harass decent customers over 1.5 GB is simply unacceptable. At least let the “unlimited” users get up to 4-5 GB before they get harassed. We should get a little more than the $25/2 GB customers just because we’ve been paying the bill a lot longer.
Customers who are on the top tier UNLIMITED phone plans are already paying a premium. If AT&T is concerned about their bandwidth, don’t market an unlimited plan unless your network can handle it. In my opinion we’re already paying extra for unlimited data, why should we then have to pay more for tethering that same data. AT&T’s definition of unlimited is a joke, a marketing ploy. If a restaurant has an “all you can eat” promotion they cant decide to kick the wrestling team out when they keep eating. Paradox, why can’t use see this a deceptive marketing practice? unlimited means unlimited? no?
I don’t disagree on the definition of unlimited. And Stevo’s 4 to 5 GB is realistic. I do agree there was deception on AT&Ts part. However, the reason AT&T had to back pedal was because of the abuse of the unlimited data. Blackberry users for years have been paying $50 for limited bandwidth limited usage. iPhone users pay $30 for unlimited (those that got it). Blackberry allowed tethering, iPhone did not. for $50 you could get the same privileges as Blackberry. A limited tether plan. The problem is, tethering severely cripples networks. Users here blatantly admitted that they would not buy cable internet, but would use the illegally tethered iPhones for all their internet needs. AT&T could not stop the illegal tethering, so they did what they could to try and limit it. Unfortunately a lot of innocent people got nailed because of it. Your unlimited contract with AT&T does not include tethering, plain and simple. Unlimited usage does not include stealing their tethering service. Just because you should be able to tether does not mean you have the right to tether… So yes .. people not tethering should be upset and have every right to be. But, their anger is misdirected. part of the anger should be at AT&T for not preventing the illegal tethering. But equally so, you should also be upset at the jail breakers that put AT&T in this position by abusing the system. Verizon was marginally more successful at stopping this. but thats a whole other topic…
Unlimited data bandwidth is unlimited data bandwidth. How you use what you’ve paid for is nobodys business but your own. Whether you tether or not. Are there any other word definitions in the dictionary you’d care to disagree with? Why not team up with AT&T to write your own list of preferred word definitions. Please hurry! I’m running out of toilet paper and need a good alternative lol.
please copy from your aT&T contract where it says anything about bandwidth. unlimited data. there is no promise as to speeds. As for working for AT&T .. actually I hate AT&T and am a Verizon customer. I have unlimited data, and when I go on the road I pay for a tethering package to use with my iPad.
Shut the f*ck up!! Sound like you work for AT&T. I pay for it I should receive unlimited. Point blank. The millions of profits AT&T makes should be used to update their system so the load wouldn’t be an issues. Slowly AT&T will die out from the cell phone business.
Stop ur bull. Go back to AT&T business.
Tethering does not cripple networks. Growing to big to fast for the sake of profit does. You are looking at this like ATT really cares about the customer. If they did there service would be the best. It’s not. It’s not because they know that making people happy will cost them money. Like banks they know that you won’t leave because it’s to complicated and you will lose what service your supposed to be getting. They are a large corporation that is looking to make money and that is all. They are above the law. They make Billions a year. There costomers are just in the way!
Im just kind of conserned when they said, oh we gonna slow you down, when I most of the the time Im on edge and like everyone say people with unlimited data are costumers for a long time whom didnt have a choice but the $30 data so I dont think thats right what they’re doing
I will only understand if they throttle people at 20 GB but at 2gb is horsesh*t, cause they got plans at 3GB.
Start the petition.
http://www.ipetitions.com/verify/a5271bb44e9abb99b10e99b18aeb7cec
I dont want to sue or take AT&T to court, all I want it what is fair and what I am entitled to when I purchased my unlimited plan.
Paradox you bring great points up, it almost sounds like you work/Mgr for AT&T, because of your points, and how you stand up for AT&T, but none the less, we all have freedom of speech, and hopefully we all have good intentions and want what’s promised us…unlimited from AT&T (minus the jailbreak and tethering ones doing it)
There has to be a better way for AT&T to find out who is misusing the unlimited data packages if they are tethering, they are a multi-million dollar company, they can afford making a department to do that instead of sending a text and sayin that we will be throttling you.
You know, If AT&T spent more time and money on upgrading their towers they wouldn’t be “threatened” by unapproved tethering. Instead, they rape the customers blind for a limited “unlimited” plan, and for everything else they offer. It’s sad that the american people just sit around and b*tch about it instead of telling AT&T to f*ck off and upgrade their service or they’ll go to a different company that actually needs their business. Sooner or later AT&T would be in need of customers again and would have to upgrade their service for anyone to actually come back.
Just got off the phone with AT&T because they put me on a “restricted download speed” due to the fact I had “data usage among the top 5% of users.” When I asked them how much data I used, they said “2GB”.
This is the top 5%?
If you look at their wireless plans (http://bit.ly/yLWXCQ), you’ll see that their $30 plan, which is the same amount I pay for the “Unlimited” plan, allows for 3GB of data.
AT&T has gone in the toilet as far as their customer service goes, and now their “Unlimited” plan is basically worse than a “limited” plan at the same price. When my time to renew comes up, I will be taking my $200 per month business to another carrier. I recommend you do the same.
Paradox presented a very good reason as to why they throttle speeds, but why do they only focus unlimited data users? @2gb?! I have experienced this for the past 2 months and I do not use tethering, only YouTube/Facebook/Safari. Why would I worry if I pass 2gbs if I have “unlimited” data plan? Thing is absurd!
To get people off the unlimited plan would be my best guess and to cash in on Apples cloud and O.T.A. service iOS is almost at 1gb in size now. Just imagine the bill if your almost at your data limit and Apple push an O.T.A. update on you which decides to use the data network because wi-fi isn’t available. ouch