Well, what do you know, AT&T today announced that it’s making some changes to its smartphone data throttling policy, which stands to impact users who have grandfathered-in unlimited smartphone data plans. The second largest wireless provider in the United States stated in a press release that the top 5 percent of smartphone users would experience slowed data speeds until a new billing period began.
Once the new policy is enacted, customers who dangerously flirt with the data limit set for their specific plan, will get a text message from the carrier before experiencing a change in speed. AT&T laid out the following information for customers who have chosen to retain the unlimited data plans:
Customers with a 3G or 4G smartphone – who also still have our unlimited data plan – will see speeds reduced if they use 3GB (gigabytes) of data or more in a billing cycle. Speeds will return to normal at the start of the next billing cycle. For context, less than 5 percent of smartphone customers use more than 3GB per month.
For customers with a 4G LTE smartphone – who also still have our unlimited data plan – data speeds will be reduced if usage is 5GB (gigabytes) or more in a billing cycle. Speeds will return to normal at the start of the next billing cycle.
Honestly, this new policy will surely piss off all the customers occupying that five percent, as it lowers the data cap when it comes to throttling high-speed. Let’s be real, this will be unpopular to only five percent of users, but the other 95 percent won’t care. To be fair, the new throttling policy is in line with what goes on with other carriers. For example, T-Mobile does this to its grandfathered in unlimited data customers, as it also throttles users after 5GB — trust me, I was one of them.
[via BGR]