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    AT&T to throttle data speeds for 'unlimited' hogs

    NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T Inc. said Friday that it's going to start limiting speeds for the 5 percent of its customers with "unlimited" data smartphone plans who clog the airwaves the most.

    The measure will take effect Oct. 1, AT&T said, and is intended to alleviate congestion on the network.

    T-Mobile USA already throttles users who go over certain limits for data consumption.

    AT&T stopped signing up new customers for "unlimited" plans last year. Instead, it now lets heavy users pay extra when they go over a certain data allotment.

    Verizon Wireless also recently stopped signing up new customers for unlimited service.

    AT&T says it will warn users when they are approaching joining the top 5 percent, and anyone subject to the speed limits will experience them until the next billing cycle starts.

    The Dallas-based phone company says that what puts someone in the top 5 percent is usually streaming video or playing some online games.

    AT&T won't count data use over Wi-Fi, just usage over the cellular network.

    ___

    Online:

    AT&T statement: http://bit.ly/r4JTVp

    ___

    Peter Svensson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/petersvensson

     

    341 comments

    • jcrosser  •  10 mths ago
      How much slower can ATT make their service with out stopping it all together?
    • My  •  10 mths ago
      How about a class action lawsuit by unlimited laying users!!? Legally I can't see how they can limit usage without refunding what I pay for and are using?
      • KED 10 mths ago
        I don't think it the usage...it's the speed..technically their limiting the amount...but still, it would limit it........but that's how the big companies swindle it....circumvent their own contracts with this type of tactic......obviously their vision to see people using it like a two dollar hoe didn't come into play---or did it.
      • KED 10 mths ago
        I meant to say they are limiting the speed...not the amount.
      • Danny 10 mths ago
        class action really only help lawyers. The most recent one got lawyers 11 mil and customers got two dollars each. And att still engages in the same practices.
    • Doug_d  •  10 mths ago
      AT&T is getting too big again, time for another break up!
      • Mr K I A 10 mths ago
        But Comcast just bought NBC -- talk about too big!!
      • FreddieZ 10 mths ago
        Deregulation for media, communications companies and banks is not a good thing for the common good of the public from an economic standpoint. It works well in the food industry and many other industries but not in these three. It is time to once again limit with these (Bandwidth hogs are doing).
    • Danny  •  10 mths ago
      As with any service providers they are in the business to make money. If we do not create or allow alternatives then we are prisoners to these games. They hammer you with marketing tactics and promise you all sorts of unlimited cool things you can do then when you start doing them they realize they do not have the bandwith for it and change the rules. With electric or gas it is similar. Use use use, then when you do and receive astronomical bills you try to cut back. Buy energy efficient this or that, put in different light bulbs, change the times you do certain things, etc. Then when your bill goes down they raise the rates. It is all fixed games and the only way to win is alternatives. That is why it is important for the regulations that limit monopolies. That is why it is important to support and use alternative energy sources. The only way to stop these things is to take measures to stop them. We as a nation cannot just allow anyone to do anything they want and go along with it blindly. We have to be active in making it clear what is acceptable and what is not in everything someone is allowed to do to us. We may indeed need their services but not at any cost. Same with prices of everything. Companies will get whatever price the markets and us will allow. That is why everything is way out of proportion regarding value and part of our debt and housing problems as well.
      So you want me to use your product but then you will penalize me for it. How cool is that.
      • Hayes 10 mths ago
        Agree with your point that we should personally choose alternatives, but technology has always been really expensive. Devaluation our currency is helping fuel some of this as well. More for less.. Corporations have to do it to maintain a standard profit margin.
      • Terry 10 mths ago
        Welcome to the Republican "Free trade" market scheme, the birthplace of the saying "The rich keep getting richer while the poor gets screwed!"
      • ROBERT 10 mths ago
        Did anyone hold a gun to your head and require you to purchase AT$T service, OR ELSE?
    • seth  •  10 mths ago
      Every year bandwidth is cheaper, every year hardware is cheaper.

      Yet every year carriers raise the cost of bandwidth, slow down your connection, and limit your bandwidth.
      • UStel 10 mths ago
        Every year there is less competition in every industry because politicians get juiced
      • Stein FP 10 mths ago
        Is bandwidth cheaper? Careful how you answer here. Bandwidth on this scale is quite limited, there is only so much of it and it has to be bought from the government regulators. So, be careful how you answer.
    • Rick  •  9 mths ago
      F#(k at&t! I have a smartphone to ue as a PDA, but I didn't use any data. They MADE me pay for a data plan, making it attractive for me to use ther GD data service, and now they have a problem....DUH!. They are the worst carrier, and as soon as my contract is up I AM CHANGING!
      • Russ 9 mths ago
        You didn't have to get a smart phone. Every carrier requires a data plan if you have a certain class of phone. Go back to the flip or candy bar phone!
      • Rick 9 mths ago
        Except what I have for a phone doesn't make a damn bit of difference. You're saying that the electric company should be able to charge me for every lamp in my house even if I don't turn it on. That is BS.
    • Alarm Clock  •  9 mths ago
      I think I'm going to visit the local ATT store, on a busy day of course, and go in and ask whether they consider me a data HOG or not. Should be fun...maybe even embarrassing...
    • TruthAboveAll  •  10 mths ago
      If any idiot on these boards believes that the internet is suffering from those 5% heavy users then you've got rocks for brains and you deserve to be paying through the nose to these lying money grubbing IP companies...
    • N N  •  10 mths ago
      Maybe AT&T should have built a better infrastructure before they started selling smart phones. They should have seen this coming. You can't expect people to pay all that money
      for a phone and not use its fuctions. Throttling back means a weak carrier..
    • Morocco Mole 707  •  10 mths ago
      What a joke....if your paying for unlimited(like I am) you should be able to use the service unconditionally, with out being slowed down. After all for those of you who do have a at&t smart phone you already know that the network is slow as h e double hockey sticks.NOTE TO SELF END MY SERVICE IN OCTOBER.
    • Alec  •  10 mths ago
      Blame and insult the customer instead of adding more equipment. It is just an excuse to charge you more. All over priced plans, why don't they post the cost per gb. I sure the profit margin is over 60%.
    • Vincit Omnia Veritas  •  9 mths ago
      Those people signed up for unlimited data. It's wrong for at&t to disrupt their serve like that.
    • Jim  •  10 mths ago
      I don't own a cell phone. I get my internet for free from the library. I don't have cable TV. I take all that extra money and invest it. Would rather spend my free time riding bikes with my kids. Hiking in the hills or forest and playing tennis. All for free!

      However it is enjoyable to read all these comments from you chumps addicted to your electronic friends. When I retire in a few years at age 55, I will be thinking of you and your carpel-tunnel hand issues as I plan for a bike ride across Alaska.

      Meanwhile you slaves to corporate masters who tell you to buy the latest technology, keep on rocking! I need one of you dirt bags to clean the porta-potty I will be using at the community fest next weekend!
    • A Yahoo! User  •  10 mths ago
      AT&T lost me as a customer in January. Service was abysmal. Everyone should know that AT&T folded back about 10 years ago and SBC bought the name because it ruined the name SBC. They took the same practices that ruined SBC and applied them to AT&T. Look for them to be buying another company shortly, just because they need a new name.
    • Chris  •  9 mths ago
      Quite a crock as this practice was not mentioned in the contract for service and can and should be considered a breech...So they advertised it and people bought it and now it does not work for them so they will curb its use...#$%$
    • Mic  •  10 mths ago
      It seems to me that the phones were designed to do that and that AT&T customers bought those phones so they could enjoy videos and games. So now that they're hooked AT&T is going to raise the price. Today it's the top 5%, next month it's the top 10%... and so on. Sounds like a bait and switch to me.
    • George Mason  •  9 mths ago
      Throttle data speeds? Can we throttle payment if we have to wait, or dropped, or get a bad connection. I didn't think so.
    • darknight  •  10 mths ago
      ATT&T really loves to stick it in you and twist it....
    • Animosity  •  10 mths ago
      I am one of the few remaining Verizon unlimited access wi-fi/broadband users they have left. They have tried everything in their power to get me to switch over. Now they have denied me my free 2 year upgrade, denied me access to the 3g & 4g networks and has limited my signal strength down to less then 512kbps. They keep raising their phone rates up (I pay $370 month for 2 nationwide unlimited access smartphones and 1 unlimited access wi-fi usb card). They have told me they are cancelling their 2g service at the end of the year and I will be forced to upgrade at my cost and go to a pay to play plan. I am in the process of suing Verizon. The case goes to before the court in October.
    • clifton  •  10 mths ago
      wait... If the customer has a contract for unlimited use.... then limiting in any way is a breech of contract... I SMELL LAWSUIT.... LOL
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