I think most are missing the entire point. While you are correct, the usage of the word "Unlimited" in a data plan is not legal binding, and yes, there are likely fine print somewhere in the contract that speaks to "fair use", there is a few issues.
1. AT&T sold, and people purchased an "Unlimited" data plan under the pretenses that it is in fact unlimited based on the capabilities of the network (3G). As such, you were sold that you would get 3G speeds with no data cap. I did not buy an unlimited plan knowing that I might be throttled, capped, etc. If I sign up for unlimited phone call usage, but then a year into it, I am now limited to when I can make those calls, then the initial perceived terms have changed. Additionally, the fact that AT&T did NOT throttle before, meant that it was an unlimited plan as it was intended. It is simple bait and switch. They used deceitful tactics to get me in the door and to sign up, then later and under contract, they change the terms based on a vague statement of "Fair Use" (who determines what is fair? the accountants and executives trying to watch their bottom dollar?). If AT&T doesn't want me using this plan as it was initially rolled out, then they should do away with it, call it something other than Unlimited, and go from there. Charging an absence amount of $10/GB however, is not what I perceive to be a fair option. Nor is paying $30/mo for family texting... I pay $170/mo to AT&T for the 300 combined minutes myself and my wife use (we have a total of I think 700). AND, the only option to decrease my bill, is to cut my available minutes in half for a $10 savings. Its completely profit driven.
2. Throttling high users this way makes no sense to me. If they are only going to do it to those that DL 11+GB / mo. And it takes them 3.5 weeks to do that, then AT&T is only freeing up bandwidth for what, half a week of the month? AND as most people here will likely admit, they don't notice any difference between week 3 and week 4 of each month, what good is this doing? In many cases, I would say its safe to say that AT&T has the bandwidth, however, being as it costs money to use, this is a way to keep their profits higher per customer, while appealing to the support of others that are led to believe their bandwidth will diminish. I almost never go anywhere near 10GB/mo however, I kept and still pay for unlimited as I should be allowed to. It is what I as a consumer was led to believe, it is what I purchased, still pay for, and still feel that I should have.
3. What about the months when those that have had high usage, use very little? What if they only use 100MB this month? AT&T doesn't charge any less. Their network was "supposedly" more open to others that may need it, however, AT&T just collected more profit.
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