That isn't how I read the T's&C's. Since it is a pre-paid arrangement with no contractual obligation to continue on either side, ATT has the right to change how they charge at any time, effective when the current month expires.
I doubt very much that there is any law or FTC ruling that applies.
I'm sure ATT has other reasons to continue the program, but I don't think they are legally constrained.
I agree, AT&T is a private company. They are well within their rights to provide a product at whatever price they choose. They could sell data at $100 per kilobyte if they wanted, and it would not be illegal. Certain necessities are regulated (such as food, fuel, utilities) to prevent gouging of essentials but cellular data is certainly not part of that jurisdiction.
What WOULD be illegal is if ATT, Verizon et al, got together and all decided to raise their prices at the same time. That's price fixing, since THAT is illegal, prices will stay low as long as the industry competes for pricing.
I think they keep it simply to keep subscribers. It's an a la carte data plan, which is part of why I really like it. I purchase it when I travel, if there is a month I'm not traveling much and can live without 3G... yeah no problem. But, if I was grandfathered into unlimited, yeah I would be auto-subscribing. It's just a way for AT&T to keep customers and find a balance, without over exerting their networks.
AT&T just wants to keep their networks from getting clogged at this point. It was only a few years ago that color cellphones were cool, now high-res cellphones that can stream HD video are in existence, sometimes on the exact same hardware that served the color (and B&W) cellphones. I really hope that they get their act together on the hardware side and re-introduce unlimited. It will happen, eventually. One of the big carriers is going to do it, and the rest will have to follow suit to stay competitive.
-John
