Clauses in AT&T Contracts Have Always Provided for Limits on 'Unlimited' Data Plans

[kdarling]

I agree there should be more transparency in the contracts but there is one fact to remember, there is a physical limit to bandwidth (like a highway). Once it is full there is no more room for additional users. The only option is to slow the packet streams.

Exactly. Those of us with cars in crowded areas know that even if we have a toll badge with unlimited usage, our speed is still constrained by the amount of traffic around us. Everyone has to share the road.

I still like Verizon's throttling method: start with the highest users, but ONLY during the time that it's necessary in a particular cell for everyone to have a share of the bandwidth. If there's no congestion, then everyone goes right back to normal unlimited access.

Verizon's only-when-necessary slowdown method seems fair.

AT&T's longterm slowdown method seems more like a punishment.

 

[ironpony]

At&t should simply rewrite their contracts to be easier/shorter to read and understand.
Different strokes for different folks.
The way it is it seems to create more bad press for them then it does good press.
How many GB would it take to download a 2 hour movie and would the end be in slow motion with AT&T unlimited plan. I think 2 -3 GB for a movie so I could only download 1 movie per month??? for $30.

Maybe it is a good thing they were not allowed to gobble up T Mobile.

FYI- I dont use much data and have the Unlimited plan because the reps at AT&T tell me its only $5 extra per month , so keep the unlimited.

Big Business. We need more bandwidth!

 

[eacron]

I don't get why people are not this wired up over tethering. They are making us pay twice for data we are already paying for. Someone should take them to court over that!

 

[Ajones330]

Maybe they shouldn't have offered "Unlimited Data" when they didn't have the means to keep it up.

I know they're people who 'abuse' the network, but don't invite people when you don't have enough seats at the table.

Couldn't agree more!!!!!!

 

[JAT]

The problem is no one wants a cell tower in their back yard.

I'll take it for an exclusive broadband hookup. But it would have to be....UNLIMITED.

 

[Swampthing]

There was once an interesting news item on television that pointed out if the TELCOs had followed through with every "promise" they made in order to receive USG and local financial "incentives" for, such as upgrading network to get XX speeds, building in larger capacity, etc, we should be seeing close to 100MB speeds by now across the board.

But funny how we aren't. And now AT&T is sitting here complaining about how such "unlimited" use clogs their network yet continues to offer service under the "unlimited" banner. If it clogs your network, fine... but I sincerely doubt it.

Just get rid of "unlimited" name, and stop trying to fake everyone into believing "unlimited" means what it says. One successful lawsuit is enough... it's called precedence and can be used against them in the next court case, and the next, and the next, and the next... I know that's where I'll be if they throttle me. See you in court, AT&T.

 

[Craigy]

Seriously people of America - get over it ;-)

Here in sunny New Zealand we pay a fortune for mobile data, and it's pretty slow.

Those of us in IT and the creative industries would gladly donate a limb for the cost and service of mobile data in the US and most other parts of the world.

Unlimited is not unlimited and never will be. It's a marketing ploy and a valid one to an extent.

Availability is finite. Do the math.

I understand grumpiness over contracts - but most consumer contracts have big caveats in them.

The world is changing, and as mobile data is becoming as important a service as other utilities the cost will go up. Basic economics.

Here in New Zealand, we're looking at building a house. The reality is, we don't 'need' a connection to the electricity grid as solar etc is a valid alternative here. We also don't need commercial water and sewerage services. But... I can't make a living and support my family without the internet and mobile data... How priorities and times have changed... Interesting times.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

What a load of bull....!

 

[doelcm82]

Can anyone remind me what the 'grandfathered' cost of 'unlimited' is/was?
It seems that it was $30, but its not broken out on my bill in any understandable way.
If it is $30, then why in the world would I pay the same to get a 3GB cap?
Make it $20 for 3GB and I'd be perfectly happy to switch to that in order to exercise other flexibility without losing my unlimited (which I don't come close to using.

It depends how you feel about money. Those who have the grandfathered plan are subject to throttling when they hit 3 GB.

If you have the current data plan, you can continue past the 3 GB cap without throttling, but you will be charged an additional fee on your bill for the privilege.

Which would you prefer? If keeping your speed is more important to you than the $10/GB plus tax fee, then you should switch (but remember you can't go back again).

Unlimited plan users can rest assured their bill will not increase if they hit the limit, so if that's more important to you, you should stay. Plus, while throttled, you'll still be able to get email, messages, etc.

 

[JAT]

The concept of selling anything like bandwidth as "unlimited" is a bad idea.

Even though fresh water is virtually limitless where I live relative to the number of people who live here, there is a very good reason why my local muni doesn't offer "unlimited" water plans... there is a certain percentage of the population that is going to turn their faucets wide open 24x7x365 just because they can and eventually it will become an issue for everyone (decreased water pressure, additional wear and tear on the infrastructure and if the trend catches on, then eventually the supply will become an issue and they'll have to build additional reservoirs).

You know, I was thinking the utilities examples were ludicrous, until I remembered something. My city's recycling charge appears to be somewhat unlimited. I doubled my "usage" last year by requesting a 2nd large container. Now they take twice as much from me and I still pay the same. I wonder how many I could get for this price?

 

[carysr]

Throttled to 35 kbs at 2 gb of usage

256kbs would have been nice for me. My AT&T month starts on the 21st. I got my 3rd monthly warning message in a row on the 4th of February, and a throttling message on 2/12. For Jan/Feb, I used a TOTAL of 2,660,867 bytes. On February 14th, my tested speeds were 35 kbs at 10:30 a.m., & 120 kbs @ 2:52 p.m. I don't remember what my usage was on 2/14, but it was no more than 2.2 gb. I can't believe that's in the top 5% of users. I don't stream or listen to music on 3g. Most of my day I'm on wifi. On 3g I check traffic maps, check e-mail, and occasionally Google something. 120 kbs is too slow to check traffic maps or do much of anything productively.
When I supposedly went over on January 7th, and kept using 3g for another two weeks at snail speeds, my total usage for the month was 3.2 gb. In December (when I was throttled on 12/13), the total for the month was 2.86gb.
I called AT&T to complain (on 2/15) and got nothing but b.s. from the rep.
I'm unlocking my 4 family phones & switching to T-Mobile if they don't stop this crap.

 

[iMacian]

You US customers let yourself get robbed.

Look at this: http://www.bob.at/gigabob

This is not even the cheapest one, I just don't bother searching. Max speed is 4Mbit =500Kb/s which is enough for video streaming on the go. Tethering? Of course. Need more data? 4Euro per GB.

 

[gotluck]

I don't get why people are not this wired up over tethering. They are making us pay twice for data we are already paying for. Someone should take them to court over that!

I am mad about this, but honestly i jailbreak my phone and don't pay for tethering on my unlimited plan . However, I wouldn't pay for tethering even if I could, because I agree with your sentiment (I never hit 3 gigs anyway). I doubt I'm the only one too. There is a client side 'solution' to this. There's no way around throttling.

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You US customers let yourself get robbed.

Look at this: http://www.bob.at/gigabob

This is not even the cheapest one, I just don't bother searching. Max speed is 4Mbit =500Kb/s which is enough for video streaming on the go. Tethering? Of course. Need more data? 4Euro per GB.

Yea, I (an american) drool over the euro plans.

 

[doelcm82]

Just get rid of "unlimited" name, and stop trying to fake everyone into believing "unlimited" means what it says. One successful lawsuit is enough... it's called precedence and can be used against them in the next court case, and the next, and the next, and the next... I know that's where I'll be if they throttle me. See you in court, AT&T.

Maybe you'll get your wish. The only people who can get the "unlimited" plan are those who had it before and carried it forward. If you are a new customer or if you had "unlimited" data in the past, but switched to a different plan, then there is no "unlimited" plan available.

 

[ericinboston]

Although fundamentally I am against ATT's policy of throttling, I still have to wonder who (and why) is using more than 3GB of data per month on a cellular network. Surely these people cannot be the norm. And as ATT indicates, it seems to be around 5% of the customers.

Yes, I'm sure there are the diehard road travelers that use the ATT network hard. And I'm sure there are people out there that tether their iPhone. And I'm sure there are folks who live in the sticks far away from WIFI spots or have no WIFI at home. I get that. But those should be, IMO, the 5% of the people...they have very specific and different needs than the 90% rest of the crowd. They need to realize that their way of life is far different than the average ATTer...and pony up the money for more data.

I'm not being evil or heartless but it's true. If you use that much data every month on a cellular phone network, you're far from the average user...on any cellular phone system in the USA. Either swap your plan, switch carriers, find WIFI spots, curb your habit, or cancel altogether...and any/all of the above.

I live in New England and am typically not on the road that much. I find that there is free WIFI in a LOT of places like restaurants and hotel lobbies. Not to mention ATT offers some kind of ATT WIFI network for free. While on the ATT network, I super rarely watch videos (because of the terrible speed) but do enough email and web surfing for a few hours a month. My monthly usage is around 700MB. If I wasn't home so much it would probably double to 1.5GB.

I'm not going to name hard numbers such as "using more than ____MB is just silly"...if you're the 1% or 5% of data suckers out there, time to become and adult and realize it and figure out what you want to do (other than complain).

Again, I don't promote ATT's actions but I do understand their point (of making money) of the clauses and the throttling.

 

[satcomer]

The problem is no one wants a cell tower in their back yard.

You are part of the problem! You suburbanites and your attendtude of "not in my backyard"!

Your even the type to buy a house right beside a Airport and then complain about Airplane noise.

 

[dukebound85]

Although fundamentally I am against ATT's policy of throttling, I still have to wonder who (and why) is using more than 3GB of data per month on a cellular network. Surely these people cannot be the norm. And as ATT indicates, it seems to be around 5% of the customers.

Yes, I'm sure there are the diehard road travelers that use the ATT network hard. And I'm sure there are people out there that tether their iPhone. And I'm sure there are folks who live in the sticks far away from WIFI spots or have no WIFI at home. I get that. But those should be, IMO, the 5% of the people...they have very specific and different needs than the 90% rest of the crowd. They need to realize that their way of life is far different than the average ATTer...and pony up the money for more data.

I'm not being evil or heartless but it's true. If you use that much data every month on a cellular phone network, you're far from the average user...on any cellular phone system in the USA. Either swap your plan, switch carriers, find WIFI spots, curb your habit, or cancel altogether...and any/all of the above.

I live in New England and am typically not on the road that much. I find that there is free WIFI in a LOT of places like restaurants and hotel lobbies. Not to mention ATT offers some kind of ATT WIFI network for free. While on the ATT network, I super rarely watch videos (because of the terrible speed) but do enough email and web surfing for a few hours a month. My monthly usage is around 700MB. If I wasn't home so much it would probably double to 1.5GB.

I'm not going to name hard numbers such as "using more than ____MB is just silly"...if you're the 1% or 5% of data suckers out there, time to become and adult and realize it and figure out what you want to do (other than complain).

Again, I don't promote ATT's actions but I do understand their point (of making money) of the clauses and the throttling.

I know right. I use my iphone everyday and the TOTAL data usage I have used since 2008, closing in on 4 years is....

Sent: 620MB
Received: 5.8GB

 

[Hakone]

Their network works totally fine. You know the one that bills you every month.

I wish I could throttle how much they charge me depending on the dropped calls I get. -$1 for every dropped call would be a game changer.

 

[doelcm82]

256kbs would have been nice for me. My AT&T month starts on the 21st. I got my 3rd monthly warning message in a row on the 4th of February, and a throttling message on 2/12. For Jan/Feb, I used a TOTAL of 2,660,867 bytes. On February 14th, my tested speeds were 35 kbs at 10:30 a.m., & 120 kbs @ 2:52 p.m. I don't remember what my usage was on 2/14, but it was no more than 2.2 gb. I can't believe that's in the top 5% of users. I don't stream or listen to music on 3g. Most of my day I'm on wifi. On 3g I check traffic maps, check e-mail, and occasionally Google something. 120 kbs is too slow to check traffic maps or do much of anything productively.
When I supposedly went over on January 7th, and kept using 3g for another two weeks at snail speeds, my total usage for the month was 3.2 gb. In December (when I was throttled on 12/13), the total for the month was 2.86gb.
I called AT&T to complain (on 2/15) and got nothing but b.s. from the rep.
I'm unlocking my 4 family phones & switching to T-Mobile if they don't stop this crap.

Something is wrong with your phone. Seriously, check the settings. If you are telling the truth about how you use it on 3G, you shouldn't be getting anywhere near the throttling threshold. The most data I've used in a single month over the past year is two-thirds of a gig.

 

[tctony]

"Here’s the big picture bottom line: If you use a lot of data, you are clearly getting some sort of value out of it. Value isn’t free."

He's right. Value isn't free. Thats why you pay $30 a month for it.

 

[tbrinkma]

Maybe they shouldn't have offered "Unlimited Data" when they didn't have the means to keep it up.

I know they're people who 'abuse' the network, but don't invite people when you don't have enough seats at the table.

That's the trick though. Prior to the iPhone, really heavy data users (top 5%, even on smart phones) used a few hundred *MB* a month. With the arrival of the iPhone, and then Android phones, they discovered that moderately heavy data use (top 10%) suddenly meant 1-2 *GB* per month.

When they realized what had happened, they stopped offering unlimited plans. With lead times of 1.5 years or more just to get the permits needed to build more towers, they can only add capacity so fast, and in the mean time they've been increasing capacity to their existing towers as quickly as they can. It's just not fast enough to handle the increasing load.

Note: Verizon has almost the exact same throttling limits in place on their 'unlimited' plans (which were available for only a *very* short time, before they discovered what AT&T had already discovered). Sprint doesn't do it, but they don't have the same user base, so they aren't running into quite the same bulk data issues.

Regardless, the section of the contract in question has stayed the same since you signed up for your 'unlimited' plan. (It's been tweaked in the later, limited plans.) Just because you didn't read *and understand* your contract before you signed it doesn't mean that AT&T is somehow 'ripping you off' by following the terms of that same contract.

Let me repeat that:
Your failure to read and understand the contract prior to signing it does not equate to AT&T 'ripping you off' when they are following the terms of the contract that you signed. If you're whining about it, maybe you should try reading it next time.

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Fine. I don't care if I'm "throttled" -- as long as it's not
throttled down to 5% of previous bandwidth, etc. I
don't use anywhere NEAR the top 50% of total data downloaded
per month, yet if everyone were to reduce, I would eventually
be in the top 5% -- that's bogus. Throttle me after a set
amount -- fine -- as long as the throughput is still USEABLE.

So, now that we've settled that I don't have unlimited data / bandwidth --
when can I get my tethering with my unlimited plan?

What's AT&T's excuse now to not allow me to tether?

Scott

They don't need an excuse. The contract you signed expressly disallowed it from the beginning. If you want to tether, update your plan with one that allows it.

 

[JAT]

I know right. I use my iphone everyday and the TOTAL data usage I have used since 2008, closing in on 4 years is....

Sent: 620MB
Received: 5.8GB

Uh, are you sure about that? That basically means you DON'T use your phone, not for data. Not at all. You must not use email or allow any apps to access the internet independently.

I would call my 3G usage minimal (compared to home usage or phone usage via wifi), and I hit 500MB each month.

 

[paduck]

It's clearly not keeping with the spirit or intent of an unlimited data plan to simply cap the data and the cost at the same as a paid data plan - by definition this is not "unlimited".

I understand that it's fair to reasonably draw the line at some point, but this can effectively be done on a case-by-case basis where someone is truly and egregiously exceeding the mean usage by several standard deviations.

Well put. I think the problem is that they sell it as "unlimited" when, in fact, it is more limited than what they are selling by the pound (or GB in this case).

I think what they should really do is change the name to something other than "unlimited". Also, AT&T should have some sort of stated threshold for throttling. In fact, I think that this could easily be applied to broadband on cable Internet as well. There is some very small subset of users who are super data consumers. They adversely affect the network for the rest of the 99.9% of users (or 99.7%). Throttle them and keep moving the cap upwards on data use as consumer use increases (and ostensibly, capacity as well). Move the people at the cutting edge into a more appropriate plan so that they are paying the costs to the system they are consuming and leave the rest of the population alone.

This theory would entail that the various 200MB, 2GB, 5GB, etc plans be revised upward periodically at the same price point. Want to bet on that happening?

 

[doelcm82]

You know, I was thinking the utilities examples were ludicrous, until I remembered something. My city's recycling charge appears to be somewhat unlimited. I doubled my "usage" last year by requesting a 2nd large container. Now they take twice as much from me and I still pay the same. I wonder how many I could get for this price?

That may be a temporary situation. In any case, it's to encourage you to recycle. In my city also, you can get a second recycling container for free. Ask for a second garbage container, and you will be charged for it.

 

[Winter Charm]

It is amazing to me that all the downstream companies of the iOS eco-verse have not taken a clue from Apple.
The focus should be on overall customer experience and only secondarily on the bottom line.
That focus leads to a better return and better experience for both provider and customer.

Although AT&T may be within its contractual rights to throttle user's speeds, they should not be punishing us for using their services...ultimately this has more to do with AT&T's willingness to invest in their own infrastructure to the point where the data pipeline in the UMTS network is not such finite commodity to need a concept like throttling.
AT&T has made a "ton" of money on the iPhone...and we as end-users expect AT&T to pour a lot of that revenue back into their network.

Note this has not been an issue until recently - only with the flood of 4 and 4S users since the 4S' into last year has AT&T actually gone ahead with the throttling of "heavy" users.

I am mad.
I have been with AT&T since 2007 - and I am now seriously considering moving all 4 of my family's iPhones over to Sprint.

Make sure that sprint coverage is really good in your area. Where I live the sprint coverage is great, but the speeds, while consistent, are SLOOOWWWWW.... I somewhat regret going with sprint, and wish I had paid for verizon...