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Hello...

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 10, 2011
809
107
High Data Usage Alert
Dear Hello,

Like other wireless companies, AT&T is taking steps to manage exploding demand for mobile data. We're responding on many levels, including investing billions in our wireless network this year and working to acquire more network capacity.

As mentioned on a previous bill, we're also taking additional, more immediate steps to help address network congestion and improve reliability. One of these steps involves a change for some customers who use extraordinarily large amounts of data in a single billing period - about 12 times more data than the average smartphone user.

For the current billing cycle, your data usage indicates you could be affected by this change. Here's how it works:

Smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle.

We're writing because you are in the top 5 percent of heaviest data users for this billing cycle. Because we recognize that data usage can change from month to month, you will not see reduced speeds this billing cycle.

Beginning with your next billing cycle, we'll send you a text message if you are approaching the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. We'll also send you a second text message if you cross into the top 5 percent of heaviest users, at which point you may see reduced speeds for the rest of the month.

Customers have several ways to manage extremely high data usage.

Wi-Fi offers great speeds and doesn't add to your wireless data usage. Consider using Wi-Fi when possible for applications that use the highest amounts of data, such as streaming video apps, remote web camera apps, large data-file transfers (like video) and some online gaming.

You may also consider switching to a tiered data plan if speed is more important to you than having an unlimited data plan. Customers on tiered plans can pay for more data if they need it, and will not see reduced speeds.

To estimate how much data different activities use, and find out more about Wi-Fi or tiered data plans, visit https://www.att.com/dataplans or call Customer Care at 800-331-0500.
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Anyone else?
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I just received the same letter with a text message last night (Saturday). What was your usage?
 
Used:*5022.94 MB
Remaining:*Unlimited

So your choice is to either deal with the throttling or switch to a tiered plan or go to Sprint. Nothing anyone can do here. As you can see there are over a dozen threads on this.
 
So your choice is to either deal with the throttling or switch to a tiered plan or go to Sprint. Nothing anyone can do here. As you can see there are over a dozen threads on this.
Sorry did not see the other threads
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Have you been throttled yet?
 
Something is wrong with that 5% figure or everyone of those people are finding there way here.
 
Yesterday I got the same email for the first time and the text message from AT&T. I checked my data usage for the current billing cycle which ends on 2/2 and my data usage is at 2079.1 MB per the AT&T text. I guess I'm now in that top 5% and now categorized as an "extraordinary large user of data". I do use wifi whenever I can, I don't stream netflix videos or any tv shows but do catch a a random YouTube video clip every now and then. I do stream Pandora at times when I'm in the office. If I pay for unlimited data then I should get just that and not get reduced speeds because when I got my first iPhone over 3.5 years ago there was a requirement to purchase the data plan which was the unlimited plan.

If they do not want users to have the unlimited plan then should not have grandfathered those users in it. It seems to me that they had every right to tell me as I renewed my contract (Nov 2011) that I'll have to chose one of their tiered plans since the unlimited is no longer offered but they did not. I usually don't go over 2gb so technically their profit margin was higher for the months I did not go over 2gb.
 
As long as they keep throttling people the less data they will use and the lower that cap will get.
 
You should take a dump on them and put your phone to download some huge file to really slap them in the face.
 
It's not rocket science, I refuse to be naive enough to believe that 2GB will land you in the top 5%. That's just ridiculous. I base this off common sense I don't need data and statistics.
 
It's not rocket science, I refuse to be naive enough to believe that 2GB will land you in the top 5%. That's just ridiculous. I base this off common sense I don't need data and statistics.

You do realize a larger chunk of AT&T data users are on the 200mb and 2GB plan, right? Therefore, going above 2GB of data with an unlimited plan gives you a greater chance of being in the top 5% because of minority of users still on that plan.

I can't fathom how people are unable to do simple math.
 
It's not rocket science, I refuse to be naive enough to believe that 2GB will land you in the top 5%. That's just ridiculous. I base this off common sense I don't need data and statistics.

you have no common sense... if you read this forum, you're not the majority, everyone here is not the majority... just because you use up more than 2gb a month doesn't mean everyone one does... I know more peeps using less than 500mb than peeps using more than 1gb... In fact, I only know of my brother who uses about 2-3gb on the unlimited plan per month and thats about it... the truth is back in the day smart phones were for professionals and geeks, so only tech freaks had them... now every kid and their and grandmothers have smart phones (yes, in case you didn't the iphone IS a smart phone), yet these kids and older folks don't know jack about them, these are the same peeps not complaining about the battery life becasue they hardly ever use the phone...
 
Yeah I wonder why that is? I visit TiPb and Android Central and there are far less cry babies over there. Hmmmmm

That's because those of us with Android devices are too busy crying about how our crappy phones are falling apart and we can't wait until our contracts are up to get an iphone. I wish the only thing I had to complain about was my carrier throttling my data. Come on iphone 5, hurry up and get here and deliver me phone Android hell!:apple:
 
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