Why is AT&T doing this now

[From A Buick 8]

I just got this MSG ATT Free Msg: Your data usage is near 3GB this month. Exceeding 3GB during this or future billing cycles will result in reduced data speeds, though you'll still be able to email & surf the web. Wi-Fi helps you avoid reduced speeds. Visit www.att.com/datainfo or call 866-344-7584 for more info. I've been with AT&T for 3 years with 3 iPhones and with be switching to sprint. My kids use Netflix in my car and I use Facebook gps and pandora only 2 weeks into bill cycle AT&T sucks. This is how they rewarded people that been with them a long time . I hope a lot of people make the switch and support sprint on improving there services.. It used to be 10g cap now it's 3 the amount of money I pay I should have any problems with my service. I pay $220 a month, bottom line is they are making these phones to use more data. There bandwidth can't handle it it's not my fault good bye AT&T hello sprint.

This is exactly how to handle it, if you are not happy with AT&T then move to another service. If more folks took this approach "voted with their wallet" that would get noticed. If you make this switch i applaud you.

 

[aztooh]

This is exactly how to handle it, if you are not happy with AT&T then move to another service. If more folks took this approach "voted with their wallet" that would get noticed. If you make this switch i applaud you.

Easier said than done.

First of all, you can't just "move to another service" at any time. Most are locked into contracts and it doesnt make financial sense to pay an ETF.

Secondly, and even a bigger deal...it's not like, say, switching your cereal brand. There are only a couple of options. 1 option is cheaper, but has terrible coverage nationally. The other is quite a bit more expensive.

 

[From A Buick 8]

Easier said than done.

First of all, you can't just "move to another service" at any time. Most are locked into contracts and it doesnt make financial sense to pay an ETF.

Secondly, and even a bigger deal...it's not like, say, switching your cereal brand. There are only a couple of options. 1 option is cheaper, but has terrible coverage nationally. The other is quite a bit more expensive.

When the contract is up move. Or pay the ETF and then sell the phone to cover some of the cost.

The coverage thing is most likely the biggest issue like you said, but it was not too long ago that all service was spotty. Folks can bitch and moan all they want, and maybe that is all they want to do. But no real change is going to happen unless a large number of subscribers leave.

This may mean that for a few years you have less the 100% coverage. If you are not willing to sacrifice, then stay where you are and just accept it.

I have Verizon, yes they are expensive, and if i want to keep my $89 a month unlimited plan then I'm going to have to pay full price for the IP5. I have not decided yet if I'm willing to do that, but if i do it is not because Verizon forced me to. It is because i looked at what was avaliable and decided it was what i was willing to pay for.

 

[BiggAW]

This thread is old, but since someone else already revived it...had to chime in on this.

Sense of entitlement? ATT FORCED....FORCED...me to go to an unlimited data plan when I purchased an iPhone for the first time.

And now, the want to throttle me at a certain usage level....and I'm wrong for thinking this is BS?

Poor planning on their part should not be my problem, and to be put down by another user because I think I should be entitled to what I was FORCED to purchase is absurd.

Yes, you are wrong for thinking that. It's right in the TOS that YOU signed that they have the right to throttle you. It's stone cold and crystal clear for anyone who bothers to read the TOS. If you didn't read it, then that's your problem, you are still legally bound to it.

 

[mobiletech]

the removal of unlimited makes sense since the top 1% users sometimes utilized the majority of bandwidth. These user aren't even "real" mobile device users, but computers that will do over 100GB/month. I remember hearing that only a few hundred users are the cause of NYC's bandwidth bottle necking.

 

[aztooh]

Yes, you are wrong for thinking that. It's right in the TOS that YOU signed that they have the right to throttle you. It's stone cold and crystal clear for anyone who bothers to read the TOS. If you didn't read it, then that's your problem, you are still legally bound to it.

Being legally bound by something doesn't mean it can't be BS, sorry bud.

It doesn't even affect me...I rarely go over 2GB of data. The issue, for me, is that they go from ONLY OFFERING UNLIMITED DATA to iPhone users to throttling those using the same unlimited plans they forced upon every single iPhone user.

If you think there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, cool...everyone is entitled to their own opinion. To tell me I'm not allowed to have an opinion about it because it's in the TOS is, well, idiotic.

 

[bushman4]

Years ago mobile phone compAnies wanted to keep your business. Today they really don't care. Reason is simple, each area has only so many carriers and they all seem to have the same plan (can't imagine why )So they know they have you.

 

[BiggAW]

Being legally bound by something doesn't mean it can't be BS, sorry bud.

It doesn't even affect me...I rarely go over 2GB of data. The issue, for me, is that they go from ONLY OFFERING UNLIMITED DATA to iPhone users to throttling those using the same unlimited plans they forced upon every single iPhone user.

If you think there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, cool...everyone is entitled to their own opinion. To tell me I'm not allowed to have an opinion about it because it's in the TOS is, well, idiotic.

It still is UNLIMITED. You WILL NOT be charged overage fees. The UNLIMITED plan doesn't say that all the data will be accessible at any specified rate. AND, considering that the biggest bandwidth hog, streaming music, works 100% fine over a 256kbps connection, AT&T has good grounds to prove that they are not denying you the UNLIMITED service that you are paying for.

You can say you don't like the TOS, but it's not somehow illegal, and they are NOT scamming you out of anything, as it is in accordance with what YOU signed up for.

 

[freeman727]

For the record in July I went over 7 GB when I was out of town and got the warning, but no slow down. I think they take into account that I was not a repeat offender. I normally range about 1 to 2 GB/month.