AT&T has been threatening users of unlimited plans for quite some time now, but it now appears that AT&T is making good on their promise to limit their top 5% of data users to painfully slow 2G EDGE speeds.
TiPb has received a tip from a reader named David, and I’ve received several reports myself that users are being sent a message stating that they’re within the top 5% of users, and may experience slowdowns. Shortly after receiving the message, their download speeds are reduced to a max of around 150Kbps.
I reached out to AT&T for an answer, and received an anonymous response (signed, “AT&T Consumer Relations”) stating:
AT&T has sent out numerous notices warning users that AT&T’s data usage policies had changed, and that the top 5% of data users on our network could see reduced speeds. This is done in order to ensure the highest possible data speeds and network quality for all users.
So I guess that’s it – unlimited really doesn’t mean unlimited in AT&T’s special private language – and it probably never did. I’ll add this to the list of AT&T’s many despicable, unfair and anti-consumer practices.
AT&T would rather overcharge, bully, and lie to their customers than invest more money in network improvements. Case closed.
Oh… so AT&T WASN’T slowing down my data before this? I was unaware!