Data throttling has become a concern for many smartphone users, with AT&T, Verizon and other carriers actively limiting network speeds for the top 5% of data users. This throttling is generally hidden within the fine print of mobile contracts, leaving users surprised, confused, and outraged when the speeds of their “unlimited” data suddenly drops to nearly unusable levels.
AT&T, who no longer offers unlimited plans, began throttling the top 5% of data users on unlimited plans last year, which cripples download speeds once users reach a certain data limit (typically around 1GB of data per month). Verizon’s throttling was put in place shortly thereafter.
Many think that this throttling isn’t really a big deal, and don’t realize the full effects until it happens to them – a nasty text message sent from your carrier, followed by a brutal reduction in data speeds. AppAdvice has put together a side-by-side video demonstrating just how bad AT&T’s throttling really is for users (and other carriers likely aren’t much better).
As the demonstration shows, AT&T’s throttling results in almost unusable data speeds, which greatly affects the ability to browse the web, use connected apps, and use many of the features that people have come to expect and rely on with their smartphones.
It’s sad and shocking to see just how drastic the results of throttling can be. Just one more page in the book of greedy and anti-consumer tactics used by many major wireless carriers.
