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AT&T throttles top 5% of wireless data users, still charges overage fees
As we mentioned this summer, AT&T was slated to begin throttling data plans as of October 1 this year. Reports of throttling are finally beginning to surface as more and more users complain they have received this dreaded text message from AT&T: "Your data usage is among the top 5 percent of users. Data speeds for the rest of your current bill cycle may be reduced."
Those who subscribe to the carrier's 4GB per month plan will remain unaffected, although those customers are still liable for overage fees once they surpass their allotted data. One might believe that AT&T's stiff overage fees would curb would-be data hogs, but oddly, the far smaller 200MB and 2GB packages are subject to doubly punished with both fees and throttling.
AT&T never provided exact figures for how much monthly activity flags an account, but consumer complaints seem to happen around the 2GB per month mark. The company claimed the top 5 percent of downloaders consume 12 times the average bandwidth. The speed at which users are throttled is also unknown, but anecdotal user stories suggest "Edge-like" speeds.
Already rated as the worst carrier by Consumer Reports for the second year in a row, throttling does not seem to be generating any additional good will. One user says, "I'm only at 1.5gb in 11 days and I just got the message stating that I'm approaching the top 5%." Another person tweeted, "Not sure how 2.1 GB/month puts me in the top 5%, but seems like @att just warn of throttling once you go over their highest data plan..." and another at Cult of Mac quipped, "Screw the top 5%... WE ARE THE 95%!!!".
Analysts at J.P. Morgan estimate the average iPhone and Android user will utilize between 800 to 825MB per month. This is up substantially from previous estimates as media and content-rich sites continue to explode.
While AT&T will send customers a warning SMS as they near the end of their data plan's rope, subscribers can also quickly check themselves by dialing *3282# on their handset.
User Comments (28)
Post a comment|
captainawesome
on December 8, 2011 3:44 PM |
Anyone else dislike AT&T as much as me? |
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KG363
on December 8, 2011 3:46 PM |
I only have the 200MB plan so I use the *3282# a lot |
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ikesmasher
on December 8, 2011 3:54 PM |
lol AT&T. this is just sad. They aren't keeping up with competition, they are dropping out of it. I find it hard to believe they still have as much business as they do. |
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Ghost410
on December 8, 2011 4:23 PM |
Let's see.. crappy network. Poor customer service. Embedded keystroke spying software to 'improve the customer experience'. Bandwidth caps on people that paid for unlimited data. What's not to love? Wait.. I still have an AT&T account.. WTF? |
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captainawesome
on December 8, 2011 4:25 PM |
@ikesmasher, no, they trying to BUY the competition. AT&T Has $8.8B Extra to Convince Gov't, Rivals to Close T-Mobile Deal [link] |
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ikesmasher
on December 8, 2011 4:52 PM |
Damn, i thought that deal was done for. Still, with that deal i think att will lose ALOT of customers on Tmobile's side. |
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Butch
on December 8, 2011 5:55 PM |
I use AT&T for business because I have no choice (I don't pay the bill). My question is why would anyone chose this carrier. I use Verizon for my personal phones. It is a little pricey, but the service is awesome. |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 6:30 PM |
So... being with AT&T is like living in Canada? |
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killeriii
on December 8, 2011 8:01 PM |
Guest said: So... being with AT&T is like living in Canada? I'm quite happy with my Canadian carrier. What's your issue with Canada? |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 8:33 PM |
freaking hate them |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 8:44 PM |
Everyone complains about AT&T being such a horrible company, then they proceed to move to Verizon and pay more for less. Less data, less speed, less flexibility. There is no one great cellphone company in the US. Each one is just as evil as the rest, but blaming AT&T like they do anything different than anyone else is nonsense. |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 8:44 PM |
AT & T oh please if you went with them you sure deserve to be screwed. |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 9:26 PM |
they should stop being greedy and focus on customer service. Probably upgrade the technology so they can complete with Spirit. |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 9:43 PM |
AT&T is the greediest company with the worst customer service. |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 10:22 PM |
VERIZON! i got into the unlimited data plan while it was still there, $30.00/month and since we're VIP, for being long standing customers, they said we'll take $10.00 off the unlimited data plan, for the LIFE of your service with us, that unlimited data plan carries on, FOREVER, unless It's ever canceled, cannot be reactivated as unlimited. $20.00/month UNLIMITED DATA Carries on forever. Full bars/3G in the middle of Narnia get@me |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 11:23 PM |
thanks for rubbing it in to us at&t suckers. |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 11:27 PM |
maybe just a coincidence(lol) but got that at&t txt after just 2gb of data used which is the limit they set before charging even more for data used on their new plans. i am on what is supposed to be the unlimited plan. |
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Guest
on December 8, 2011 11:52 PM |
Jerktypewriter |
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ikesmasher
on December 9, 2011 9:22 PM |
I could have sworn straight talk costs 45 bucks, and uses everyones cell towers... |
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Guest
on December 12, 2011 9:11 PM |
I been with at&t for many many years. i have the unlimited plan and i use about 3 GB a month on average. i just got a message saying im approaching the top 5 percent crap. the sad part was that i was on my last day of my bill cycle. i only used 1.7GB this month. 1.7 and i got that message is ridiculous. i had it. 4g my a**. January is when my contract ends with them. i plan to switch to a different carrier i don't care if i only get 2gb of data somewhere else. i rather pay for better customer service and network and customer satisfaction. |
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allpc
on December 15, 2011 6:13 PM |
I just received the text message. I called AT&T raising hell about false advertising and lies. I asked what was AT&T's definition of unlimited and why are the top 5% being capped on speed. The lady on the other end gave me some analogy about cars on a highway backing up....blah, blah, blah!! I went on and on with my ***** session, which felt great, and finally I said why not be truthful to the customers who purchased the unlimited plan? Why not tell them it is not unlimited? I then said why not just do away with the unlimited plans and come clean with the customers. She said...That is the next step....and then tried to take it back while I was hanging up the phone. I will be switching to another carrier in the next few days. AT&T is nothing but lies. |
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Guest
on December 29, 2011 4:16 PM |
totally agreed with this individual. what is the definition of unlimited data? ATT is too smart to not know that. so unlimited data equals limited speed!!! |
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Guest
on December 31, 2011 5:20 PM |
http://forums.att.com/t5/General-Care-and-Support/AT-amp-T- AT&T is telling its unlimited data customers the top 5% of data users is 2GB anything over you will experience reduced speeds. The problem is they do not cut your speed in half or even a quarter of what it was. They bringing your data speed down below dial-up speeds making your phone non-functional on the data side. The attitude of the AT&T employees who post on the AT&T Forum will blow your mind! Any customer that dares to complain of this extreme data throttling is met with rude comments. Like wishing higher fees, more caps and other ridiculous things on the customer and it is truly embarrassing that AT&T is allowing this type of behavior. The sad part is, AT&T is adding millions & millions of new data using devices & accounts to their network and not upgrading their infrastructure to support the new devices. Record profits again for AT&T and for a second year in a row rated the worse carrier by Consumer Reports. I believe in the fourth quarter they added a record 6 million devices and yes, raking in the cash/profits, but severely limited services to their customers. I cannot understand how AT&T is allowed to add any new data devices until they are able to support these devices. Perhaps the FCC and congress should look into the matter. Maybe a ruling that would make them unable to sell one more phone/data device until they can support the devices they already have on their network might be in order. To make it even worse, if everyone at the 2GB being the top 5% and they have to really start watching their data, which they are paying a premium price for. Does 1.5GB's become the new top 5% and then 1GB and so on? We need to go "Go Daddy" on AT&T!! |
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Guest
on January 2, 2012 11:54 PM |
Im currently affected by this outrageous breach of contract. I have had the unlimited data plan since it was first available, i upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy SII LTE to take full advantage of their new LTE network. Within the first 3 days of my billing cycle i was in the top 5% and receiving consistent 60kbps download and .5 - 1.5 mbps upload. Even the most simple websites today take over 2 minuets to load such a slow down speed, this is not throttling this is disabling. I clearly remember paying for "UNLIMITED 4G LTE" network access... yet i am receiving speeds slower than if i was on an edge network. I believe the shiesty money hungry bastards at ATT that spent all the money we have been paying them for our data and phone plans over the last 10-15 years on bonus's and over the top salary's for top execs instead of upgrading their infrastructure to keep up with the growing population and demands for network bandwidth have NO ****ING RIGHT to play word games and screw over faithful long term customers for their own mistakes. **** YOU AT&T Sincerely a new sprint customer |
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Guest
on January 12, 2012 12:14 AM |
untill they do the same crap |
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