We’re going to take a leap here and posit that mobile bandwidth usage historically hasn’t been a problem in rural and semi-rural Vermont—coverage has been so sporadic that connecting to a network long enough to run data usage to a significant amount has likely been difficult for most mobile customers. When so-called smartphones first came on the scene, AT&T offered an unlimited data plan; many of us signed up for it.
Though AT&T no longer offers an “unlimited” data plan, customers who signed up for “unlimited” before the change to tiered plans are grandfathered in and can continue to purchase the unlimited data plan as previously.
But a little over a year ago, AT&T decided that “unlimited” doesn’t really mean “unlimited” and began “throttling” data speeds on customers who reach certain data thresholds.
So how does “throttling” work?
Carriers may . . . impose throttling after a user consumes a certain amount of data in one billing period. That first amount may come at full speed, but all data transferred after the limit is reached may be throttled to a slower speed until the end of the billing period.
To me, calling something unlimited, but then imposing limits seems disingenuous. A truck driver from California sued AT&T in small claims court over limits on unlimited and won. But at least one commentator thinks unlimited users should stop whining about throttling. I got the text message warning that I was about to be throttled this Saturday.
Have you been throttled on a grandfathered AT&T unlimited data plan? If so, please contact me or contact the office. I’m looking into options and I’d like to hear your story.