This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

AT&T: Your world. Restricted.

For the past few months, AT&T and the FCC have been battling over whether or not AT&T is allowed to throttle users with so-called unlimited information plans after they reach 5GB of full data usage. AT&T attempted to justify this restriction under the dubious guise of guaranteeing quality of service, just to be brought up brusque when the FCC pointed out, via a lawsuit, that just unlimited information plans were treated in this mode. Users who purchased a fix amount of bandwidth from AT&T saw 100% functioning until they burned through that data, even if they sat correct side by side to an unlimited subscriber. Bandwidth direction is permitted nether the FCC's rules, but not when the sole goal is to enrich the company providing the service.

AT&T has now stated that rather than simply throttling users near congested prison cell towers when they hit 5GB, it will allow customers to employ up to 5GB of service earlier it begins slashing their operation to 2G or below. The company is withal trying to argue its way out of the FCC'southward $100M fine, only that'south non the only problem here. AT&T's website may state that it won't throttle users before they hit 22GB, merely the company's automated systems haven't gotten the message.

I've been an AT&T customer since 2003 and had an unlimited data plan since 2009. I accidentally left my telephone in LTE mode the other day and watched multiple Netflix shows earlier I realized my error this morning. Today, after the 22GB news had already cleaved beyond the 'Net, I received the following:

ATTRestrict

I'grand going to keep an heart on this situation, simply I tin't say it surprises me. In my years of being an AT&T client, I've long observed that information technology takes ane telephone phone call to make a change to my account, one phone call to brand the change correctly, and at to the lowest degree one more phone phone call to make sure the change really takes consequence. The errors are manifest and legion — earlier this year, I called in to request a new SIM card for an old iPhone 4S I was using as a back-up device. I specifically mentioned that I needed a SIM carte du jour for this exact device — and instead received a nano-SIM for the iPhone 5 I'd just removed from the account. That kind of error isn't unusual, it'southward actually the norm.

AT&T may have quietly ended the 5GB limit, merely they haven't actually decided to tell whatsoever customers well-nigh it nonetheless. We'll run into whether or not they meliorate their previous notification policies at my side by side billing wheel.