AT&T's "Unlimited" data plans oficially throttled at 3GB or 5GB for LTE

**gullzway** · #1 (**permalink**) 03-01-2012, 06:34 PM

AT&T announces throttling changes, now kicks in at 3GB or 5GB for LTE

AT&T announces throttling changes, now kicks in at 3GB or 5GB for LTE -- Engadget

http://www.att.com/esupport/datausag...Uel1160000000U

EyeB · #2 (**permalink**) 03-01-2012, 08:19 PM

hm... their unlimited plan is about $30, and 3gb is also $30... what's the point of staying unlimited if you get same data as a tiered plan...

that said, it's also the same price/data you get with prepaid plans... almost sounds like US will go the way of the rest of the world, less contracts more prepaid lol which is fine with me.

eric12341 · #3 (**permalink**) 03-01-2012, 09:03 PM

They should just implement throttling on their tiered data plans too instead of overcharging people even more. VZ will also likely follow suit since they operate the same way as AT$T does.

**Riley** · #4 (**permalink**) 03-01-2012, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric12341

They should just implement throttling on their tiered data plans too instead of overcharging people even more. VZ will also likely follow suit since they operate the same way as AT$T does.

Why is that? If someone is willing to pay for 5gb or 10gb plan than why throttle them? They are just trying to move people on old plans to the new ones and curb folks that use huge amounts of data, many of which we all know are using 30 to 50gb on unlimited plans now. Mobile data usage has exploded exponentially over the last 3 years. If people can't manage to use wifi at home and other places to keep the number down, than that's their choice. Obviously if they are not happy, and they are out of contract than they have options or should I say an option. Sprint for now... Unfortunately this is a reality for the industry, not just ATT. Funny how these two companies you mention are not bleeding customers either so why is that?

One last point, you sure are right about ATT and Verizon operating the same way. That's to show year over year growth and not bleeding billions of dollars every quarter.

**Riley** · #5 (**permalink**) 03-01-2012, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EyeB

hm... their unlimited plan is about $30, and 3gb is also $30... what's the point of staying unlimited if you get same data as a tiered plan...

that said, it's also the same price/data you get with prepaid plans... almost sounds like US will go the way of the rest of the world, less contracts more prepaid lol which is fine with me.

sure seems like it. good point.

eric12341 · #6 (**permalink**) 03-01-2012, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riley

Why is that? If someone is willing to pay for 5gb or 10gb plan than why throttle them? They are just trying to move people on old plans to the new ones and curb folks that use huge amounts of data, many of which we all know are using 30 to 50gb on unlimited plans now. Mobile data usage has exploded exponentially over the last 3 years. If people can't manage to use wifi at home and other places to keep the number down, than that's their choice. Obviously if they are not happy, and they are out of contract than they have options or should I say an option. Sprint for now... Unfortunately this is a reality for the industry, not just ATT. Funny how these two companies you mention are not bleeding customers either so why is that?

One last point, you sure are right about ATT and Verizon operating the same way. That's to show year over year growth and not bleeding billions of dollars every quarter.

I'm saying that if they're willing to pay that amount then give them an option,currently the highest plan AT$T offers is 6GB, they should add more options like what T-mo did and even VZ. Then just throttle those users rather than overcharge.

**orangekid** · #7 (**permalink**) 03-02-2012, 11:26 AM

But honestly, I don't know how you use over 6gb of data even on LTE, do these people have zero WiFi anywhere?

eric12341 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-02-2012, 02:22 PM

@orangekid there are some people who used to have home internet but couldn't afford it anymore.

**orangekid** · #9 (**permalink**) 03-02-2012, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric12341

@orangekid there are some people who used to have home internet but couldn't afford it anymore.

They can't afford home internet? It's like $40 a month. But they can afford a cell phone with a data plan on tmobile..

I don't get that logic. Anyone who has an Android smartphone with a data plan on any network is not so poor they can't get like basic DSL for like $20 a month or cable or a little more.

**Riley** · #10 (**permalink**) 03-02-2012, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orangekid

They can't afford home internet? It's like $40 a month. But they can afford a cell phone with a data plan on tmobile..

I don't get that logic. Anyone who has an Android smartphone with a data plan on any network is not so poor they can't get like basic DSL for like $20 a month or cable or a little more.

Bingo! In reality just accept the tiered plan, chuck $20 down on a dsl line and guess what, you're good to go and will probably save money... lol.