A new report has mobile operator AT&T apparently getting ready to steal a page from acquisition target T-Mobile: instead of charging mobile users extra for going over their monthly data allowances, 9to5Mac reports that AT&T is planning to shift to a throttling model, where the heaviest data users who go over their monthly limit won’t be charged more money, but will see the bandwidth available to them sharply curtailed. 9to5Mac speculates the change will roll out the first week of October, which falls roughly in line with the currently-rumored mdi-September launch date for Apple’s next iPhone.
AT&T currently charges users $25 per month for up to 2 GB of data service, and the company says the majority of its mobile data users stay well within that limit. However, heavy data users who exceed the 2GB threshold get charges an additional $10 per gigabyte during the billing cycle.
Switching to a throttled plan could, like T-Mobile, enable the company to advertise unlimited mobile data service, with the fine print indicating that if users exceed a certain threshold in a billing cycle, the bandwidth available to them will be reduced until the start of the next billing cycle. T-Mobile currently throttles heavy data users to 256Kbps once they exceed their threshold: that’s enough bandwidth to enable basic connectivity, email, and Web browsing, but not enough for serious streaming media or other data-intensive applications.
Some mobile users prefer the throttling method because they don’t inadvertently incur additional charges on their bill if someone sends them an enormous attachment, they inadvertently get pulled into the infinite vortex of silly pet videos, or they play an online game for hours without realizing they’re connected via mobile data rather than Wi-Fi. On the other hand, mobile users whose lives revolve around having high-bandwidth capabilities at any time may prefer just to pay for more bandwidth if they need it.
Virgin Mobile plans to switch to a throttling model in October.
AT&T is currently in the process of attempting to acquire T-Mobile; if the merger is approved, the combined company will be the largest mobile operator in the United States.
Throttleing………data usage must the VERY heavy for them to be even considering going this route……
PC mag reports confirmed not a rumor :-)
since I am grandfathered into unlimited (throttled for “heavy users”) 4G/3G service with Verizon, this could be very good if it causes people to stay off my network, and clog up the iDouche lines again, or more :) Thanks AT&T (taking grain of salt as article clearly states “Rumor” but dang it, a guy can dream, can’t he? Especially with a really nice Friday Night Buzz !!)
simply their attempt to re-capture some market share, now that Verizon is no longer doing this. Now that it’s pretty much a level playing field for price of smartphone ownership… AT&T has to do something to survive… this is actually a very smart move on their part, and very STUPID of Verizon.. (10 year Verizon Customer – Rooted Thunderbolt running DB 2.3.4 gingerbread) Thank God for Grandfather Clauses ;)
This is dumb. They would be able to throttle users for the sake of false advertising. Nevermind that they could be making more money by charging for overages. So my question is: Is AT&T running out of bandwidth? Is that the problem?
Reminds me of Comcast…
I sure hope this doesn’t effect my current unlimited data plan on AT&T. I sadly would be scared to see what a throttled AT&T data speed would be. I already can’t watch Netflix all the way through my train ride to work at full speed.