Starting October 1, smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle. Before you are affected, we will provide multiple notices, including a grace period.]
Reports survey found that only a small percentage of smartphone customers used more than 1GB of data in a month. The company says this top 5% group on average use 12 times more data than the average of all other smartphone data customers.
How does this effect existing contracts? If you're on an unlimited contract with AT&T right now, and it doesn't specify that they'll throttle you, could you use this change to break that contract without penalty?
This is bit of a major change, not like the few cents change on Verizon a while back.
How does this effect existing contracts? If you're on an unlimited contract with AT&T right now, and it doesn't specify that they'll throttle you, could you use this change to break that contract without penalty?
This is bit of a major change, not like the few cents change on Verizon a while back.
Maybe, but you'd be crazy to get out of it because you can't even get an unlimited plan anymore. The only reason to break an agreement is if you want out, but people that still have the unlimited plan obviously DON'T otherwise they would have left a while back. AT&T sounds like they're just forcing people away from the unlimited plans that still have them... a really dumb move. If it's such a small percentage of people that are using that much data, how big of a problem could they really be?
Typically what puts someone in the top 5 percent is streaming very large amounts of video and music daily over the wireless network, not Wi-Fi. Streaming video apps, remote web camera apps, sending large data files (like video) and some online gaming are examples of applications that can use data quickly. Using Wi-Fi doesn't create wireless network congestion or count toward your wireless data usage. AT&T smartphone customers have unlimited access to our entire Wi-Fi network, with more than 26,000 hotspots, at no additional cost.
AT&T is basically saying they can't keep up with streaming video and their solution is you use their damn wifi hotspots. These carriers need to realize that the number one thing pushing 4G technologies is a want for streamed video of some sort (Netflix, video calling, etc.) and if they don't push back these caps considerably (like 10GB) and build networks to accomodate the demand they will get grassroots political pressure to regulate the industry more.
Totally wrong. Most people use only a fraction of the 2gb allowance.so the top 5% are using over 10GB a month. some people here are prob in the group some people have posted that they use well over that
Totally wrong. Most people use only a fraction of the 2gb allowance.
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual cutoff were under 2gb.
That is just my opinion for mobile, on broadband I use 1TB on average a month so I don't accept any caps or throttles from my provider and I would switch to avoid them.
How does this effect existing contracts? If you're on an unlimited contract with AT&T right now, and it doesn't specify that they'll throttle you, could you use this change to break that contract without penalty?
This is bit of a major change, not like the few cents change on Verizon a while back.
Don't be surprised when your broadband ISP starts throttling you too, and there won't be anyone to switch to because no one else will want you abusing their network with 1tb of data a month.
how do you use 1TB of data a month? at 1GB per TV episode, that's 1000 TV episodes you download.
shrug. that's like 277 hrs of content assuming 1 MB/sec streaming, which is pretty intense bandwidth use there.
torrents. Lots and lots of torrents.
this is a cool documentary idea like they did about hoarders. except this will be about people who download media 24x7, spend a lot of money to store it but never consume it since it's too much to be consumed by a normal human being in a lifetime
torrents. Lots and lots of torrents.
I was about to say, you can't use BT like that without eventually getting hammered by the authorities. He has to be hoarding via Usenet.
So you don't go to shows?after a certain point it doesn't make sense to spend $10 or $30 on a piece of media that will only be consumed once or twice a year.