Posted on 07/29/2011 6:07:18 PM PDT by Swordmaker
AT&T today released the following statement, verbatim:
An Update for Our Smartphone Customers With Unlimited Data Plans
Like other wireless companies, we’re taking steps to manage exploding demand for mobile data. Many experts agree the country is facing a serious wireless spectrum crunch. We’re responding on many levels, including investing billions in our wireless network this year and working to acquire additional network capacity. We’re also taking additional, more immediate measures to help address network congestion.
One new measure is a step that may reduce the data throughput speed experienced by a very small minority of smartphone customers who are on unlimited plans – those whose extraordinary level of data usage puts them in the top 5 percent of our heaviest data users in a billing period. In fact, these customers on average use 12 times more data than the average of all other smartphone data customers. This step will not apply to our 15 million smartphone customers on a tiered data plan or the vast majority of smartphone customers who still have unlimited data plans.
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.
This change will never impact the vast majority of our customers, and is designed to create a better service experience for all.
The amount of data usage of our top 5 percent of heaviest users varies from month to month, based on the usage of others and the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband services. To rank among the top 5 percent, you have to use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period.
There will be no changes for the vast majority of customers. It’s not how much time you spend using your device, it’s what you do with it. You can send or receive thousands of emails, surf thousands of Web pages and watch hours of streaming video every month and not be in the top 5 percent of data users.
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. They can also use Wi-Fi at home and in the office.
The bottom line is our customers have options. They can choose to stay on their unlimited plans and use unlimited amounts of data, but may experience reduced speeds at some point if they are an extraordinarily heavy data user. If speed is more important, they may wish to switch to a tiered usage plan, where customers can pay for more data if they need it and will not see reduced speeds.
But even as we pursue this additional measure, it will not solve our spectrum shortage and network capacity issues. Nothing short of completing the T-Mobile merger will provide additional spectrum capacity to address these near term challenges.
Source: AT&T
Yep, would you also remember when you got cheaper rates from electric companies for going all electric?
Those were the days my friend, we thought they would never end. {:-(
Up until about 4 years ago I had top quality service with ATT. Now it is a little above sucky.....”
I may be misreading how you are describing this but will kick in something. My first cell phone 10 years ago was a real sweet Nokia. After 3 or 4 years of service (with AT&T, probably not significant though) performance started going down, more dropped calls, no signal, etc. Called tech service and they would push a software update to the phone and poof, all was well again. What was going on is that as the cell systems were upgraded to new standards, the software drivers were updated to keep pace. Eventually though, the phone just didn't have the ability to upgrade and that was the trigger to retire the sweet Nokia. Think of this as if I was trying to use a 1982 IBM PC to run Windows 7 - Not going to work.
I use a 4 year old Motorola Razer now and a couple of times a year, I will proactively call up tech service to check about a driver upgrade. About half the time, there is one so get it pushed to the phone.
Back in the 80’s when AT&T owned it all the government broke them up. Now thirty years later with all new technology they are once again buying up the better parts of the industry.
Buy yourself some AT&T stock and you’ll be much happier with them.
We call them spawns of satan.
Not really, they advertise an UNLIMITED plan and encourage you to use the video and bell & whistles, then throttle you because you do.
Just suck it up and do away with the unlimited plans altogether, if they are a problem. AT&T sucks dead bunnies through a straw and I quit them years ago and swore NEVER to do business with them again.
Thanks for reminding me why again AT&T!
Why yes they do, but it doesn’t matter to AT&T and many freepers either.
Obama and Net Neutrality sticks again. Grey Eagle
Just wait. They'll one day swap the 95% for 90, then 80, then 75 and these freepers will be up in arms but too late.
Always ok as long as it's someone else's ox getting gored.
And everyone here is more than happy to allow them to start monetizing every bit coming thru THEIR internet. You people have no clue what is going to happen.
Yep, its OK to piss on someone else, but wait till their gord is cut.
Please keep AT&T’s hands off of T-Mobile.”
Unfortunately it isn’t going to happen. I complained to T-Mobile so just before the merger goes through guess I’ll go on the hunt for a new cell company. I absolutely refuse to use AT&T-have to for my business phone because I have no choice and thoroughly hate them.
You took the words right out of my mouth.
I learned from the school of hard internet knocks what capped and throttled bandwidth is like...I’m one of millions of Americans who STILL don’t have wired broadband access. We suffered with Wildblue and a freaking 7.5Gb monthly cap. I dare any Comcast or other cable internet subscriber to live with that and two teenagers.
Comcast’s 250Gb cap is a “pipe dream” for me, but People truly have no idea what they’re in for. Walled gardens where you must have Comcast to watch ESPN. The ISP’s would just love to charge a premium for access to Facebook, Google, Twitter, Netflix. This is nothing more than a massive cash grab to make their books look good without unvesting in FIOS and infrastructure.
Folks, at the first whiff of a restrictive landline cap you’d better scream. And get everyone you know to scream. Those caps never go down and neither do the bills. Brace yourselves, and don’t say you weren’t warned.
Only problem with this rant is that it isn’t live streaming data and it only updates a few times a day at best - usually in off-peak hours. Many only update a once a day in the wee hours of the morning, and it’s a highly compressed data package.
In which case, yeah, that was dumb.
Although... come to think of it, it’s only a 720p feed at best, and it’s mostly H.264 or better compressed... Hm.
Anyone have solid numbers on what kind of bandwidth it’s chewing?
This is a fairly sane approach to dealing with bandwidth hogs. Personally, I’d prefer a scaling approach: the more bandwidth you use, the lower priority your packets get. At slack times, you can have full speed whereas during the busiest times, the people with more acute needs get preference.
I’ve talked to them about the surcharge and they say it’s not about the 4G (they say it’s a smartphone surcharge, not for 4G) and will not refund it. Granted that was at the local store, I have not complained to CS. We have gotten great service from them in the past but the speed just isn’t there. There is 4G in Charlotte and Atlanta but not here in Greenville, and so far the 3G here is crappy.
When I did phone billing 20 years ago, we had 3 then 6 then 9 billing cycles per month. One of the reasons was to spread out the large customers, and also to use those big printers and mail-machines all month long, not just for short bursts during the month. I would imagine that is how most do it.
Of course 'most' large users don't live in 'your' area, but some may. So the scenario you talked about could certainly be noticed locally.
All my phones on my plan are smart phones. However only 2 are 4G.
10 dollar smart phone fee? They are lying to you just like zero.
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