Top data users find smartphones 'throttled'
(NEWSER) - AT&T stopped offering unlimited data plans in 2010, but some of the customers who already had the plans are finding "unlimited" doesn't necessarily mean what they thought it meant. AT&T has started "throttling" the top 5% of data users, cutting their download speeds by up to 99% and making their phones basically useless for anything other than phone calls and text messages. One throttled user found his phone went from loading a web page in a second to taking nearly two minutes; it happened two weeks into his billing cycle, when he reached 2.3 gigabytes of data. He pays $30 for his unlimited plan, and a limited data plan—for the same price—offers more data than that: 3 gigabytes per month. When customers call AT&T to complain, representatives urge them toward the limited plans, the AP reports. More»
