![]() T-Mobile: Sign up for the budget-oriented service, called Essentials, and T-Mobile reserves the right to lower your data speeds in favor of others' during periods of high demand. That might not be great for streaming, but it will at least let you check your email and run basic apps. Hit 50GB during a given month and Sprint will slow your data to 3G speed. ![]() But, unlike AT&T, the throttling threshold is the same for all of them. Sprint: Sprint, like AT&T, offers a few unlimited plans. Oddly, the carrier's most expensive plan, Unlimited & More Premium, which throws in a premium TV service, such as HBO, and HD streaming, has a throttling threshold of 22GB. If you jump up to the next level of service, Unlimited Extra, AT&T says it won't throttle you until you use 50GB of data during a billing cycle. Note that the details might vary.ĪT&T: Sign up for the most basic level, Unlimited Starter, and the carrier reserves the right to slow your data whenever the network is busy. These are their current practices for their unlimited plans. Given that millions of people were affected, it's unlikely the individual refunds will amount to much.Īll major carriers throttle traffic to some extent. The FTC says current AT&T customers will automatically receive a bill credit, while former customers will get a check for the amount owed. The $60 million in settlement money will be deposited into a fund that AT&T will use to provide partial refunds to current and former customers who signed up for unlimited plans before 2011 and were throttled by the carrier.Ĭonsumers do not need to submit a claim. The FTC further specifies that those disclosures must be "prominent, not buried in fine print or hidden behind hyperlinks." "At the bare minimum, the FTC should be able to hold companies to their word about when and how they're going to engage in these practices," he says.Īs part of the settlement, AT&T is barred from making any statements about the speed or amount of mobile data it provides-including calling it "unlimited"-unless it also discloses any relevant restrictions. ![]() The settlement is especially important today, given the lack of nationwide net-neutrality protections and the ability of internet service providers to block and slow consumers' internet access, says Jonathan Schwantes, a senior policy counsel for Consumer Reports. AT&T had tried to fight the complaint in court, arguing that the FTC didn't have jurisdiction, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the FTC's favor last year, allowing the complaint to proceed. Consumer advocates note that the settlement has been a long time coming. ![]()
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