AT&T raised its limits on smart phone data usage today in response to customers who have complained about throttled speeds.
CNN Money reported that AT&T first implemented these slowdowns last summer due to a rise in data usage, however, customers did not know the exact data limit. Today’s announcement by AT&T addressed who will get their data throttled, and when.
Customers with an unlimited data plan and a 3G or 4G smart phone will see their data slow down if they use more than three gigabytes of data in a billing cycle, said CNN. Users with next-generation 4G LTE phones are allowed up to five gigabytes of data before speeds slow down.
Regardless of the kind of phone customers have, AT&T said it will reset the data speeds back to normal at the start of the next billing cycle. AT&T also said the company will send a text message to customers with a warning that their data speeds will slow down.
Many customers complained when AT&T began to slow speeds to users who were in the top 5 percent of data users for that billing cycle within their geographic location. CNN said customers argued that through the top 5 percent method, they would not be able to know what the limit was until AT&T sent a warning via text message.
“What we did here is respond to what our unlimited plan customers told us, namely, to have more clarity in how all this works,” said Mark Siegel, an AT&T representative to CNN.
Currently, all wireless carriers are feeling pressured by increased data usage, said CNN Money. In June 2010, AT&T stopped offering its $30 per month unlimited plan. T-Mobile also ended its unlimited data plan April 2011, and Verizon canceled it in July. Currently, Sprint is the only U.S. carrier that still provides an unlimited data plan for new customers.