AT&T extends throttling limit of grandfathered unlimited data plans to 22GB

AT&T, America’s second largest wireless carrier, has come under fire not only from customers, but also the FCC for its throttling practices on “legacy” unlimited data plans.

The new policy allows up to 22GB of data per month, uninterrupted, afterwards which AT&T can throttle if there is network congestion. “As a result of this evolution, we recently revised our practices such that Unlimited Data Plan smartphone customers can now use 22GB of high-speed data during a billing period…” The main issue they’ve had is with consumer communication, as the FTC felt they weren’t open enough about their policies for limiting data speeds once users get to a certain threshold. We’re not sure whether or not AT&T’s disclosure is anymore sufficient now than it was back then, but changes made this week to the carrier’s data throttling policy will certainly make unlimited plan holders quite happy.

AT&T calls the throttling a ‘speed reduction, ‘ and says it will now only happen when the phone is connected to a particularly congested network, and only when the 22GB threshold has been passed. AT&T simply posted a basic declaration on its Web website. Most have implemented a throttling system that prevents customers from taking up too much of the network with their data usage.

AT&T explains throttling in terms of established “network mangement practices”.

AT&T additionally guaranteed that speed decreases would just happen in the event that you utilize your gadget now and again and in territories with system blockage – and just for whatever remains of the present charging cycle after you pass the 22 GB information edge. The FCC, contending that putting limits on unlimited data plans without telling customers is illegal, had fined AT&T $100m. For about three years, AT&T would cap data speeds regardless of network congestion, which gave subscribers something that didn’t look at all like an unlimited plan. The fine stems from a lawsuit the FTC filed against AT&T for this issue in 2014.

“Customers using excessive amounts of data impact the user experience for everyone”. The company has upped the limit on your “unlimited” data plan.

Unlimited data users will get a warning at the 75 percent mark (or 16.5 GB).