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  • solipsism - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    Knew it wouldn't be long before they changed the way they alter their throttling to match capped plans. They did something similar after they allowed tethering on the iPhone.

    I wouldn't be surprised if they require those getting new devices to sign a new contract that removes their unlimited plans. Of course this move would have to be weighted against the potential loss to other carriers but it seems that isn't an issue with these speed reductions and 80% iPhone activations last quarter.
  • smartthanyou - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    I may be wrong but I don't believe AT&T has offered unlimited data plans for some time now. At least they haven't on the iPhone. Maybe it is different for LTE.
  • solipsism - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    They haven't. I'm saying I won't be surprised if they don't let you carry your unlimited plan over to a new contract. People use the term "grandfathered" and think that once you're off contract or switch contracts that the carrier has to honor that old plan because you're "grandfathered" but they don't.
  • BSMonitor - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    They weigh the cost of a lawsuit and its likely-hood against the money they are "saving" but hurting the customer.
  • minijedimaster - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    They don't let you carry it over. I upgraded the wife from an iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4S when it came out. She had the unlimited plan, as soon as I went to upgrade the device she now has one of the current limited plans. It did it automagically, never gave a choice.
  • okstate - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    They do let you carry it over. I've done it several times. The sales rep just didn't offer it to you or let you believe you couldn't continue it. I have grandfathered the unlimited plan on two separate phones.
  • espressojim - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    I've grandfathered my 4s as well on AT&T.
  • lungjian - Sunday, March 4, 2012 - link

    Same here. AT&T store rep screwed up one of our lines "unlimited" plans during an iPhone upgrade. Quick call to AT&T customer service had the line back on the faux unlimited plan within a few minutes.
  • PatrickFromSC - Monday, March 5, 2012 - link

    An in-store sales person can upgrade the equipment and keep you on the same grandfathered plan, but not if you upgrade online. At least with the iPhone 4S, there was no way to upgrade online and keep the grandfathered unlimited plan. Very underhanded AT&T.
  • av911 - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    Both parties (AT&T and consumer) agreed to an UNLIMITED service, but AT&T changed their terms of service, thus voiding the contract.

    I remember when they implemented data cap on their DSL service, I left immediately and they charged me $90 for the ETF. Luckily, filed complaints to the FCC and BBB did the trick.
  • solipsism - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    They are not breaching their contract. Unlimited has many qualifiers. In this case the contract clearly states they will not cut off your data after you've reached a set quantity. They are instead limiting the speed. They are also limiting the timeframe to a monthly basis that is dependent on you paying your bill. Three types of limits: 2 are limited and one is unlimited.

    If you want you can try to sue but the most you're likely going to get in small claims is the difference of your contract which won't include any legal fees.

    • http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/02/want-to-go-afte...
  • rs2 - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    What are you defending the big telecom company for?

    Unlimited does not have qualifiers. It means, quite literally, "without limits". Not "with some limits as stipulated by the fine print in a contract". If a company wants to advertise something as being "unlimited" then they should be required to deliver upon that claim, in its strictest definition. It is not okay to advertise something one way, and then put fine print into a contract that makes it work in a completely different way.

    Unlimited is UN-limited. End of story.
  • solipsism - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    And it is without limits in the way that all telecoms clearly state in their contracts. Do you return to an all you can eat restaurant the next day with your old receipt? Of course not because you damn well they mean in one sitting just as you known damn well they men the data usage, not the data bandwidth or the data timeframe.
  • rs2 - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    No, I know damn well that they mean unlimited data usage <b>at the full physical bandwidth capacity provided by the network</b>.

    You don't go back to the all-you-can-eat restaurant the next day with your old receipt, but you also expect that while you are eating the owner of the all-you-can-eat restaurant will not come up to you and say "sir, you are eating too fast, please only take one tiny bite every minute from now on". Paying for an all-you-can-eat meal means that you get all-you-can-eat in one sitting, at whatever rate you are physically capable of consuming food.

    Similarly, paying for an unlimited monthly data plan means you should get unlimited data usage over the span of a month, at the full physical capacity of the network. If the provider artificially degrades the capacity of the network based upon a certain amount of data usage being hit, then <b>it is not unlimited</b>.
  • solipsism - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Read your fucking contract it's all in there. They specifically state they don't guarantee your bandwidth. Also, you don't sign a contract for AYCE yet you somehow realize that has implied limitations yet don't understand stated and signed limitation in your contract? Really?
  • prophet001 - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Not unlimited bud. Basically false advertising.
  • Klinky1984 - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    How about you read a dictionary... AT&T does not get to redefine the meaning of unlimited. Their advertising needs to be more forthright in what your are getting. It is so sad that we have to say things like "AT&Ts unlimited plan allows you to have 3GB of downloads per month", that is an oxymoron.
  • FaaR - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Why would "unlimited" data only apply to the total amount of data downloaded? If the rate data is delivered at is artificially limited then by function it follows that the amount is also limited, hence no longer unlimited.

    These sort of linguistic acrobatics you (and the ISPs) are engaging at reminds me of someone giving away a free Ferrari for only $450,000.

    It's either free, or costs $450,000. It can't be both at once, just as you can't be both unlimited and limited at the same time. To persist otherwise amounts to customer deception, and fraud.
  • Arnulf - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    There is no such thing as "ulimited" plan then, as even if you were allowed to download 24/7 at the maximum uncapped rate the network suppiorts you'd still be only be able to download a finite (= limited) amount of data.

    Your nitpicking is therefore pointless.
  • rs2 - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Not quite. "Finite" and "limited" are not the same thing. To go back to the all-you-can-eat example, a person can only eat a finite amount of food, but there are no limits placed by the restaurant on the amount of food consumed. So the consumption of the food is unlimited, even though no person is physically capable of eating an infinite amount of food.

    A limit is an artificial construct, put in place by the provider of a service. Unlimited means that no such artificial limits are present. It does not mean that it is possible to consume an infinite amount of something, just that it is possible to consume as much as physically possible, without anything being put in place as a barrier to consumption above and beyond the inherent physical limits of the system. A bandwidth cap/throttle is not an inherent physical limit.
  • TerdFerguson - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    I know that the cell phones hire "community managers" and such, but the level of defense they get from the general public while simultaneously bending folks over in droves is unparalleled, even for republican politicians.
  • Death666Angel - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    He's not defending it, just educating people about their rights. There was a court decision where I live that limited the use of "flatrate" ("unlimited" in this instance) in cellphone advertisements, because the "flatrates" they offered gave you 300MB to 1GB (I think) of traffic at high speeds and then throttled to lower speeds. They could still say "flatrate", but had to make sure the "fine print" of throttling was easier accessible and readable.

    You can disagree with this decision while still being aware of its legality. Know the legality of it and treating it by applying the law and not your gut feeling will help you see through more advertising BS they throw at you.
  • MaK2000 - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    I already spoke by cancelling my subscription and signing up with Verizon.
  • Ronakbhai - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    Nice. I too just cancelled my Internet with them, and shifted to Verizon. Initially they sent me 2 accounts. 2x 6Mbit connections, with 2x the hardware, and 2x the statements. Took over 3 months to get them to understand that 1 man with 1 desktop and 1 residence has no need for 2 connections. Plus they sent a collection's agency after me, I too sent the FCC and BBB after them.

    Now AT&T just fits in somewhere between AOL Time Warner and that white stuff that accumulates at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty. A la Cyrus the Virus. :)
  • Owls - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    Unlimited is unlimited? They should advertise that it's not unlimited anymore and leave it at that. Unless of course they like to engage in deceptive practices.
  • xdrol - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    It is unlimited as in you can do unlimited data for the same price, don't play more than the subscription fee. You still get 256kbps after reaching 3GB, what is still usable.
  • Fleeb - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    I believe unlimited does not refer to the bandwidth but to the amount of time spent online. Internet connection was used to be billed by the minute until it was "unlimited".
  • rs2 - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    Unlimited means unlimited. Without any limits. Not without limit until you hit 3 GB and then throttled. That's not unlimited, and I wonder what marketing genius at AT&T thinks that it is.
  • Sunsmasher - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    AT&T is on very dangerous legal ground here. They are acting like real weasels.
    They are actually appealing the small claims award on the grounds that "we only promised unlimited data, not the speed of the data".
    This is like offering all you can eat food at a restaurant, and then saying after two plates, you can only eat one plate every 3 hours, but you can do that as long as you want, therefore it is unlimited food.
    This is a PR disaster for AT&T, and they should just quit while they're ahead.
    As mentioned above, all this weaseling is really making them look terrible.
    I personally will never use any AT&T serivce ever again.
  • dcollins - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link

    I really hope Verizon does not follow suit. I have a truly unlimited plan that I am quite fond of and I would hate to see it replaced with a unlimited-2G-but-limited-3G plan. Verizon has promised me that I will be able to keep my plan when upgrading to LTE, so here's hoping they keep their promises.
  • solipsism - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    They started doing this last year.

    http://www.droid-life.com/2011/09/16/as-of-yesterd...

    It seems to be a result of the iPhone adoption and usage on their networks. In October when the iPhone 4S came out they also gave fee double-data usage for LTE for those that would buy an LTE phone. The word is was an attempt to alleviate usage on their '3G' network to make room for iPhone 4S users.
  • Ronakbhai - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    I guess that's how it works out. You get 3GB @ speed, then the rest of the time @ 256 kbps. That equates to ~79GB for a full 30 days of constant streaming. So that's a theoretical maximum of 82GB per month that you get. Realistically of course, it'll be significantly less.
  • solipsism - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    For several years I was tethering outside my contractual obligations on AT&T. I was around 20GB most months but peaked at 100GB several times. That's hard to do. There was torrenting involved.

    They waned me, I choose try to find another way around it, they warned me again, I didn't listen and they dropped to 4GB w/tethering plan. I didn't care for it but I was going against my contract so they had every right since I was in violation. I took a chance and was finally caught. I certainly don't think AT&T had no right to when the contract I freely signed explained everything.
  • Ahnilated - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Someone needs to tell them the definition of the word unlimited.

    un·lim·it·ed (n-lm-td)
    adj.
    1. Having no restrictions or controls: an unlimited travel ticket.
    2. Having or seeming to have no boundaries; infinite: an unlimited horizon.
    3. Without qualification or exception; absolute: unlimited self-confidence.

    Read them carefully.
  • ShieTar - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Have you ever pulled out your calculator in a Phone-Shop, after the sales person explained to you why you NEED 40 MBit/s, and that a 2GB Data Cap is much more than you are likely to ever use up?

    Just to come to the realization that this flatrate/unlimited plan allows you to max out your connection for a staggering 7 minutes every month?
  • prophet001 - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    lol

    this
  • flyguy29 - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    The half ass reglated wireless induatry allows carriers like ATT to negotiate exclusive phone contracts with Apple, then monopolize, raise prices, then eliminate services. America is the shining example of anti capitalism when it comes to the wireless industry. Growing markets usually means lower prices and competition. Not so here. ATT, under more "normal" market conditions, would have been faced with customers fleeing to carriers with better service the minute they started throttling. Instead, other carriers also followed suit.
    It isn't even ATT's fault. They cam do it bkame limited spectrum while continuing to advertise itself as the "FASTEST NETWORK (like everyone else), and as the network of "possibilities".
    I have never heard of an all you can eat buffet where the third trip to the line was restricted to what you can sip through a straw. The reason? "Not our fault because there isn't enough food"

    In a world where a business cannot service its customers because the product is difficient, they simply turn away customers and quickly increase capacity. The system here in the USA is so broken that this is not possible. The FCC either fully regulates with just 2 carriers and mandate to build a unified network to handle long term growth, or just get out of the regulatory game because it isn't working.
  • minijedimaster - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    I know its the in thing to crucify AT&T these days. But fact of the matter is, Verizon and T-Mobile do the same thing. Sprint I don't think does, yet.. but their coverage sucks only slight less than T-Mobile's so who cares. I'm not defending AT&T on these practices, but they're hardly alone in this.
  • Jedi2155 - Saturday, March 3, 2012 - link

    Sprint throttles 3G after 5GB. 4G is unlimited until they deem you to be an excessive user. Then they will consider canceling your account.
  • Toughbook - Monday, March 5, 2012 - link

    I have the unlimited plan with Verizon on my iphone, never have they touched my speeds. My highest monthly usage was 18 Gbs when out of town for an extended amount of time. My son has a LTE phone and god knows teenagers download and stream alot of stuff and he has never had a problem either. Verizon may be more expensive but at least they dont try to find ways to fuck you raw each month with no vaseline!
  • Red Storm - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Well that just about removes any reason to keep an unlimited plan with them.

    Sent using my unlimited, non-throttled Verizon LTE plan
  • minijedimaster - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Verizon apparently will throttle data on LTE if they deem it <a href="http://bit.ly/owevfx">abuse</a>.
  • minijedimaster - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    since that didn't work.... http://bit.ly/owevfx
  • ectoplasmosis - Friday, March 2, 2012 - link

    Blimey, you yanks really do have it bad... expensive monthly contracts, paying to receive calls, huge upfront costs even though the phones are subsidised by 2-year lock ins, and now this nonsense.

    Over here in the United Britain of Englandshire I just got an iphone 4S, the 32GB version, for zero upfront cost, at the equivalent of $55/month with 2000 x-network minutes, 5000 texts and real unlimited internet with native tethering allowed and enabled by default for no extra cost.

    I'd been on a similar contract, paying less for a different phone, for the last year, and have averaged around 10GB/month mainly through tethering whilst out and about. Speeds rarely drop below 2Mb/s, usually around the 3Mb mark. No throttling, no "friendly warnings".

    Then again, the UK is a highly saturated, very competitive market.
  • Zingam - Saturday, March 3, 2012 - link

    Wasn't LTE meant to bring unlimited.... I mean UNLIMITED broadband wireless internet access? What is with the datacaps? OK if there is 100Gb datacap... I could live with that but seriously 5Gb... WTF???
    Are they kidding?
  • elites2012 - Monday, March 5, 2012 - link

    look people. your phone is not a pc. stop viewing movies, youtube videos, hulu, and netflix on you GD cell phone. the 3g and 4g speeds are to view small websites like yellow pages, yahoo and google mail. these companies knew idiots would misuse the bandwidth. how stupid do you think these companies are? same thing goes for the idiots who drive gas guzzling vehicle. did you think gas was going down cause you bought a truck???
  • Toughbook - Monday, March 5, 2012 - link

    Thanks for the daily educational tip. When a consumer pays for bandwidth they are free to use it however they desire. Think about the millions of people who dont even come close to 1Gb usage a month. You don't hear AT&T coming with rebates for those users. Why, because they are only interested in making more money off the heavy users.

    Who is bitching about gas prices in a truck? My work vehicle takes 33 gallons to fill up. I don't complain because I profit off of that gas when I'm working. My vehicle is my office, shop, etc.

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