Nobody likes having their internet speeds throttled, but unfortunately that is what AT&T seems to be doing. Recently the carrier had caught some flack from the FTC over their data throttling. However the carrier argued that the reason for data throttling was because of congested networks.
Now this only applied to those on unlimited 3G/non-LTE 4G phones, or at least that’s what many had assumed but as discovered by Ars Technica, this is not the case as AT&T has been found to be throttling unlimited 4G/LTE devices as well, with 4G covering HSPA+ phones as well. While 4G and LTE are more or less synonymous these days, it is technically true that 4G does include HSPA+ as well.
That being said unlike the 3G/non-4G throttling which supposedly only happens after a customer exceeds 3GB of data and during times of congestion, 4G/LTE devices are throttled after exceeding 5GB, regardless of whether the network is congested or not. AT&T has since confirmed this and told Ars Technica that the policy will be changing come 2015, although when exactly remains to be seen.
In the meantime AT&T’s rival Verizon had similar data throttling plans of their own, but due to the immense backlash that followed their announcement, the carrier had a last minute change of heart, although we have to wonder if the FCC breathing down their neck might have anything to do with it.
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