Screw you, too, AT&T

Long-time iPhone users, take note. If you have unlimited data, you want to read this: the company will throttle you for more than 2GB of usage in any given month. Do you feel better now about the thousands you've handed over to AT&T for the past several years?

Users are alerted to the throttling via text message. "Your data usage is among the top 5 percent of users. Data speeds for the rest of your bill cycle may be reduced", it reads.

In a phone call to AT&T customer service, BetaNews has confirmed that the nation's second biggest carrier considers 2GB-plus data customers in the "top 5 percent". The company warned of its plans in July of last year, but didn't enforce it until October 1. It now appears that what AT&T considers excessive has fallen dramatically from when the program started.

I can tell you this firsthand because my own data usage exceeded 2GB after that October 1 cutoff. In December, I used 3.1GB; in January 1.9GB. In neither month have I received any warning of throttling. So AT&T has made a change in what it considers "excessive".

Don't forget AT&T just introduced a 3GB plan for $30, the same price most long-time iPhone customers pay for their unlimited plans. But the AT&T representative we talked to pointed out a key difference, which is sure to piss off a lot of people. While that new customer is still cruising along at 3G speeds, paying the same price, your data is now slower than EDGE. There is no throttling for the 3GB plan, just overage charges when the data allotment is exceeded, the representative tells us.

That seems patently unfair. Unlimited data users -- including myself -- are getting ripped off.

iPhoneHacks illustrates this point in a recent post. It placed two phones side by side and performed a series of tests. While the unthrottled phone was able to download at speeds eclipsing 1Mbps, the throttled phone at times was downloading content at speeds of .06 Mbps. That sounds more like GPRS speeds to me!

The most key point in their findings? "For everyday applications like Maps and Safari, there was a stark difference between the load times. These apps were effectively unusable on the throttled connection". In other words, congratulations, your shiny new iPhone is all but a useless brick.

AT&T is screwing the customers that it has profited from most. At this point the company has made quite a bit of money on you, even with phone subsidies. And the claims that the top 5 percent use 12 times the data of the customer base at large is laughable.

If the new throttling point is 2GB, then that means the average iPhone user consumes a paltry 170.6MB of data. It is extremely hard to believe with the amount of data-hungry apps for iOS that a majority of users consume so little data.

What AT&T's super-agressive stance indicates is that the company wants you to ditch your unlimited plan. There's a benefit to this: if you continue to be a heavy data user, then you're gonna pay for it. This doesn't sit well with me, nor with others who have been loyal AT&T and iPhone customers.

"I don’t know what AT&T thinks they’re doing here", technologist and iPhone user John Cozen writes in his blog. He was throttled at 2.1GB. "I’ve experienced nothing but excellent service over the years up until this fiasco. I wonder how people are liking Verizon these days".

We're trying to get AT&T to comment on why unlimited data users are being handled in a manner different from other customers paying the same price, but have not heard back. If we do, we'll certainly update this story.

BetaNews is looking for reports from AT&T iPhone customers with unlimited data plans. If you have been throttled, please tell your story comments below. Also please include the amount of data you used during the month that throttling occurred.

Photo Credit: valdis torms/Shutterstock

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