In 2010 AT&T stopped offering unlimited data plans to customers over fears (greed?) that its network would be too congested overtime to allow for proper use. Now two years later the company has finally set a hard data rate of 3GB at which point unlimited users will see their data speeds throttled.
The move narrows the difference between AT&T’s legacy users of unlimited data plans and users taking advantage of the company’s various tiered plan options which includes 2GB for $25 per month among other options with additional payments required for data overages.
Legacy users of the company’s now defunct unlimited plans have complained over the last two years because of AT&T’s inconsistent rules for throttling levels.
Users who are affected by the switch to the new throttling levels will receive a text message notifying them if they pass the limit at which point throttling will go into affect until the new billing cycle begins.
For the time being AT&T users are stuck paying more for data or having their data throttled more quickly however the company’s next generation LTE network which is finally coming online allows up to five gigabytes of data per month under the company’s unlimited plan before that data is throttled back. LTE technology is capable of handling far more data on its network, hence the increase in allowed data before throttling kicks in.
In the meantime users needing an unlimited data plan still have Sprint Wireless as perhaps the last fully unlimited data network in the United States?
