AT&T Already Throttling Data Speeds

As noted by Reddit user skelatwork, AT&T has already begun throttling data speeds for its wireless customers. We told you months ago that AT&T was going to implement data throttling this October, and it seems that the first messages have already been sent.

AT&T is only throttling the top 5% of data customers, but what qualifies for reaching such a threshold has still not been clarified.

AT&T’s press release from July:

“Starting October 1, smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users.  These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle.  Before you are affected, we will provide multiple notices, including a grace period.”

In this particular instance, skelatwork had gone over 11GB for his monthly allowance. That’s quite a lot of data.

Not to be left out, Verizon iPhone customers have also started receiving messages like this one for excessive usage on the unlimited data plan. Verizon starts throttling at the 2GB threshold. Sprint is promising to place nice and not throttle iPhone users, should it get Apple’s smartphone next week.

Let us know if you’re a victim of AT&T’s throttling policy. How much data did you use before you got the message?

Are any of you worried about data throttling, or do you not use enough data to care either way? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

[9to5Mac]