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FTC Sues AT&T for Throttling 'Unlimited' Users

The FTC today announced they've filed a complaint against AT&T for the company's longstanding practice of promising "unlimited" data, only to significantly throttle back customer connections. According to the FTC press announcement, an FTC inquiry found that while AT&T advertised unlimited data, the company in 2011 began throttling data speeds for its unlimited data plan customers after they used as little as 2 gigabytes of data in a billing period.

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The FTC notes that AT&T has throttled at least 3.5 million unique customers a total of more than 25 million times, often reducing their speeds 80 to 90% slower than their advertised speeds. The throttling wasn't "intelligent" and occurred no matter the congestion load, the FTC states.

The FTC complaint says AT&T violated the FTC Act by changing the terms of customers’ unlimited data plans while those customers were still under contract, and by "failing to adequately disclose the nature of the throttling program to consumers who renewed their unlimited data plans."

"AT&T promised its customers ‘unlimited’ data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez in a prepared statement. "The issue here is simple: ‘unlimited’ means unlimited."

AT&T, like Verizon, has since eliminated unlimited plans while waging a not particularly subtle war against grandfathered unlimited customers in the hopes of driving them to more expensive shared data options. That has not only included throttling those users, but at times preventing them from using core device functionality such as video chat services, something this FTC complaint doesn't even address.

This is the second time in a month AT&T has fallen under hard scrutiny of the FTC, having struck a $105 million settlement for aiding in customer scamming and cramming earlier this month.

Update: I received the following statement from AT&T:

quote:
“The FTC’s allegations are baseless and have nothing to do with the substance of our network management program. It’s baffling as to why the FTC would choose to take this action against a company that, like all major wireless providers, manages its network resources to provide the best possible service to all customers, and does it in a way that is fully transparent and consistent with the law and our contracts.

“We have been completely transparent with customers since the very beginning. We informed all unlimited data-plan customers via bill notices and anational press release that resulted in nearly 2,000 news stories, well before the program was implemented. In addition, this program has affected only about 3% of our customers, and before any customer is affected, they are also notified by text message.”


FTC SUIT Against AT&T

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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

1 recommendation

dvd536

Premium Member

Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

YOU!

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

Increased line item for what??
BTW, the best way to avoid line item junk on your ATT bill is to drop Tea and get a decent provider.
Nanaki (banned)
aka novaflare. pull punches? Na
join:2002-01-24
Akron, OH

Nanaki (banned)

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

I say let att keep jacking up rates like this. They will end up in the same boat that ohio ed ended up in. Ohio ed kept doing estimated bills for years on end with no real readings. After years of doing this they hit customers for many 1000s that they did it to. In the end ohio ed setled out of court and instead of cutting a check to each user effected they upgraded 1000s of customers home electric appliances etc all. My parents had their entire houses wiring redone got new fridge freezer combo new chest freezer (2x as big as the old one) 2x new window air conditioners including a ultra efficient 220 window unit that alone was 1400 bucks. every socket and lamp got new cfl bulbs (the house had 2 x ceiling fans 2 lamps in one room etc) total of around 30 bulbs inside and out. Total bill the electric company had to pay 22000.

ATT is pulling a sim stunt when they get fined and pass it on to customers. At some point it will catch up to them. It is only a matter of time before they piss off the wrong person somewhere and get nailed for it. Major companies the giants get away with crap for a long time but it does bite them in the ass sooner or later.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

3 recommendations

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

They already pissed off the wrong person at the FTC... The Chairwoman for starters.

"AT&T promised its customers 'unlimited' data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. "The issue here is simple: 'unlimited' means unlimited."
Nanaki (banned)
aka novaflare. pull punches? Na
join:2002-01-24
Akron, OH

Nanaki (banned)

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

Hence the law suit. But that will end up on every att users bill. ATT will not take a real hit from any fines etc from it in the end. No it will take some one else getting pissed who has money to burn but is sick of the crap. Then att will get a real hit. It took a class action suit to take the power company to task for their stupidity. It will take the same to nail att.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

Per its contract terms, as validated by the Supreme Court, you can't bring a class action against AT&T... Just ask Matt Spaccarelli...
»taporc.com/

Matt sued over the throttling of his Unlimited Data Plan in small claims court and won: »mashable.com/2012/03/17/ ··· ng-suit/
betam4x
join:2002-10-12
Nashville, TN

2 recommendations

betam4x

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

This isn't a class action lawsuit. This is a lawsuit by the FTC and they rarely lose. AT&T will actually be the loser on this one. The FTC generally only gets involved when they know they will win or settle. Either way AT&T will lose. This also has deep ramifications for net neutrality, though many don't realize that yet.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

Good point on that.
EdmundGerber
join:2010-01-04

EdmundGerber to Nanaki

Member

to Nanaki
said by Nanaki:

Hence the law suit. But that will end up on every att users bill. ATT will not take a real hit from any fines etc from it in the end. No it will take some one else getting pissed who has money to burn but is sick of the crap. Then att will get a real hit. It took a class action suit to take the power company to task for their stupidity. It will take the same to nail att.

Then att can kiss its customers goodbye. It's that GD simple.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

Exactly... One change to the terms/pricing and AT&T people can get out of their contract without an ETF....

Of course, Sprint and T-Mobile offer Unlimited Data and are ready to pay your ETF off and buy your device....

onebadmofo
gat gnitsoP
Premium Member
join:2002-03-30
Pennsylvania

onebadmofo

Premium Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

said by IPPlanMan:

Exactly... One change to the terms/pricing and AT&T people can get out of their contract without an ETF....

Of course, Sprint and T-Mobile offer Unlimited Data and are ready to pay your ETF off and buy your device....

Sprint and T-Mobile has horrible coverage in my area. Oh you want to go inside your house? Whelp, good bye reception. So that deal, isn't a deal at all. ...it's a downgrade. And a perfect definition of you get what you pay for.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

Sprint and T-Mobile offer WiFi calling.

Hell, T-Mobile will give you a WiFi base station for free ($25 deposit) to use with a wifi calling capable phone.

How is that a downgrade?

onebadmofo
gat gnitsoP
Premium Member
join:2002-03-30
Pennsylvania

onebadmofo

Premium Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

said by IPPlanMan:

Sprint and T-Mobile offer WiFi calling.

Hell, T-Mobile will give you a WiFi base station for free ($25 deposit) to use with a wifi calling capable phone.

How is that a downgrade?

...well, as long as I stay to only going in my house and not go into any other house or building on the planet.

What you're not seeing is, they HAVE to offer that because they know their coverage sucks.

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

1 recommendation

PapaMidnight to IPPlanMan

Member

to IPPlanMan
"AT&T promised its customers 'unlimited' data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. "The issue here is simple: 'unlimited' means unlimited."
That moment when the FTC does the job that the FCC should have done years ago...

tim_k
Buttons, Bows, Beamer, Shadow, Kasey
Premium Member
join:2002-02-02
Stewartstown, PA

tim_k to IPPlanMan

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to IPPlanMan
said by IPPlanMan:

"AT&T promised its customers 'unlimited' data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise

considering the loop holes companies usually have to get out of things like this, couldn't they say customers are still getting unlimited data, but speeds are not guaranteed?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

The point here is that this is an intentional throttling scheme, done with the knowledge that customers would disapprove... AT&T's own customer studies proved this, according to the complaint. The slower the throttling speed, the higher the disapproval... Geez, what a concept. So AT&T knew all along what it was doing.

Originally, throttling the top 5% of Unlimited Data Users meant there was always a top 5% to throttle as the throttling point dropped lower and lower, to the point where it was below the tiered amount AT&T was offering at the time. Again, AT&T knew this would happen.

After the uproar, AT&T made it so Unlimited Data Plans are throttled at 3 GB for 3G devices and 5 GB for LTE devices. It's simply laughable that this throttling occurs for Unlimited Plans when AT&T offers doubled data promotions of much higher usage levels of full speed data.

Doubling a shared 15 GB data plan to 30 GB, or a 20 GB plan to 40 GB, or a 30 GB plan to 60 GB, or a 40 GB plan to 80 GB, or a 50 GB plan to 100 GB.

The FTC Complaint is solidly written, as it includes a paragraph about this specific point. AT&T is in deep trouble.

TamaraB
Question The Current Paradigm
Premium Member
join:2000-11-08
Da Bronx
·Verizon FiOS
Ubiquiti NSM5
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TamaraB to IPPlanMan

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to IPPlanMan
Lying sack of ......

The FTC's allegations are baseless and have nothing to do with the substance of our network management program. It's baffling ... [AT&T] manages its network resources to provide the best possible service to all customers

dog poop!!
Cobra11M
join:2010-12-23
Mineral Wells, TX

Cobra11M to IPPlanMan

Member

to IPPlanMan
agreed, FTC is biting AT&T because that's government.. AT&T has gotten everything they've wanted from the government for the last few years now the government is hitting them lol, what goes around comes back around, at least someone is hitting AT&T for this.. unlimited is unlimited, and was for many years with AT&T then it all stopped
Caboosey
join:2006-06-22
Pismo Beach, CA

Caboosey to IPPlanMan

Member

to IPPlanMan
Yup. Go FTC! Get those greedy Telco's complaining about bandwidth because they refuse to upgrade their network and just horde the money.
jimmyd87
join:2014-01-12
North Highlands, CA

jimmyd87 to Nanaki

Member

to Nanaki
reading this hurts my head...

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

Reading what?

cowboyro
Premium Member
join:2000-10-11
CT

cowboyro to cb14

Premium Member

to cb14
said by cb14:

Increased line item for what??

Government mandated cost recovery fee.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad to cb14

Premium Member

to cb14
It's the newly created Federal Litigation Protection Attorney Tax. It will be right after the Executive Lavatory Waste Paper Replenishment Fee.

ropeguru
Premium Member
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA

ropeguru to cb14

Premium Member

to cb14
For the additional lawyer fees to fight this or settle out of court.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode to dvd536

News Guy

to dvd536
They've already long-since shifted to usage-based shared data plans for the majority of their users, so that's probably not necessary (not that they won't anyway).

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

I was one of them. I got tired of being knocked down to such a slow speed I wanted to smash my phone. Went to the family plan and was able to use more since my wife and daughter barely used much data. Now since they doubled their 10 GB plan to 20 GB I can use more data at full speed for less money.
Amazing though how the minute I switched to the family plan that magical "congestion" went away immediately.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

said by ptrowski:

Amazing though how the minute I switched to the family plan that magical "congestion" went away immediately.

Yeah... funny how that happens.
Lets Go
join:2005-03-05
Homer, NY

Lets Go to ptrowski

Member

to ptrowski
Don't you have to have the 15GB or higher plan to take advantage tf the "double data" promotion? I didn't think the 10GB plan was included....
said by ptrowski:

Now since they doubled their 10 GB plan to 20 GB I can use more data at full speed for less money.


ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

When Sprint announced their new plans you could call retentions and ask what your ETF was since that new deal with Sprint was great. They offered to double the data to 20 GB. I think they squashed that quickly though.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

Sprint's Double Data runs until October 31st: »newsroom.sprint.com/news ··· data.htm

AT&T's Double Data runs until October 31st: »about.att.com/story/sign ··· nth.html

Verizon's Double Data runs until October 31st:
»www.verizonwireless.com/ ··· ans.html
Lets Go
join:2005-03-05
Homer, NY

Lets Go to ptrowski

Member

to ptrowski
Ok thanks..I didn't think 10GB was included... Guess I missed out.

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28 to dvd536

Premium Member

to dvd536
makes prepaid look better and better.

cowboyro
Premium Member
join:2000-10-11
CT

1 recommendation

cowboyro

Premium Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

said by jchambers28:

makes prepaid look better and better.

Agreed. Switched to Straight Talk 1 year ago, using the very same network at nearly half the cost. Now only if the CS of ST wasn't braindead...

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28

Premium Member

Re: Guess whos getting a new or increased line item on their bills?

I went to cricket I get 10GB of data for $60 after that they slow it down.

bluefox9
@155.247.166.x

bluefox9

Anon

How

How is it that FTC is not as corrupt as FCC, within their limited roles?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

1 recommendation

IPPlanMan

Member

HAHA.... Cry me a river AT&T

You know you deserve this AT&T.... Cry me a river.

I said this before, but bears repeating: »But but congestion....

------------
You see, when you use data on a Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plan, that's called "congestion", so you're throttled at 5 GB to EDGE-like speeds to "prevent" it.

Note this "congestion" doesn't occur when you double a shared 15 GB data plan to 30 GB, or a 20 GB plan to 40 GB, or a 30 GB plan to 60 GB, or a 40 GB plan to 80 GB, or a 50 GB plan to 100 GB. It doesn't occur if you let both new and current customers keep this "doubled data" in perpetuity, or at least until they change their plan.

No, "congestion" only happens with Unlimited Data Plans throttled at 5 GB.

What a farce.
--------------

••••

AnonDude
@97.95.152.x

AnonDude

Anon

Simple solution for At&t

They'll just kill off unlimited data.

••••••••••••••
SunnyD
join:2009-03-20
Madison, AL

SunnyD

Member

We have been completely transparent with customers since the very beginning.

I have not once seen "... will proceed to bend you, the customer, over and not use lube ..." in any service agreement that AT&T has every produced.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: We have been completely transparent with customers since the very beginning.

"Transparency" is one of those words which has become overused, especially in DC...

I always like to refer to it as "Clearly bull$@!t"
grabacon9
join:2013-08-21
Newark, OH

grabacon9

Member

Woo hoo.

AT&T deserves it. Crazy bums.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Woo hoo.

Agreed. Watching AT&T's PR Flack squirm is so satisfying...

SrsBsns
join:2001-08-30
Oklahoma City, OK

SrsBsns

Member

Only 3% of Customers Affected

So 3.4 million people is not a whole lot?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Only 3% of Customers Affected

Anything to keep a narrative...

eric89011
@68.108.63.x

eric89011

Anon

Go with Cricket

I use Cricket and it's great! 10GB of data a month for $55 with no extra fees and AT&T coverage.
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin

Member

Re: Go with Cricket

Isn't cricket owned or partially owned by at&t? So why not everybody on at&t switch to cricket... same thing with a different name only cheaper.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr ··· Wireless

Reminds me of the long distance wars when many long distance companies were at&t with a different name.

Flyonthewall
@206.248.154.x

Flyonthewall

Anon

Claiming it was legitimate.

How they can make that statement after being served when the only way that would happen is if it's NOT legit boggles my mind. Of course their PR is going to defend the indefensible. It's about time someone held them to account for advertising one thing and doing another.

I just doubt much will happen. They'll pay a fine, but in the end nothing much will change with customers, and now they'll be able to unilaterally change packages since 'FTC' sued and told us we couldn't. Wahhh.

•••

Elite
Kiss My Ass
join:2002-10-03
New Haven, CT
Synology RT2600ac
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Elite

Member

YESSSSSS! FINALLY!

FUCK YOU AT&T! UNLIMITED MEANS UNLIMITED!

Background: I have AT&T's unlimited data on my LTE smartphone. I broke the 5GB cap last month, and for 18 days (remainder of my billing cycle), I had to suffer with .5Mbit down and .5Mbit up. Half a goddamn megabit! That is nearly the speed of EDGE! Internet was unusable!

FUCK YOU AT&T!

Raul
@166.137.244.x

Raul

Anon

Re: YESSSSSS! FINALLY!

At least you had .5.

When it happen to me it was .1 and dropping, could do nothing more that check email not even Pandora was usable.
xthepeoplesx
join:2013-10-21

xthepeoplesx

Member

Replacement?

Can we just fire the entire FCC and replace them with the FTC?
wkm001
join:2009-12-14

wkm001

Member

Just end the unlimited already!!!

AT&T and Verizon need to kick everyone off the unlimited plans and move on. It is causing way too much bad press.

v6movement
@135.23.225.x

v6movement

Anon

Re: Just end the unlimited already!!!

said by wkm001:

AT&T and Verizon need to kick everyone off the unlimited plans and move on. It is causing way too much bad press.

AT&T and Verizon are causing their own bad press with them being bad actors.
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin

Member

FCC

Is the FCC involved in this at all? Isn't this also part of their jurisdiction? Or is the FTC just doing the FCC's job, just like the DOJ did during the attempted AT&T and T-Mobile merger, because Wheeler is too spineless?
54761437 (banned)
join:2013-01-18
Durham, NC

54761437 (banned)

Member

lol

AT&T is a cancer on this country and I love seeing them get slapped around.
Kommie2 (banned)
join:2003-05-13
united state

Kommie2 (banned)

Member

Wow the FTC is actually doing something

Wow! Wonder what happend to make the FTC actually move.

keithps
Premium Member
join:2002-06-26
Soddy Daisy, TN

keithps

Premium Member

Re: Wow the FTC is actually doing something

Someone must have forgotten to send the check to the right politician.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Ridiculous

People guzzled too much data, and they had to pay the price. Simple as that. AT&T is exactly right on this one.

Also, Unlimited data means just that. UNLIMITED. It doesn't say Unlimited at full speed, it just says Unlimited. So Unlimited at 200kbps or 500kbps is still Unlimited.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
betam4x
join:2002-10-12
Nashville, TN

betam4x

Member

Why this is deeper than you think.

You guys are thinking too narrow! This is't about cellular. This is about false advertising. FIOS can't claim to be awesome when it's throttling the likes of youtube and netflix to dial up speeds. The FTC can't attack claims like that, but if they make it so that it's illegal to intentionally throttle 'unlimited' users...well that can be done. If your ISP has ever advertised 'unlimited' to you...you can no longer be intentionally throttled to any service. Drop the tinfoil hats for a second. This means that comcast can't start throttling netflix if they have previously advertised 'unlimited' unless they previously informed customers 'hey we are no longer unlimited.' A shrewd move from a government that faces scrutiny at every move.

p.s. while i'm not politically biased, blaming 'obama' for your high 'health care costs' when in actually health care costs have been going up at the same rate for 10+ years is uncool. Don't blame your government for your system. Blame yourself for not pushing for and voting on the important issues. Voting republican or democrat in the next election is only going to make it all worse, regardless of your viewpoint. The point I'm trying to make is that AT&T is being sued because AT&T is a trashy company, not because Obama or XYZ is in office. Don't blame 'socialism' or 'capitalism'. AT&T broke bipartisan laws by falsely advertising unlimited data. Therefore, AT&T will suffer...and even CAPPED providers will hesitate before they speak.

One of many sources: »blogs-images.forbes.com/ ··· ekff.png
54761437 (banned)
join:2013-01-18
Durham, NC

54761437 (banned)

Member

Re: Why this is deeper than you think.

Quite right. And companies with big political backing like AT&T want to make this a political issue. They want you, the customers, to remain at each others' throats instead of focusing your hatred on AT&T. It's not about political affiliation anymore. Democrats and Republicans both give generously to big corporations like AT&T in order to secure their loyalty for the next X years. The only one left off this gravy train is you, gentle reader.

onebadmofo
gat gnitsoP
Premium Member
join:2002-03-30
Pennsylvania

onebadmofo

Premium Member

Law suit?

So exactly WHO gets the monetary reward if AT&T loses?
Cause I'm sure customers won't see any type of compensation.

I myself have a grandfathered unlimited data account and based on AT&T's useage report, I'm only using about 200 MB a month.

I can't help but wonder if I can actually save money by getting a different plan. But...would the savings be a big difference or just a few dollars. If it would be just a few bucks a month, then screw it, it ain't worth it. But if I can shave 60 to 80 bucks, well I just may consider it.