Judge Rules Against AT&T in Data Throttling Case

[Lecram25]

I'm not going to leave because of your opinion, so you can go ahead and leave that part out. We have a right to question what we'd like. I'm also not "lucky" that I'm getting what I paid for. Unlimited was in my contract, they honored that by continuing it, if it wasn't lucrative to do so, they wouldn't have.

By all means you have every right; go ahead and question all you like. And after others have in the past, they have been told to seek out a tiered plan.

My opinion is my opinion for sure but I see no use in complaining about something that you agreed upon during contract signing.

The hairsplitting in advertisement is why people chose their service, sell what you promise.

Now as for AT&T's pseudo-deceitful and devious selling practices, it is up to you as an informed adult/individual to practice due diligence before signing the dotted line. It is no secret that AT&T is "evil" and that they treat their customers like horse manure. If you fell for it, then shame on AT&T and you. If you continue to fall for it, then shame on you.

How much, and why I use my phone is none of their concern, I paid for the service, that's all that the judge is looking at and should look at.

Agreed, it's none of their business (subjective really as AT&T enjoys unwarranted wire tapping) as you paid for the service and will continue to receive the service. Unlimited is still unlimited.

Nowhere in the contract does throttling exist either, if it did, this would be a non issue.

My point exactly! It's a two-sided coin. There is no stipulation in your contract that data may be throttled. Nor is there any stipulation in your contract that data will never be throttled. You must understand this.

Don't change the game in the 9th inning, improve your service.

The game hasn't changed. But I do agree that they should improve their service.

The fact of the matter is: You signed up for unlimited internet and that is exactly what is being offered. You are not being charged extra past a certain point, nor are you being denied data. If either was the case, then you'd have something.

Analogy time: You're given a car with unlimited fuel. You tend to vary your driving from 45 to 60 MPH. Then one day, the car provider decides to limit you to 15 MPH. You'll still get to your destination and you will still be able to refuel the tank as many times as you want. The contract is still honored.

There are, however, others out there in the market. And if you are willing to wait less than a year, you can head over to a carrier that offers great speeds, customer service, and price. Not to mention that ANY AT&T HSPA and LTE device will work on their network at the device's purported speed.

No AT&T iPhone gets this kind of speed (Verizon/Sprint LOL):

[crusader281]

Great news! I get the same message every month even though I never go over 2gb,this month I was throttled down at 1.5 gb.my iPhone 4 is so slow that it's almost unusable..hopefully this rally's others to do the same in small claims court.I have already filed a claim on FCC.gov and Have told others to do the same. Weather you believe it are not this will affect all of us down the line, not just those with unlimited data plans... Remember this has nothing to do with clogging up the networks it has to do with money and trying to get unlimited data users to give up there plans. a perfect example! my wife has the 2gb plan for 25 a month., but if she goes over she is charged more,not throlttled down data speeds. If this had anything to do with the network hogging then she would be throlttled down are at the very least a text letting her know she is in the top 5% in her area using the most data....those with unlimited data plans don't give up your unlimited data plans and file a claim.... "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

[Bluemoldycheeze88]

AT&T is a bunch of homos. In a month when I qualify for my dealer line at Verizon I will be leaving them.

[Lecram25]

Great news! I get the same message every month even though I never go over 2gb,this month I was throttled down at 1.5 gb.my iPhone 4 is so slow that it's almost unusable..hopefully this rally's others to do the same in small claims court.I have already filed a claim on FCC.gov and Have told others to do the same. Weather you believe it are not this will affect all of us down the line, not just those with unlimited data plans... Remember this has nothing to do with clogging up the networks it has to do with money and trying to get unlimited data users to give up there plans. a perfect example! my wife has the 2gb plan for 25 a month., but if she goes over she is charged more,not throlttled down data speeds. If this had anything to do with the network hogging then she would be throlttled down are at the very least a text letting her know she is in the top 5% in her area using the most data....those with unlimited data plans don't give up your unlimited data plans and file a claim.... "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Lol then just leave. That's not doing nothing per your quote. This isn't a right afforded to you by the constitution of the United States of America.

me me me

This a service that you pay for out of your own free will. A service that continues to be honored, albeit at a lesser speed. Speed was never included in your contract.

As for your wife, she is in a tiered plan. She agreed that any consumption of data past her 2 GB allotment in a monthly period would be charged a certain rate per [k/M]byte.

Put down the pitchforks.

[flash66]

+1

Yep. Very wrong. Signal bars show not only strength but there is another factor that plays a role in how many bars you have. "Noise" created between you and the signal from the tower will also slow data speed. Most urban areas are microwave polluted which just creates interference in transfer rates. I've noticed much faster speeds in rural areas with 3G available with less competing towers in the area.

[Joedogg707]

Unlimited means exactly that. If they told u they were going to make it so that they wouldn't send your text message for ten minutes because you text too much even though you pay for unlimited, you wouldn't stand for it. You can't offer a product then limit its use once you decide you offered too much. I buy a mercedes for a good price, then the seller thinks he sold for too little and one day gives me a Hyundai in its place? Not likely. This is no different.

[unison999]

More people have to take them to small claims court, if you tax AT&T resources enough maybe they will reconsider this policy.

[Lydia O Lydia]

I don't use my iPhone enough to be considered anywhere near the Top 5%..... Thank goodness. But if AT&T tried to mess with my data usage, I would not be cool with that.

[csglinux]

I still have unlimited data, for whatever that is worth.

No you don't. You have a plan where AT&T can throttle your data speed after 1.2Gb, 1Gb, or any other amount they choose, turning your iPhone into a feature phone for the remaining 29 days of the month.

[RICO_]

Normally I wouldn't care about this.....but the fact that AT&T sent me the "top 5%" data throttling warning message after I hit around 4.5GB one month......and then sent me the exact same message a couple months later at 2.3GB of usage tells me ONE THING......

......that they are not enforcing their contract but rather trying to force people into their tiered data plans.

[Nickaroni22]

Great win for the consumer against the big bully AT&T.

[AAAARRRRRRGGGGG]

Petition: AT&T CEO: Stop throttling the data speeds on plans with unlimited data! | Change.org

please sign this petition!

[Greatbiguns]

Where do I sign up for the CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT?????
Can I get a "AMEN"?

[smigs]

This throttling is def an issue with me. After paying $137 a month, since the original Iphone a few months back I received the dreaded text. I quickly went into my att app, and realized that I had only used 1.2G. Really??? Did a speed test on my connection and yielded a hole .08mb/s. Now I understand the whole data surge, blah blah blah. But slowing down the connection to a crawl, ***** you said unlimited not "Barely Usable" my maps dont even load up. smh. Think this court matter should become a collaborative effort

[Roadw3]

No you don't. You have a plan where AT&T can throttle your data speed after 1.2Gb, 1Gb, or any other amount they choose, turning your iPhone into a feature phone for the remaining 29 days of the month.

Yes I agree and I think it is crap that AT&T can do that and I think it will get lower and lower until I'm getting throttled at 300 megs so lets face it there is nothing I can do about it except change carriers, which they all throttle, or stay with AT&T. AT&T is a huge corporation and even if everyone on this site left them it would not make the single smallest dent in the amount of cash they make. Heck we could get our friends and their friends to leave and it wouldn't do anything.

[bsltiger]

Really? Where in the contract is this stated? Marketing != contractual agreement.

What about all those original iPhone unlimited data plans? Will they too be throttled down to GPRS if they consume too much data over EDGE? I can easily consume over 2 GB of data over EDGE in a month streaming iheartradio and the like [on T-Mobile].

Why don't you people read your contracts?

The government is there to enforce contracts, not disband them. AT&T reserves the right to change their policies as they see fit, and you, the consumer, agreed to this when signing up. This is very cut and dry.

Again, if you don't like it, then leave. That sends more of a message to AT&T. Even more than litigation. Once lawyers get involved, expect to see some serious contract/policy changes across the board. Then what will you take them to court for?

It's not a speed issue, but a data allotment issue. While hairsplitting, they (AT&T) are still providing unlimited data. You should be lucky enough that they decided to grandfather you (in general) in; they are not required to by law.

I like this guy.

[The6uest]

I wish someone would take them to court about them changing people to tethered plans. They need to stop that BS unless they can show proof that someone is tethering. I have a feeling they are doing it illegally.

[gloopy]

i like this topic

AT&T can do what they want, and for those of you who keep referring to your contract lol

did you know that in your contract RECEPTION is not guaranteed

[DickDomin]

Let's remember AT&T gave us unlimited to entice us to join their system.

So when any politician wants to decide they do not follow the rules your recommendation is roll over and belly up?

Cops want to beat citizens, just lie down and belly up?

Were you born in China or USSR in say the 50s?

I had to call AT&T more than 600 times in the last 4 years because their towers went down. Zero signal. and I have 5 phones. I have paid nearly $5,000 a year and half the time I could not make a phone call. This is PHONE not data which is even worse.

I know nearly 7 billion in profit each of the 1st three quarters in 2011. God brings tears to my eyes. AT&T execs going around naked, starving why they probably have to get phone service from Sprint.

Go look at their profits for the last 5 years. They need to invest in infrastructure and they would have more customers. Many people HAVE left AT&T. But likely they are losing all the newer people they abuse.

Yes smart phone use more data and iPhone users use more data than Android phone, mainly because android phones don't work as well. Yes I do know they have some great features and sizes iPhones do not have, but iPhones just flat out have more apps and they work better and therefore their users use more data.

AT&T should have let Cingular take over the cell business because Cingular knew how to run a cellphone business, which AT&T has NEVER known how to do. AND again I have friends inside both companies and they universally agree Cingular had a better corporate climate and worked better and that has degraded.

AT&T's solution is abuse loyal customers instead of doing their job of building a network that actually works.

"If you don't like it, then leave AT&T!"

Spoken like a true government official who will explain why They will be charging you more while giving you less, but giving themselves Pay Raises well beyond the rate of inflation.

[cmwade77]

About time. I think we should throttle AT&T's cash flow since they are such high consumers of dollars. Easiest way to throttle is for everyone on an unlimited plan to file in small claims court. They say there are 17M users still on it, that means if everyone sued for $800, AT&T would be out $13.6B plus all those attorney's fees.

After all, they wrote a contract saying we could not initiate a class action (something which I question if they can even do), so they have told us that we must all file in small claims!

Actually, attorney's are not allowed in small claims court, so it means they would have to send a representative from AT&T that is not a lawyer, which will cost more money in the time that they cannot work.

The problem here is that many cannot leave AT&T, especially since there is no good option that has the iPhone (if T-mobile ever gets it, that will change though).

For those that say you are still being given unlimited data, that is NOT true. You are now getting limited data, as unlimited means without limits or restrictions. This would mean that if you signed up for an "unlimited" data plan that tethering would not be against the rules and that they cannot slow down your speeds at any point. The only thing that they MIGHT be able to stop is if you are doing something illegal with the connection.