AT&T has confirmed its policy of throtting Internet speeds for unlimited data plan subscribers who exceed a certain level of data usage every month.
On an official support page, the carrier says users who go over 3GB of data in a month (or 5GB for 4G LTE smartphone owners) will see their speeds decrease for the rest of the billing cycle. The company is now sending out warnings via text message to users who approach the 3GB cap.
Although unlimited users can technically still use as much data as they want, they'll have to do it at reduced speeds that users say make even basic web browsing unusable.
AT&T is using the move to push subscribers toward more expensive tiered data plans, which top out at 3GB and 5GB, but don't come with throttling when the limit is exceeded. In their texted warnings to unlimited users, they're also recommending those users switch to wi-fi where possible, to ease strain on the network.
The crackdown on unlimited subscribers is especially interesting considering that a recent study found that tiered data plan users actually use more data per month than those on unlimited plans.
