AT&T; on Thursday put limits on its Unlimited Data plans, slowing speeds for 3G and 4G customers who exceed 3 GB in a billing cycle and capping 4G LTE customers at 5 GB.
On a support page explaining the move, the carrier stressed that "you'll still be able to use as much data as you want. That won't change."
[More from Mashable: Upset About AT&T; Throttling Your Data? You May Be in for a Payday]
Previously, AT&T; had only slowed the speeds of customers who were in the top 5% of their respective markets, a practice known as throttling. Despite the changes, AT&T; insists that 95% of smartphone users won't be throttled. The change came about because "customers had told us that more clarity would be helpful," an AT&T; rep says.
Those that are affected will receive a text message explaining that their usage is near 3 GB (or 5GB for LTE users). Exceeding that threshold "will result in reduced data speeds, though you'll still be able to email and surf the web."
[More from Mashable: Your Bandwidth Will Be Throttled. Here’s Why]
AT&T; isn't disclosing how fast speeds will run for users who have been throttled.
Citing the strain on its network wrought by data-hungry iPhones, AT&T; began throttling data for its top 5% of users last month, a practice also followed by Verizon. (Sprint, meanwhile, throttles just the top 1% of data hogs.)
Predictably, many AT&T; customers have been riled by the move, citing the plan's claim to "unlimited data."
Though AT&T;'s contract forbids such users from joining in a class-action suit, a California man last week successfully sued AT&T; in small claims court, receiving a judgment worth $850.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, geoadventures
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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