AT&T has updated its maximum bit rate reduced speed threshold trigger from 5 gigabytes to 22 gigabytes
The company had been telling unlimited data plan users that if they exceeded 5 GB of data per month, they might experience "reduced data speeds and increased latency during periods of congestion."
In its disclosure statement online, the company said it had recently made a change and that slowing speeds or increased latency would only be triggered after exceeding 22 gigs in a billing period and only during peak usage periods. AT&T also said it would give customers a heads up when they had reached 75% of that threshold (16.5 GB) so they could "adjust" their usage to avoid the potential impact.
AT&T does not limit usage, or charge more for exceeding the threshhold.
In June, the FCC proposed fining AT&T $100 million (http://www.multichannel.com/news/mobile/fcc-proposes-100-million-fine-ag...)--AT&T is fighting it--for billing plans as unlimited when they were slowing speeds for some customers who reached those maximum thresholds. The FCC said that violated Open Internet transparency rules.
AT&T countered that it had provided notice of the practice-- which it pointed out the FCC had said was reasonable management--in multiple ways and going well beyond the FCC’s disclosure requirements.”
AT&T no longer offers unlimited plans, so the change only applies to grandfathered unlimited plans.
