“The FCC said that it is fining AT&T $100 million for misleading mobile customers about its “unlimited” data plans,” David Goldman reports for CNNMoney.

“AT&T subjected its unlimited data plan customers to significantly slower speeds after they used more than 3 GB of 3G data or 5 GB of 4G data in a single billing cycle. AT&T then failed to adequately notify its customers that their speeds would be throttled after they crossed a certain data threshold, the FCC said,” Goldman reports. “AT&T stopped offering unlimited data plans to new customers in 2009, but some customers have been grandfathered into the old plans. In 2011, AT&T instituted a ‘maximum bit rate’ policy, capping speeds at about a half megabit per second for heavy data users (compared to around 15 Mbps to 20 Mbps for typical 4G download speeds, the same as a home broadband connection).”

“AT&T says it will fight the fine,” Goldman reports. “‘We will vigorously dispute the FCC’s assertions,’ said Emily Edmonds, spokeswoman for AT&T. ‘The FCC has specifically identified this practice as a legitimate and reasonable way to manage network resources for the benefit of all customers, and has known for years that all of the major carriers use it. We have been fully transparent with our customers, providing notice in multiple ways and going well beyond the FCC’s disclosure requirements.'”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: AT&T unlimited data customers, has your data been throttled?

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