The Federal Communications Commission has been on a bit of a streak lately. After shutting down the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger an...
The Federal Communications Commission has been on a bit of a streak lately. After shutting down the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger and implementing net neutrality, the agency has now slapped AT&T with a record fine. At issue is AT&T’s treatment of customers who signed up under unlimited plans, but were then throttled harshly. The FCC found that AT&T was in the wrong and levied a whopping $100 million fine.
This investigation has been ongoing for several years, ever since the FCC started receiving complaints from customers following AT&T’s 2011 policy change. It was common practice in the old days to offer unlimited mobile data for about $30 per month. As speeds increased, AT&T decided to begin offering capped plans. It didn’t force grandfathered unlimited users to switch, but it slowed their data speeds dramatically when they used 3-5GB in a billing cycle.
According to the FCC investigation, the throttled speeds fell so far short of AT&T’s advertised speeds that it was misleading consumers. The throttled speeds are only a few hundred kilobits per second, which is too slow for SD video streaming or even low-quality Facetime calls. That can even be iffy for streaming music if the connection isn’t consistent. AT&T advertises 5-12Mbps on its LTE network.
AT&T has already shot back with a harshly worded statement saying its throttling practices were “for the benefit of all customers.” It also points out the FCC has allowed throttling of unlimited plans as a reasonable method of network management. Although, I would point out soft caps are often included in the terms of the currently offered carrier plans. The affected AT&T customers signed up under truly unlimited plans, and that’s probably why the FCC is coming down so hard.
Customers won’t see any of this money, though. As a federal fine, the cash will go straight to the US treasury.
