Chevrolet has announced today that they are offering a new unlimited plan for U.S. Chevrolet owners who have an in-vehicle OnStar 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot. The unlimited option will also be available standard for all new Chevrolet models. The new plan is priced at $20/month with service provided by AT&T.
AT&T subscribers who previously had unlimited data plans back in the iPhone 3G era and have managed to hang onto that plan are in for their first price increase in seven years, a source with knowledge of the matter has informed 9to5Mac.
Update: AT&T has now publicly announced the change. Additional information has been added below.
Verizon iPhone users still clinging on to their grandfathered unlimited data plans will shortly face a $20 price hike. The wireless carrier confirmed to CNET that it plans to raise the price of its old unlimited plan, meaning grandfathered customers will face a monthly data plan charge of $49. The price increase will take place once each individual contract expires…
T-Mobile has announced that it’s going to seriously clamp down on any users using unauthorized methods to get around its tethering cap. Those caught using more data than they should be on the highest tier, unlimited Simple Choice plan will be warned to stop, before being moved down to the entry-level plan. This move is aimed specifically at smartphone users who deliberately break T-Mo’s terms and conditions using workarounds to conceal their tethering usage.
The magenta carrier published an updated FAQ page on its support site stating that some customers have been blowing way past the 7GB tethering limit on the highest Simple Choice plan, some using as much as 2TB (2000GB) of data on their mobile plan. Its biggest concern is the experience created for others. With people using the network so heavily, it can ruin the network performance for everyone else. The carrier has developed software to detect those using workarounds and will initially warn users. If they carry on abusing the network, then they get moved on to a plan with just 1GB data (including tethering).
We’re first warning these customers that they’re illegally using more data than they bought. We hope folks will stop on their own so they can keep their current plan. These customers are on an unlimited 4G LTE smartphone plan that includes a set amount of Smartphone Mobile HotSpot data, but they’re using workarounds to make their tethering look like smartphone usage which helps them use significantly more 4G LTE tethering than their plan includes.
Once they’re on a plan with a set amount of 4G LTE data, it won’t matter what method they use for Smartphone Mobile HotSpot. Once they use their 4G LTE data bucket, they’ll continue to be able to use data at reduced speeds and still never worry about overages.
T-Mobile will start communicating these changes with its customers from today and notes that only a very small percentage of its customers have been discovered to be concealing their tethering. Despite it being a very small fraction of the customer base, it has a “disproportionately negative impact” on the experience for everyone else.
It seems AT&T thinks throttling the data speeds of customers without telling them about it isn’t such a big deal. The Federal Trade Commission sued AT&T back in 2014 for “deceptive and unfair data throttling” after the company imposed caps on unlimited data contracts, beyond which it reduced their data speeds by almost 90%. The Federal Communications Commission joined the party last month, fining AT&T $100 million – and The Hill reports that the carrier now wants that fine reduced to just $16,000.
The Commission’s findings that consumers and competition were harmed are devoid of factual support and wholly implausible,” the company wrote in its filing. “Its ‘moderate’ forfeiture penalty of $100 million is plucked out of thin air, and the injunctive sanctions it proposes are beyond the Commission’s authority.”
The FTC had stated that it could legally have imposed fines of $16,000 per affected consumer, but that would have resulted in an “astronomic” fine, so chose to limit the total penalty to one large enough to deter future violations. AT&T had originally claimed that it was doing nothing wrong, but Ars Technica notes that the company amended its policy in May so that throttling was applied only when the network was congested.
AT&T has not offered unlimited data plans to new customers for some years, but has a small-ish group of customers who remain on grandfathered plans which remain valid for as long as the customer retains the plan.
Apple last month removed subsidies from both AT&T and Verizon iPhones, moving to plans where customers pay the full cost of the phone on an installment plan.
Photo: Re/code
[Updated with AT&T statement below the fold…]
The Federal Communications Commission announced today that it plans to fine AT&T $100 million for throttling data speeds for customers with unlimited data plans. In its complaint, the FCC said the carrier “deprived consumers of sufficient information to make informed choices about their broadband service” which hurt competition…
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Apple today has informed employees of significant changes to how iPhones are sold via AT&T and Verizon Wireless, according to sources. As we reported last month, Apple has indicated that iPhones sold via AT&T at both physical Apple Retail Stores and on the Apple Online Store will move exclusively to Next financing plans this month, in June. This means that a customer who wants to buy a new iPhone on AT&T will no longer be able to do so on a subsidy…
[tweet https://twitter.com/ftc/status/527143324269170688]
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced that it is suing AT&T for “deceptive and unfair data throttling”. The FTC’s announcement seems to target AT&T’s practice of lowering data transfer speeds for customers with unlimited data plans versus customers with tiered data plans now offered. From the FTC’s press release:
“AT&T promised its customers ‘unlimited’ data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “The issue here is simple: ‘unlimited’ means unlimited.”
AT&T has called the FTC’s allegations baseless adding that the carrier has been “completely transparent” with its subscribers.
After watching its competitors loosen up their data rates, Verizon has decided to get in on the action. Starting tomorrow the carrier will begin offering increased data allowances to customers committed to its More Everything service plans at no additional cost. Subscribers signed up for Big Red’s $110 12GB data plan will be bumped up to 15GB, while the carrier’s $130 16GB monthly setup will jump to 30GB.
Breaking up is hard to do. Even if you were never officially together in the first place. Earlier today, T-Mobile announced a new promotion specifically targeting Sprint customers and in turn the Kansas-based carrier has announced a new plan for individual accounts and guess who it’s being directed towards? Starting tomorrow, August 22nd, new and existing Sprint customers can sign up for unlimited talk, text and data for just $60 per month.
After an unsuccessful union with Sprint, T-Mobile is going after its former suitor’s customers, as well as its other competitors’ subcribers in the wireless world. Today, the magenta-colored carrier announced an aggressive promotional campaign that offers a free year of LTE data to castaways from AT&T, Verizon and of course Sprint.
In the world of wireless, words like “unlimited data” have their restrictions if you take the time to read the fine print of a carrier’s service agreement and it appears that T-Mobile is not exempt from such practices. An alleged internal memo obtained by TmoNews details how the company will address customers suspected of using its network to access peer-to-peer file sharing services.
UPDATE: As people noted in the comments, the unlimited $69 a month data plan is really a $79 value because Sprint threw a $10 tax. The $10 smartphone surcharge is also applied to the $99 plan. Let’s not forget about the obligatory $36 activation fee, too. Also, the fine print on Sprint’s web site mentions a 15 percent surcharge and notes that the offer ends October 30, 2011.
Sprint has confirmed with Phone Scoop that they will be offering an unlimited data plan alongside the iPhone 4S. When it goes on sale next week, users can pickup a $69 a month unlimited data plan which includes 450 voice minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling, or a $99 plan which includes both unlimited voice and data. Sprint will be the only US carrier offering an unlimited plan, after AT&T and Verizon dropped theirs, making the deal very tempting. Sprint will also offer the hotspot tethering service but it will have a 5GB cap on that.
Sprint will also sell the iPhone 4 8GB but only AT&T will still sell the free iPhone 3GS.
Meanwhile for those of you interested, SprintFeed has gotten their hands on Sprint’s internal press release for the iPhone 4S. Interestingly, Sprint still doesn’t have the iPhone 4S listed on their site. Check it out after the break: