AT&T began warning bandwidth hogs last year on its unlimited wireless plan that they may face reduced speeds if they ranked among the top 5 percent of the heaviest data users.
Dallas-based AT&T, the second-largest U.S. wireless operator, said it would issue multiple notices before it would reduce a customer's data speeds. Now, reports are surfacing that customers are getting whacked with lower speeds after consuming as little data as 2.1 GB.
AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel acknowledged to V2M that customers could receive a notice for consuming such an amount of data, although he characterized a consumer of 2.1 GB as a "power user."
"I'm certain those folks received notices," Siegel said, referring to media reports of slower speeds.
The amount of data that places an AT&T customer in the top 5 percent will "vary from place to place and depend on local conditions," Siegel said.
AT&T said last year that the top 5 percent of heaviest data users consume, on average, 12 times more data than the average of all smartphone data customers. If AT&T is lowering speeds for 2.1 GB of data, that suggests customers in those areas on average are using one-twelfth of that bandwidth.
On its website, AT&T suggests that a user who surfs the Web, sends emails, downloads their favorite apps and visits social networks like Facebook would be well suited for the carrier's 300 MB plan for $20 per month. AT&T also currently offers a 3 GB plan for $30 per month. That offering is better suited for individuals who stream music and videos, share large multimedia presentations and otherwise consume a huge amount of data.
"Few very customers would likely exceed" 3GB, Siegel said.
In June 2010, AT&T eliminated unlimited data plans for future subscribers and unveiled tiered data packages that offer a certain amount of data each month for a specific price. However, AT&T has grandfathered in customers who choose to remain on the $30 per month unlimited data plan. The carrier hasn't revealed the number of customers who remain on the unlimited plan.
AT&T previously offered tiered data packages for $15 per month (200 MB) and $25 per month (2 GB). AT&T customers who previously subscribed to those plans have the option to remain on those packages as well.
Customers on the unlimited plan who find themselves in the top 5 percent of data users will face lower speeds for the remainder of their monthly billing cycle.
Siegel didn't say what the reduced speeds are, but conceded that they are "slower than what you are used to obviously."
If a customer isn't happy with the lower speeds, he can move off the "unlimited" plan and upgrade to the 3 GB offering.
AT&T and other wireless operators are facing increasing pressures on their networks as the number of customers with iPhones and other sophisticated handsets balloons. AT&T revealed last year that its mobile data volumes soared by 8,000 percent from 2007 through 2010.
AT&T sold 9.4 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2011, and nearly 57 percent of the company's 69.3 million postpaid subscribers had such devices at the end of the year. The portion of smartphone customers who leave AT&T is significantly lower than for other postpaid subscribers, the company said in its 4Q earnings announcement. That fact gives AT&T ample incentive to do what it can to keep its smartphone customers happy.
