AT&T Wireless To Throttle Unlimited 3G Users

Now their hitting close to home – since I'm one of the lucky ones that has an unlimited data plan on my iPad.

According to an announcement released today, AT&T Wireless is going to be throttling data over their 3G network for those heavy unlimited plan users.

In a move they call to “address network congestion” here is what AT&T is doing:

Starting October 1, smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle. Before you are affected, we will provide multiple notices, including a grace period.

The amount of data usage of our top 5 percent of heaviest users varies from month to month, based on the usage of others and the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband services. To rank among the top 5 percent, you have to use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period.

But even as we pursue this additional measure, it will not solve our spectrum shortage and network capacity issues. Nothing short of completing the T-Mobile merger will provide additional spectrum capacity to address these near term challenges.

OK – AT&T, football season is about to start and I tend to do a lot of streaming, and I expect even more this year since I've started a fantasy football league. Hopefully this doesn't adversely affect my user experience.

By the way – this does not affect those that use WiFi, it's only related to 3G connectivity.