Call Kurtis: Is Your Unlimited Data Plan Really Unlimited?
DIXON (CBS13) - While navigating Los Angeles on a family trip, Michael Richards knew he relied much more than usual on his smartphone for things like directions.
"I thought I was unlimited," said Richards.
Richards has an unlimited data plan but he thinks AT&T labeled him a data hog when a text popped up reading "your data usage is near 5gb this month. Exceeding 5gb during this or future billing cycles may result in reduced data speeds."
"I feel that I've paid for that data and I should be able to use it," said Richards.
"Unlimited doesn't mean unlimited speed anymore," said CNET'S Bridget Carey.
Carey says even those with unlimited plans are getting their data slowed down if they're using more than the company wants them to use. It's something called data throttling.
"If you're in a busy area, you may be at such a crawl that you can't send a photo text message," said Carey.
But is that legal?
The Federal Trade Commission does not think so.
FTC is suing AT&T, claiming the company slowed speeds of customers with unlimited data by as much as 90-percent. The FTC's Chairperson Edith Ramirez said "unlimited, means unlimited."
AT&T spokesperson told us, "Customers may experience reduced speeds only when using data services at times when in an area where the network is experiencing congestion. Like other wireless companies, we manage our network resources to provide the best service possible for all of our customers."
"I would have never thought that I was a data hog," said Richards.
But he is learning to accept a new definition of the word "unlimited."
"I guess I don't have an unlimited plan, I mean that's the message I got from them," said Richards.
Just last week AT&T announced it won't start throttling customers until they hit 22-gigs a month. That's a 300 percent increase over what they had been doing.
In June, the Federal Communications Commission fined AT&T $100 million for not properly telling people about throttling before 2011. AT&T is fighting both that case and the one brought forward by the Federal Trade Commission.
Recent published reports say Sprint stopped slowing down data for its unlimited plan customers. And Verizon no longer offers unlimited plans, but some customers are already been grandfathered in.
AT&T FULL STATEMENT:
"We continue to believe the FTC does not have authority to bring suit against common carriers. This is an issue for the FCC to decide, and in fact the FCC is in the process of doing so. We have appealed the threshold issue of jurisdiction."
"Customers on an unlimited legacy data plan may experience reduced speeds only when using data services at times when in an area where the network is experiencing congestion. Like other wireless companies, we manage our network resources to provide the best service possible for all of our customers."
