As expected, AT&T announced plans today to begin throttling the bandwidth of its most egregious data hogs in a move that the company says will create a better experience for all of its customers. The change will take effect October 1, and only affects those customers with unlimited data plans who are among the top 5 percent of data users.
"We're taking a new measure to help address network congestion," the AT&T announcement reads, "a step that may reduce the data throughput speed experienced by a very small minority of smartphone customers who are on unlimited plans--those whose extraordinary level of data usage puts them in the top 5 percent of our heaviest data users in a billing period."
According to AT&T, these customers consume 12 times more data than the average. And they must be put down like the dogs that they are. Actually, AT&T didn't say that. But you get the idea.
"There will be no changes for the vast majority of customers," the announcement continues. "It's not how much time you spend using your device, it's what you do with it. You can send or receive thousands of emails, surf thousands of Web pages and watch hours of streaming video every month and not be in the top 5 percent of data users."