American telecom operators stop unlimited mobile internet consumption

AT&T confirmed it will begin throttling the heaviest data users of its wireless network, starting October 1st. The new policy will only affect a small minority of its customers, namely only subscribers that have an unlimited data plan. The new approach is designed to improve the usability of the network for the rest of its users.

Throttling means the access provider will slow down the connection of a device to keep it from consuming more data. AT&T said it would send several advance notices to the subscribers concerned and offer a grace period to its heaviest users before throttling them. The unlucky customers will have their speeds restored at the beginning of the next billing cycle and until they reach their 'limit' again.

Due to the increasing use of bandwidth-consuming smartphones, the network is clogging. To maintain the quality of service, AT&T has to deal with the explosive growth in data usage and this is their way of coping with it. AT&T is not the first telecom operator in the US to announce such measures. The American branch of T-Mobile will do the same. The message from these operators is clear: the era of all-you-can-eat data is nearly over.

Source: cnet.com