AT&T Says Throttling Policy Isn’t as Bad as You Think

Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, said that as of last summer, the top 5 percent of AT&T’s heaviest data users have typically used 2 gigabytes or more per month. Siegel said that even if you do exceed 2 gigabytes of data usage and qualify as one of the top 5 percent, that doesn’t absolutely mean you’re going to be throttled.

AT&T will only reduce speeds for the top 5 percent of users in areas where network capacity or spectrum is insufficient, he said. In other words, throttling is done on a case-by-case basis, not based on a hard number, according to AT&T’s claims. “There’s a very good chance you wouldn’t be slowed,” Siegel said. He added that in the last month, less than 1 percent of AT&T smartphone customers were affected by the policy. AT&T’s throttling policy only applies to customers with unlimited data plans. The wireless company stopped offering an unlimited data plan in 2010; those who had already signed up for one before the cut-off had the option of being grandfathered in.