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AT&T hastening demise of unlimited data plans
NEW YORK -(MarketWatch)- AT&T Inc. is taking a step closer to doing away with unlimited-mobile data-plans.
Under a new policy, AT&T will slow download speeds for unlimited 3G and 4G smartphone customers who exceed 3 gigabytes and 4G LTE users who exceed 5 gigabytes of data in a given month. AT&T had previously been slowing speeds, or throttling, customers who were in the top 5% of data users in their respective market.
AT&T has been trying to manage capacity on its network in the face of heavy data consumption by Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone users and a limited supply of wireless airwaves, or spectrum. The carrier is spending billions to build out a new fourth-generation mobile-broadband network that can handle more data traffic.
A spokesman said the new guidelines were necessary because of confusion among unlimited customers over when their download speeds would be slowed. He declined to say by how much the speeds would be decreased. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/att-hastening-demise-of-unlimited-data-plans-2012-03-01
