With AT&T Throttling Out Of Control, Ma Bell Blames You And Me
February 15, 2012
I've been an AT&T customer for a long time, and I've never really had anything to complain about. Of course, I chose Ma Bell out of necessity (no other carriers provide reliable service in my area), and, until something remedies that, I've got no reason to switch.
But that doesn't mean I like this throttling nonsense AT&T's been pulling lately. You aware of this? Here's what's happening: Grandfathered unlimited data plans are being gimped by a new policy that initiates throttling (and we're talking down to sub-EDGE speeds, here) once users amass roughly 2 GB in monthly traffic. Yep, AT&T is punishing its most loyal, long-standing clientele by crippling their data speeds -- for which they pay $30 per month -- long before new users reach the cutoff of the company's recently-introduced, equally-priced 3 GB plan.
To make matters worse, reports BGR, AT&T is basically telling customers to "blame yourselves." Instead of apologizing and bumping up its throttling cutoff to better reflect current plans, senior EVP of network operations John Donovan skirted the implied bad business and instead touted his brand's commitment to expanding its umbrella:
AT&T has invested more than $95 billion in its wireless and wireline networks over the past five years. In 2011, we invested $20 billion in our networks, and completed more than 150,000 wireless network improvements. And we expect to invest about $20 billion again in 2012 with a focus on wireless, including more 4G LTE deployment, the roll-out of distributed antenna systems in key venues across the U.S. and adding even more AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network.Way to go, John. You spent all that money -- again, earned off your most loyal customers -- to expand a network that can't won't even support them? Hogwash! The second I move out of this neighborhood...