AT&T in an update tackled the multiple complaints swirling around its throttling practices. The change now only invokes throttling after a user pushes past what would be the cap on a limited plan, at 3GB for HSPA+ and below and 5GB for LTE. Throttling previously ramped up as soon as 2GB.
The actual throughput for service should be faster than before. Throttled users had often complained that they were effectively required to use Wi-Fi after speeds went far lower than 3G.
AT&T has contended that throttling was necessary as the top bracket of users, usually cited as around five percent, often used a disproportionately large amount of data and risked impacting the network that demanded throttling. Critics have usually shot back that the number of simultaneous users, not the activity of specific users, is what dictates performance issues.
Throttling is partly meant to steer users to capped plans, where AT&T can charge overage fees of $10 per gigabyte.
