Mobile carrier T-Mobile has discretely added a new 21 gigabyte 'soft cap' to their 4G LTE Simple Choice plans which are advertised as 'unlimited'. Now customers subscribed to these plans may have their network speeds throttled once they exceed the 21GB threshold.
T-Mobile news blog TmoNews picked up on the new policy when readers notified the site to this new disclaimer which appears in fine print on the plan's official description on the T-Mobile website:
"*Unlimited 4G LTE customers who use more than 21 GB of data in a bill cycle will have their data usage de-prioritized compared to other customers for that bill cycle at locations and times when competing network demands occur, resulting in relatively slower speeds."
TmoNews notes that the overwhelming majority of subscribers will probably not feel any difference. But in extreme cases, such as in extremely congested coverage areas, those who go over the cap may experience throttling to speeds as low as 1Mbps. T Mobile claims that only 3% of its subscriber base exceeds 21GB of data each month so the effects should be minimal.
Tech Blog Android Headlines slammed T-Mobile for the move saying:
"This "un-unlimited" data is simply unfair. Paying $80 per month for something which is merely advertised as "unlimited" is a mere method of putting wool over the people's eye. Customers who shell out this $80 may suffer due to data hogs in their area, which is again unfair."
The move comes at a rather controversial time for Mobile carriers and their so called 'unlimited plans.' Last week the Federal Communications Comission (FCC) slapped T-Mobile's competitor AT&T with a $100M fine for failing to adequately inform customers about the true meaning of the word unlimited. The nine figure sum is the highest ever levied against a telecom.
