AT&T Starts Throttling Heavy iPhone Data Users To 2G Speeds

The worst thing about AT&T’s throttling is that there is no specific amount of data that notifies the user what constitutes the Top 5%. If you’re going to throttle the top data users, it’s important that users understand what “heavy usage” means to the company.

Heavy data users on AT&T’s network could always switch over to Sprint, which offers (and has constantly pushed) unlimited-everything on their network. But with analysts calling for the end of unlimited data for smartphone users on Sprint’s network, it looks like data usage will only shrink from here on out.

A few months ago, I deactivated my Sprint mobile hotspot when the company began to cap 3G and 4G data at 5GB a month. As someone who had used the hotspot as a replacement for home wireless, the device essentially had no further value to me.

While AT&T says that this decision would only affect jailbreakers, some people are complaining that they received this message after consuming as little as 2.5GB of data.

Something seems a little fishy to me.

Consumers The Biggest Losers In AT&T And T-Mobile Deal

In case you’ve been living under a rock, AT&T acquired T-Mobile today for $39 billion. Almost immediately after the announcement, tech writers and bloggers immediately identified winners and losers in the deal.

Om Malik from Gigaom thinks consumers are among many losers as a result of this acquisition.

Consumers. The biggest losers of this deal are going to be the consumers. While AT&T and T-Mobile are going to try to spin it as a good deal to combine wireless spectrum assets, the fact is, T-Mobile USA is now out of the market.

Consumers now essentially have a choice between three major carriers: Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. Do you think consumers are the biggest losers?