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Verizon to start pushing highest unlimited data users to tiered plans or cutting them off

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Verizon has never had a good relationship with the few customers still holding on to its unlimited data plans. The company has been trying over the past few years to get those customers to upgrade to newer, restricted plans, but despite its best efforts, many customer still remain on these plans. For some users this is fine, but Verizon is sick and tired of those using “an extraordinary amount of data” on their unlimited plans and will soon disconnect those users.


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AT&T to increase price of grandfathered unlimited plans in February (Updated)

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AT&T subscribers who previously had unlimited data plans back in the iPhone 3G era and have managed to hang onto that plan are in for their first price increase in seven years, a source with knowledge of the matter has informed 9to5Google.

Update: AT&T has now publicly announced the change. Additional information has been added below.


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Price hike coming for few remaining Verizon customers on unlimited data plans

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Verizon customers still clinging on to their grandfathered unlimited data plans will shortly face a $20 price hike. The wireless carrier confirmed to CNET that it plans to raise the price of its old unlimited plan, meaning grandfathered customers will face a monthly data plan charge of $49. The price increase will take place once each individual contract expires…


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T-Mobile to clamp down on network abusers, booting them down to lowest Simple Choice plan

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T-Mobile has announced that it’s going to seriously clamp down on any users using unauthorized methods to get around its tethering cap. Those caught using more data than they should be on the highest tier, unlimited Simple Choice plan will be warned to stop, before being moved down to the entry-level plan. This move is aimed specifically at smartphone users who deliberately break T-Mo’s terms and conditions using workarounds to conceal their tethering usage.

The magenta carrier published an updated FAQ page on its support site stating that some customers have been blowing way past the 7GB tethering limit on the highest Simple Choice plan. Some using as much as 2TB (2000GB) of data on their mobile plan. Its biggest concern is the experience created for others. With people using the network so heavily, it can ruin the network performance for everyone else. The carrier has developed a software to detect those using workarounds and will initially warn users. If they carry on abusing the network, then they get moved on to a plan with just 1GB data (including tethering).

We’re first warning these customers that they’re illegally using more data than they bought. We hope folks will stop on their own so they can keep their current plan. These customers are on an unlimited 4G LTE smartphone plan that includes a set amount of Smartphone Mobile HotSpot data, but they’re using workarounds to make their tethering look like smartphone usage which helps them use significantly more 4G LTE tethering than their plan includes.

Once they’re on a plan with a set amount of 4G LTE data, it won’t matter what method they use for Smartphone Mobile HotSpot. Once they use their 4G LTE data bucket, they’ll continue to be able to use data at reduced speeds and still never worry about overages.

T-Mobile will start communicating these changes with its customers from today and notes that only a very small percentage of its customers have been discovered to be concealing their tethering. Despite it being a very small fraction of the customer base, it has a “disproportionately negative impact” on the experience for everyone else.

FTC suing AT&T for throttling unlimited data user speeds, carrier calls claims “baseless”

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[tweet https://twitter.com/ftc/status/527143324269170688]

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced that it is suing AT&T for “deceptive and unfair data throttling”. The FTC’s announcement seems to target AT&T’s practice of lowering data transfer speeds for customers with unlimited data plans versus customers with tiered data plans now offered. From the FTC’s press release:

“AT&T promised its customers ‘unlimited’ data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “The issue here is simple: ‘unlimited’ means unlimited.”

AT&T has called the FTC’s allegations baseless adding that the carrier has been “completely transparent” with its subscribers.


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Verizon to offer double data on select service plans, won’t throttle unlimited customers after all

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After watching its competitors loosen up their data rates, Verizon has decided to get in on the action. Starting tomorrow the carrier will begin offering increased data allowances to customers committed to its More Everything service plans at no additional cost. Subscribers signed up for Big Red’s $110 12GB data plan will be bumped up to 15GB, while the carrier’s $130 16GB monthly setup will jump to 30GB.


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Sprint announces new $60 unlimited service plan

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Breaking up is hard to do. Even if you were never officially together in the first place. Earlier today, T-Mobile announced a new promotion specifically targeting Sprint customers and in turn the Kansas-based carrier has announced a new plan for individual accounts and guess who it’s being directed towards? Starting tomorrow, August 22nd, new and existing Sprint customers can sign up for unlimited talk, text and data for just $60 per month.


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T-Mobile offering Sprint, AT&T and Verizon castaways one year of free unlimited LTE data

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After an unsuccessful union with Sprint, T-Mobile is going after its former suitor’s customers, as well as its other competitors’ subcribers in the wireless world. Today, the magenta-colored carrier announced an aggressive promotional campaign that offers a free year of LTE data to castaways from AT&T, Verizon and of course Sprint.


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T-Mobile to throttle customers using unlimited data plans for peer-to-peer file sharing

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In the world of wireless, words like “unlimited data” have their restrictions if you take the time to read the fine print of a carrier’s service agreement and it appears that T-Mobile is not exempt from such practices. An alleged internal memo obtained by TmoNews details how the company will address customers suspected of using its network to access peer-to-peer file sharing services.


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