T-Mobile has tried to make a reputation for itself lately as the most honest wireless carrier around… but the FCC just had to rap the so-called Uncarrier’s knuckles for lying to its customers about how fast their data connections were after they passed their monthly data caps.
Here’s the deal. When T-Mobile’s customers have exceeded their monthly “unlimited” data caps, they don’t get cut off entirely. Instead, their connections are throttled to just 128Kbps or 64Kbps, depending on their plan.
That’s not what got the FCC upset. What got the FCC upset was the fact that T-Mobile wasn’t allowing customers to see just how slow their throttled connections were. In fact, even after being throttled, speedtest apps would report that T-Mobile’s connection was working at full speed, because T-Mobile had actually built a system that made speedtesting apps and sites exempt from the throttling.
But that’s all changed. T-Mobile and the FCC have just announced a new agreement that will allow customers to know exactly how badly their speeds have been throttled.
“As part of the agreement, T-Mobile will send text messages to customers that will enable them to more easily get accurate speed information, place direct links to accurate speed tests on customer handsets, and revamp its website disclosures to provide clearer information about the speeds customers actually experience,” The FCC .
T-Mobile has 60 days to implement the agreement, sending text messages to any customers who hit their monthly data cap. Sounds “fair” to me: if T-Mobile is going to throttle supposedly “unlimited” customers, they should at least be transparent about it. What do you think?
Via: Ars Technica
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
7 responses to “FCC: T-Mobile can no longer lie about throttled data cap speeds”
I dropped AT&T after countless years, and switched to T-M when I upgraded to the 6. Service is by far the worst of the carriers in central NJ. I love the company and admire the CEO’s honesty (except for this crap), but were it not for wifi calling, I couldn’t use the phone at home or in my office. After just a month, I’m already ready to go back to AT&T, even having to abandon some of T-M’s much better features like wifi calling, included international texting, etc. It is a phone, after all, and pretty useless if it can’t be used as one.
That’s what you get when you believe their lies. As bad as AT&T could be, their service is great (4G & LTE coverage). You just gotta figure out a way to beat them in their own terms. ;)
Yeah, I got suckered in. Lost the unlimited data with AT&T, but I never went over 3 GB, so I can go back with a BYOD plan and still save money. The wifi calling *did* sound great on T-M though, but it also prohibits some of the Handoff/Continuity features of Yosemite. Ah well, lesson learned.
“T-Mobile can no longer lie about throttled data cap speeds”
Really?
Speedtest.net Ookla app is whitelisted from your monthly data allowance just like your Rdio, GoogleMusic, iTunes, Xbox. Is T-Mobile lying about your usage because they’re whitelisting the music streaming apps as well? What kind of sensationalist BS “click bait” title is this?
There are other Speedtest apps that you are free to download and use to test your speeds, T-Mobile isn’t “stopping” anyone from using them. WTF?
I use the tmobil hotspot prepaid, the throttling is okay compared to cell at&t. Been with at&t since 2006 only because I can grandfather my unlimited data.
Sad to hear. I have t-mobile unlimited. I use on average 9-10Gb of data per month. I’m never throttled. Service can be spotty here and there, but when you travel as much as I do, the trade off for free international data and text is well worth it for me since my bill is half what it was when I was with verizon… Try roaming in Mexico with Verizon. Their coverage is non existent once you go very far south of the boarder or outside of TJ or Mexico City.
This author knew nothing about T-Mobile’s unlimited data vs unlimited full speed data. My Comcast Wi-Fi is so unreliable, I just use my phone and I average 100 gigs a month. I still pay just $80 for service and almost always get 30-50 mbps speeds in my apartment near downtown Detroit. I love T-Mobile so much, I just bought a shirt like Legere wears.