Here is suicide note from our beloved AT&T.. Instead of fixing their own problems and giving bold statements that they will take care of old commitments by upgrading and fixing their system they are not only running away from the problem but also telling customers that they are stupid and dumb to stick to them even now..
This stupid and dumb category customer includes your beloved "Shai" as well!!! I was hoping that sooner or later AT&T will fix their mess and come back to senses and fix network and call drop outs. Alas, these type of new statements only gives me shudders from the company whose network is deteriorating day by day and on top of it, instead of fixing it they are committing to suicide.
I think, going forward, I will stop buying these contract phones on subsidy and later on give them premium every month. I will buy unlocked world phones and and hopefully I can easily switch my carriers in response to such stupid and suicidal statements from them..
I hope I don't have to write RIP blog about AT&T soon..
“If throttling back stops you from using the service, then you’re not really getting the unlimited data you contracted for,” said Jeff Blyskal, senior editor of Consumer Reports.
AT&T introduced unlimited data plans when it joined with Apple to launch the original iPhone in 2007. The unlimited plans were a way to address one of the obstacles to consumer adoption of smartphones — the fear they might see sky-high charges if they didn’t closely monitor their data, said Charles Golvin, an analyst with technology research firm Forrester.
But with the soaring popularity of the iPhone, AT&T soon found its network overwhelmed with data traffic and complaints from customers about dropped calls, slow data speeds or inaccessible service. Partly in response, AT&T in June 2010 introduced data plans that explicitly limited consumers’ usage, affecting the plans of all new smartphone and tablet customers. But the company allowed older subscribers on its unlimited plans to retain them even if they bought new phones.
The company’s move to make the data caps explicit for unlimited subscribers is its “next step to try to contend with those recalcitrant customers,” Golvin said. The company appears to be trying to strike a balance, he said, attempting to “not let heavy users overrun their capacity and still (deliver) on the promise of unlimited data.”
But AT&T should have known it couldn’t deliver on its promise of unlimited data without limiting such users, Blyskal said. And it could have solved the problem by limiting the number of smartphones it sold, he added.
“Consumers were at a disadvantage,” he said. “They were promised one thing and it doesn’t appear that they’re going to get it.”
One problem with data caps and throttling is that they don’t directly address the problem they seek to solve, said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a senior vice president at Media Access Project, a public interest law firm specializing in telecommunications law. The capacity constraints that plague the wireless networks tend to affect them at particular times of the day or in particular places. But the data caps say nothing about when or where consumers use data, Schwartzman noted. Even when someone’s usage is throttled, they could still be taking up space on the network during key times.
“There is strong evidence that slowing down data delivery does not significantly reduce spectrum usage,” he said. Worse, the data caps discourage wireless operators from directly addressing the problem by adding capacity, Schwartzman said. And by discouraging consumers from using their mobile gadgets, they discourage app innovation, he said.
“This is creating a less useful wireless Internet,” Schwartzman said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This stupid and dumb category customer includes your beloved "Shai" as well!!! I was hoping that sooner or later AT&T will fix their mess and come back to senses and fix network and call drop outs. Alas, these type of new statements only gives me shudders from the company whose network is deteriorating day by day and on top of it, instead of fixing it they are committing to suicide.
I think, going forward, I will stop buying these contract phones on subsidy and later on give them premium every month. I will buy unlocked world phones and and hopefully I can easily switch my carriers in response to such stupid and suicidal statements from them..
I hope I don't have to write RIP blog about AT&T soon..
EXPLOSION IN CONTENT
AT&T caps ‘unlimited’ data plans
Wireless carrier plans to markedly slow access once subscribers exceed 3 gigabytes on the 3Gnetwork
By Troy Wolverton
twolverton@mercurynews.com
AT&T on Wednesday spelled out the limits on its so-called unlimited wireless data plans, which are legacies of the company’s effort to lure early iPhone customers.
The wireless carrier announced it would cap data usage by subscribers to these unlimited plans at 3 gigabytes on its 3G network or 5 gigabytes over its new LTE network. AT&T plans to markedly slow data access to customers who exceed the caps.
Already the company was slowing service to customers whose data consumption was in the top 5 percent of all users. But it had left vague where exactly it was drawing the line on data use, and some users complained that the caps for customers of the nominally unlimited plans were below those of AT&T’s more recent metered plans.
The official cap on 3G usage under the $30-a-month unlimited data plan is now in line with AT&T’s midrange metered plan, which also costs $30 a month.
AT&T said in a statement it was announcing the limits to give unlimited customers “clarity” about when they would hit the limits. It said it needed to impose the limits to better manage the traffic on its network, and noted that subscribers of the unlimited service can continue to consume an unlimited amount of data even after they hit the cap, albeit at a much reduced rate.
“Because spectrum is limited and data usage continues to soar, we manage our network this way to be as fair as possible and so we can provide the best possible mobile broadband experience to everyone,” the company said.
But some customers have complained that the throttling effort has made their service significantly worse. Once they’ve exceeded the caps, loading Web pages and even email becomes painfully slow, and data-intensive tasks such as watching streaming video become impossible.
Last week, a Ventura County Superior Court judge awarded $850 to an AT&T customer who sued the company in Small Claims Court, complaining that because of the data caps, he wasn’t getting the unlimited service the company promised.
AT&T caps ‘unlimited’ data plans
Wireless carrier plans to markedly slow access once subscribers exceed 3 gigabytes on the 3Gnetwork
By Troy Wolverton
twolverton@mercurynews.com
AT&T on Wednesday spelled out the limits on its so-called unlimited wireless data plans, which are legacies of the company’s effort to lure early iPhone customers.
The wireless carrier announced it would cap data usage by subscribers to these unlimited plans at 3 gigabytes on its 3G network or 5 gigabytes over its new LTE network. AT&T plans to markedly slow data access to customers who exceed the caps.
Already the company was slowing service to customers whose data consumption was in the top 5 percent of all users. But it had left vague where exactly it was drawing the line on data use, and some users complained that the caps for customers of the nominally unlimited plans were below those of AT&T’s more recent metered plans.
The official cap on 3G usage under the $30-a-month unlimited data plan is now in line with AT&T’s midrange metered plan, which also costs $30 a month.
AT&T said in a statement it was announcing the limits to give unlimited customers “clarity” about when they would hit the limits. It said it needed to impose the limits to better manage the traffic on its network, and noted that subscribers of the unlimited service can continue to consume an unlimited amount of data even after they hit the cap, albeit at a much reduced rate.
“Because spectrum is limited and data usage continues to soar, we manage our network this way to be as fair as possible and so we can provide the best possible mobile broadband experience to everyone,” the company said.
But some customers have complained that the throttling effort has made their service significantly worse. Once they’ve exceeded the caps, loading Web pages and even email becomes painfully slow, and data-intensive tasks such as watching streaming video become impossible.
Last week, a Ventura County Superior Court judge awarded $850 to an AT&T customer who sued the company in Small Claims Court, complaining that because of the data caps, he wasn’t getting the unlimited service the company promised.
“If throttling back stops you from using the service, then you’re not really getting the unlimited data you contracted for,” said Jeff Blyskal, senior editor of Consumer Reports.
AT&T introduced unlimited data plans when it joined with Apple to launch the original iPhone in 2007. The unlimited plans were a way to address one of the obstacles to consumer adoption of smartphones — the fear they might see sky-high charges if they didn’t closely monitor their data, said Charles Golvin, an analyst with technology research firm Forrester.
But with the soaring popularity of the iPhone, AT&T soon found its network overwhelmed with data traffic and complaints from customers about dropped calls, slow data speeds or inaccessible service. Partly in response, AT&T in June 2010 introduced data plans that explicitly limited consumers’ usage, affecting the plans of all new smartphone and tablet customers. But the company allowed older subscribers on its unlimited plans to retain them even if they bought new phones.
The company’s move to make the data caps explicit for unlimited subscribers is its “next step to try to contend with those recalcitrant customers,” Golvin said. The company appears to be trying to strike a balance, he said, attempting to “not let heavy users overrun their capacity and still (deliver) on the promise of unlimited data.”
But AT&T should have known it couldn’t deliver on its promise of unlimited data without limiting such users, Blyskal said. And it could have solved the problem by limiting the number of smartphones it sold, he added.
“Consumers were at a disadvantage,” he said. “They were promised one thing and it doesn’t appear that they’re going to get it.”
One problem with data caps and throttling is that they don’t directly address the problem they seek to solve, said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a senior vice president at Media Access Project, a public interest law firm specializing in telecommunications law. The capacity constraints that plague the wireless networks tend to affect them at particular times of the day or in particular places. But the data caps say nothing about when or where consumers use data, Schwartzman noted. Even when someone’s usage is throttled, they could still be taking up space on the network during key times.
“There is strong evidence that slowing down data delivery does not significantly reduce spectrum usage,” he said. Worse, the data caps discourage wireless operators from directly addressing the problem by adding capacity, Schwartzman said. And by discouraging consumers from using their mobile gadgets, they discourage app innovation, he said.
“This is creating a less useful wireless Internet,” Schwartzman said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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