T-Mobile to Finally Start Data Throttling
posted Friday Oct 15, 2010 by Nicholas DiMeo
T-Mobile mentioned months ago that they were finally going to prefer data throttling over data capping. They even had a rough date of April to begin implementation of the new limitations. We guess something happened inside their headquarters because an internal memo went out this week letting T-Mobilers know that they finally decided to move forward with data throttling starting October 16th.
The usage you'll have to hit at which slower speeds will occur? 5GB. And how slow the browsing will become will be handled by the handset the user has. Don't worry, T-Mobile says this change will only affect 1% of its customers and that, as we could have guessed, the usage tracking resets after each billing cycle, which customers can monitor at my.t-mobile.com
To read the full memo which we have gotten a hold of, follow the break.
The memo is below, which includes a small description of the action being taken, plus a brief Q&A.
Beginning October 16th, T-Mobile will begin to reduce data speeds when a customer reaches 5GB of usage in a billing cycle, in accordance with T-Mobile terms and conditions. This change should only affect extreme data users (less than 1 percent) and is being made to ensure that all subscribers receive the best Web performance available by limiting the number of extreme data users on our network.
Q:How many customers will get affected by this change?
A: The majority of T-Mobile customers should not be affected by this change.
Q: How much data is 5GB?
A: The 5 GB threshold limit is an equivalent to approximately 125,000 yahoo.com page visits, and is enough to satisfy most customers' Web and data needs.
Q: Will customer get notified after reaching 5GB threshold?
A: If a customer happens to reach the 5GB limit, they will receive a free text message informing them their data speeds will be reduced.
Q: Will customer still be able to browse internet after reaching 5GB threshold?
A: Customers will continue to have Web browsing capabilities but at slower speeds, which will be determined by their device type. Once their new billing cycle begins, data speeds will no longer be restricted until they reach 5GB.
Q: How customers track their usage?
A: Customers can track their data usage through My T-Mobile.com My Account, or the SIVR.
