Straight Talk Unlimited Data throttling now begins at 5GB for customers who bring their own phone

It’s no secret by now that Straight Talk begins throttling customers’ unlimited data once they reach a certain point. The cap used to be a hard 2.5GB until they increased it by 500MB a couple of years ago. Now it’s possible to get even more.

A new promotion for folks who bring their own phone to the company nets them 5GB of 4G LTE data, after which you’ll be slowed down to the less exciting world of 2G/3G. The change goes into effect for all their unlimited plans, though the baseline “All You Need” plan (where you only get 100MB of data period) is obviously left out.

Straight Talk’s website bills this as a “special offer,” so we’re not sure how long it will last or if it’s a permanent promotion. For what it’s worth, the change applies to both new and existing customers so if you’re already going on one of the company’s unlimited plans and you’re using a device you bought independently from Straight Talk you should automatically reap the benefits. We’ll be looking to find out more about the change in the moments to come.

Sprint will put a stop to their data throttling practices to avoid FCC ban hammers

It was only a couple of days ago that AT&T got a slap on the wrist for miscommunication about their data throttling policy, and now Sprint seems to be feeling a bit of heat of their own. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint has stopped throttling its heavy data users even in periods where the network is congested.

The report suggests Sprint is doing so in order to avoid any action that’ll put them on the FCC’s bad side, though they maintain they felt their practices were well within the rules. Sprint says they don’t expect users to notice any significant differences in service.

It’s worth pointing out that Sprint’s hesitation in continuing data throttling is less about being slapped with fines for miscommunication, and more about dodging the touchy topic of net neutrality. The FCC made their vote against it quite clear earlier this year, and it’s looking more and more likely that the regulatory body won’t tolerate much shadiness in the realm of broadband internet.

For what it’s worth, Sprint probably won’t completely ditch throttling. The company says they’ll still opt to put a cap on identifiable video sources (which can quickly get out of hand when you start streaming in HD), though it shouldn’t be so much that it makes for an unacceptable video experience on mobile. Everything else will run through Sprint’s proverbial pipes as fast as the network will allow. It’s better than nothing, folks, so consider it a win.

Sprint quickly backs down on ridiculous 600kbps video throttling

Yesterday, many of you expressed disdain for Sprint’s All-In plan. Not because the plan was bad or anything (it’s not terrible, we’ll put it that way), but because this plan seemed to enforce a special throttling clause that didn’t previously apply to any other Sprint plans.

That clause was that video streaming would be limited to 600 kilobytes per second at all times. To be clear, Sprint has always been upfront about having to throttle data usage, but the company’s previous policy was that this would only happen during periods of network congestion, a common tactic among all major wireless carriers.

Now, Sprint has decided against it. The company came forward with a blog post today saying they heard your cries and will no longer go through with plans to permanently limit video streaming speeds, though they were quick to note that they still may “manage the network” in times where things are clogged up.

The move comes at a time where the FCC is cracking down on companies for questionable practices that violate the net neutrality rules that were recently put in place (and more coming into effect down the line). Those rules don’t completely forbid Sprint from limiting speeds in situations where they deem it necessary to maintain network quality, but they do state that the company has to be upfront about it.

And, in defense of the Now Network, they actually were upfront. But they probably thought about that huge 0 million fine AT&T got slapped with not too long ago and thought it best to just avoid getting on the FCC’s bad side altogether.

AT&T gets slapped with $100 million fine for unlimited data throttling

AT&T seems to have ended up on the FCC’s naughty list. The company has been served with a 0 million fine for misleading unlimited data consumers. Specifically, the company didn’t adequately notify customers that their data would be slowed down to near-unusable speeds if they went over an unspecified threshold.

The FCC says that it’s a violation of 2010’s Open Internet Transparency Rule, a policy that states carriers must be accurate, truthful and upfront about the data services they provide. To be clear, it’s totally within AT&T’s rights to throttle unlimited data, but they also have to tell you that in plain language.

“Consumers deserve to get what they pay for,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “Broadband providers must be upfront and transparent about the services they provide. The FCC will not stand idly by while consumers are deceived by misleading marketing materials and insufficient disclosure.”

FCC enforcement chief Travis LeBlanc also added: “Unlimited means unlimited. As today’s action demonstrates, the Commission is committed to holding accountable those broadband providers who fail to be fully transparent about data limits.”

So there you have it. AT&T’s probably never going to do away with their throttling policy for unlimited data users (especially since they’re trying to get everyone onto their Mobile Share plans), but at least the FCC is making sure they’re upfront about it.