Sprint Throttles Top 1% of Data Users, No "Truly Unlimited" Data For US iPhone Users [Updated x2]
Though Sprint, the United States' newest iPhone carrier, has been running advertisements touting its "truly unlimited" network, the carrier is throttling smartphone customers who use "excessive" amounts of data, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
For those that want to abuse it, we can knock them off," [Sprint CEO Dan] Hesse said at an investor conference Thursday. He said Sprint pares back data use for about 1% of users, a practice known as throttling.
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"You'd be shocked how much data you use in a month," Sprint asks in a recent television advertisement. "What happens if you go over? With Sprint, you don't have to worry; only Sprint offers truly unlimited data."
Hesse did say there were no plans for Sprint to move to tiered data plans like Verizon and AT&T have switched to in recent years, however it appears that there is no longer any US carrier that offers "truly unlimited" data plans for the iPhone.
Update: As pointed out by TechCrunch, Dow Jones seems to have misinterpreted Hesse. The throttling only applies to customers who use excessive data while roaming on partnered networks -- "a guy in his house in rural Montana" for example. Sprint's fine print notes the carrier will begin throttling after 300 MB of "off-network" data usage.
Update 2: Sprint has now clarified the situation with a blog post indicating the carrier does not throttle any customer's data usage, even for those with excessive roaming usage. The carrier does, however, have terms in place that permit it to terminate the contracts of users with heavy roaming usage, and it attempts to reach out to those customers and work with them before terminating their contracts.
Top Rated Comments
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18 months ago
"For those that want to abuse it, we can knock them off"
Correct, using as much data as you want on an unlimited plan is definitely abuse.
Why do all the carriers in the US suck?
Correct, using as much data as you want on an unlimited plan is definitely abuse.
Why do all the carriers in the US suck?
18 months ago
Wait wait wait, hold up.
If they allow you to use as much data as you want a month regardless if its throttled or not, its still technically unlimited right?
Should read there is no truly Un-throttled data plans for iPhone users in the U.S.
If they allow you to use as much data as you want a month regardless if its throttled or not, its still technically unlimited right?
Should read there is no truly Un-throttled data plans for iPhone users in the U.S.
18 months ago
I use my iPhone quite a lot and I reset it over a month ago. Since then it's reporting it has downloaded 154MB of data.
Can someone explain what these excessive users actually find to download on their phones that puts them in the top 1%?
Someone on MR posted that they purposely ran Pandora all night long on mute...those are the kind of people that made this happen
18 months ago
Will "unlimited internet" ever truly exist on a mobile network without some sort of small print limit/throttling for excessive use?
18 months ago
OMG SPRINT IS SO EVIL!! OUTRAGE!!!
This seems like a sane and logical move for any company. That 1% is probably consuming as much data as the rest combined, and costing Sprint just as much. There's nothing wrong for setting limits based for extreme usage and extreme outliers. You'd be naive so pretend that things can truly be unlimited, especially when increased usage costs the company money. There's absolutely nothing wrong with throttling the 1% who is doing God knows what with their devices (probably tethering and torrenting all day), so the rest can continue to enjoy near-unlimited data use. You people sound like whiny, entitled 8 year olds who have no idea of how things work. I don't even live in the US and don't give a **** about Sprint, but there's something called common sense.
This seems like a sane and logical move for any company. That 1% is probably consuming as much data as the rest combined, and costing Sprint just as much. There's nothing wrong for setting limits based for extreme usage and extreme outliers. You'd be naive so pretend that things can truly be unlimited, especially when increased usage costs the company money. There's absolutely nothing wrong with throttling the 1% who is doing God knows what with their devices (probably tethering and torrenting all day), so the rest can continue to enjoy near-unlimited data use. You people sound like whiny, entitled 8 year olds who have no idea of how things work. I don't even live in the US and don't give a **** about Sprint, but there's something called common sense.
18 months ago
Truly unlimited (http://youtu.be/TW9NnaB0Rfs)
Someone needs to teach them the definitions of "truly" and "unlimited".
I was contemplating switching over, but not any more.
Someone needs to teach them the definitions of "truly" and "unlimited".
I was contemplating switching over, but not any more.
18 months ago
Its one thing to say you don't throttle when you do, but its another to completely make it the foundation of your entire 'Come to Sprint' iPhone campaign...
What a joke...false advertising.
What a joke...false advertising.
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