The Federal Communications Commission has announced a settlement with T-Mobile US over the "inadequate disclosures" of its data plans, which were throttled at times of high congestion even though they were sold as unlimited. The FCC said the operator has agreed to pay a total of USD 48 million after its investigation found that “company policy allows it to slow down data speeds when T-Mobile or MetroPCS customers on so-called 'unlimited' plans exceed a monthly data threshold." The FCC added that: “Company advertisements and other disclosures may have led unlimited data plan customers to expect that they were buying better and faster service than what they received."
However, only USD 7.5 million of the settlement will be in cash, with T-Mobile paying out USD 35.5 million in “consumer benefits” consisting of a 20 percent off discount for any accessory plus 4GB of additional data if customers have a "mobile internet line". The operator also agreed to provide at least USD 5 million in services and equipment to schools and pledged to start using the FCC's "consumer broadband label" showing precisely how much plans cost and the speeds to expect.
In addition to the fine, the FCC also ordered T-Mobile to either provide "clear and conspicuous disclosures" about all restrictions on the amount and speed of data provided for “unlimited” data plans, or cease the use of the term “unlimited” on such plans, or exclude “unlimited” data plan customers from its “Top 3 Percent Policy”, or else limit any speed reductions for “unlimited” data plan customers to the minimum speed advertised for that plan.
The FCC added that it’s also trying to punish AT&T for misleading customers about unlimited data plans via the USD 100 million fine it proposed in June 2015, which AT&T is currently challenging.
