WASHINGTON — AT&T Mobility LLC has been slapped with a record $100 million fine for offering consumers “unlimited” data then slowing their Internet speeds after they reached a certain amount. The company says it will fight the charges.
The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that the company misled consumers into buying plans they believed would give them unlimited ability to send and receive data, including Web browsing, GPS navigation and streaming videos. But once the consumer hit a certain level, the data on unlimited plans would be slowed down significantly, at speeds lower than advertised, the FCC said.
AT&T said it would “vigorously dispute” the fine, which was the largest proposed in FCC history.
It’s not unusual for phone companies to slow, or “throttle,” speeds on a network as a way to manage congestion.
Until this spring, AT&T was slowing speeds until the customer’s next billing cycle, even when there was no congestion.
