T-Mobile ordered to remove data caps on low-income internet plans
Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 11 Nov, 23:01 · Archive
New York has forced T-Mobile to remove data caps and speed throttling from home internet plans it offers to low-income households.
T-Mobile violated New York's Affordable Broadband Act by imposing a 50GB monthly data cap on low-income home internet plans and reducing speeds to below 1Mbps after the limit was exceeded, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday.
The state law requires home internet providers with at least 20,000 customers to offer plans to income-eligible households at specific prices and speeds: $15 per month for at least 25Mbps, or $20 per month for at least 200Mbps. T-Mobile's practice of throttling speeds after customers exceeded 50GB of data violated these requirements, state officials said. This amount could be consumed in about four days of typical broadband use.
T-Mobile has agreed to a settlement requiring it to eliminate the data and speed caps within 120 days, expand availability of the plans to all areas in New York where it offers home internet service, and ensure search engines can access details about the plans. The company was previously only offering these plans in areas with 5G wireless coverage and was preventing search engines from indexing information about them on its website.
How it is being reported
- New York is forcing T-Mobile to stop putting data caps on low-income home internet plansThe company was throttling speeds for plans offered under the Affordable Broadband Act.Engadget · 11 Nov, 22:46
- T-Mobile illegally imposed 50 GB cap on low-income home Internet plan, NY saysLaw requires 25Mbps home Internet. T-Mobile lowers speed to 600Kbps after 50GB cap.Ars Technica · 11 Nov, 20:32
In this story: T-Mobile · New York · Letitia James · Kathy Hochul
This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log
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