'Unlimited' Data Plans With Very Obvious Limits Are Only Getting More Confusing

from the this-is-not-the-future-I-was-promised dept

Back in 2007, Verizon was forced to strike an agreement with the New York State Attorney General for marketing data plans as "unlimited" when the plans had very clear limits. Twelve years later and it's not clear the industry has learned much of anything.

After their efforts to strictly monetize usage didn't go well with consumers, wireless carriers around 2012 or so returned to offering unlimited data plans. But much like the unlimited data plans of old, these plans have all manner of bizarre restrictions. Verizon, for example, bans users from even watching videos in HD unless they sign up for more expensive plans. Carriers also throttle usage after you reach a certain amount of data for the remainder of your billing cycle. There are also limitations on how frequently you can use your phone as a tethered modem or hotspot.

AT&T's latest updates to its "unlimited" wireless data plans are no exception, and require an industry-lingo decoder ring and a few hours of fine print reading to actually understand. Here, for example, is how CNET framed the changes:

"Those looking for a mobile hotspot will need to jump to AT&T's Unlimted Extra Plan, which runs $40 per line, per month for a family of four. This plan adds 15GB of mobile hotspot per line and you won't have your data slowed until you've already used 50GB in a month and are in "congested" areas like a stadium (the Starter plan will slow down data if you're in a congested area and have passed 22GB). There is no HD streaming on the Extra plan or Watch TV. While the Extra plan is $5 cheaper per line than Verizon's recently updated Play More and Do More unlimited plans, AT&T still does not offer the ability to choose individual plans for each line. Instead, if you want mobile hotspot for one line all of your lines will need to have the Unlimited Extra plan. Verizon's Play More plan also includes Apple Music and HD streaming.

The idea that a busy family looks at these caveats and actually has any real understanding of what they're buying is fairly hard to believe.

Granted wireless carriers implement this level of annoying complexity intentionally; they want to confuse users so they'll sign up for costlier plans they might not need in a bid to avoid the annoyances that have been intentionally created (upselling). Such annoyingly confusing caveats also make direct comparisons between wireless carrier pricing all but impossible. And, as usual, it makes it all but impossible to know what you'll actually pay for service until you get your bill, letting companies falsely advertise a lower rate.

And it's a problem that's going to get worse in light of the telecom sector's successful bid to have the FCC effectively self immolate at industry's behest. Killing net neutrality rules didn't just kill net neutrality rules. It weakened the FCC's authority over telecom entirely, and obliterated transparency requirements mandating that ISPs be very clear about what kind of connection you're buying. Anybody who thinks telecom's response won't be even more elaborate and bizarre nickel-and-diming restrictions hasn't been paying attention.

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Filed Under: customer confusion, fcc, ftc, limits, truth in advertising, unlimited

Companies: at&t, verizon