Altice Mobile just launched with a tempting offer. Altice’s only plan, its “unlimited everything” plan, is only $30 per line each month. A lot of technology websites have been writing about the new offering, and most of them aren’t mentioning how many limits Altice places on its subscribers.

(Added 2/26/2020: Since this post came out, Altice Mobile’s price has changed to $40 per month for most people and $30 per month for Optimum and Suddenlink customers.)







Limits

In my previous post, I was critical of Total Wireless for marketing one of its plans as an “unlimited” plan, even though it involved a significant limitation:



Total Wireless is at least is transparent in letting customers know that limits exist despite the plan’s unlimited label. Altice Mobile doesn’t put a disclaimer or an asterisk next to its claims:

Altice’s press release is even more misleading:

unlimited data, text, and talk nationwide,

unlimited mobile hotspot,

unlimited video streaming,

unlimited international text and talk from the U.S. to more than 35 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Israel, most of Europe, and more, and

unlimited data, text and talk while traveling abroad in those same countries. Altice Mobile offers one simple plan with unlimited everything:

Potential customers wanting to understand Altice Mobile’s limitations need to find their way to a web page full of legalese titled Broadband Disclosure Information. As it turns out, Altice has lots of limitations:

Mobile hotspot is typically throttled to a maximum of 600Kbps (a fairly slow speed).

Video is typically throttled to a maximum of 480p.

After 50GB of use in a month, video traffic and hotspot traffic are throttled to 128Kbps.

Roaming data is throttled to 128Kbps.

As I discussed in my last post, it’s silly to call a service unlimited while throttling to sluggish speeds. The claim in the press release that Altice offers “unlimited video streaming” is particularly misleading. 128Kbps can’t even support stable streaming of low-resolution video. Turns out the claim of unlimited international data in 35 countries is also misleading. International data after the first gigabyte is throttled to 128Kbps.

Despite the limitations, there’s a lot that’s exciting about Altice Mobile. The service has a competitive price. It might be a good option for people who live in the regions where it’s available.

I hope we’ll see Altice move towards being more transparent with consumers.

Alternatives

If you’re looking for an alternative to Altice, consider checking out my Mint Mobile review. You may also want to consider my larger list of recommended phone plans.





