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T-Mobile Starts Going After Heavy Users of Tethered Data

Posted by timothy on from the limited-resources-unlimted-desires dept.

VentureBeat reports that T-Mobile CEO John Legere has announced that T-Mobile will cut off (at least from "unlimited" data plans) customers who gloss over the fine print of their data-use agreement by tethering their unlimited-data phones and grab too much of the network's resources. In a series of tweets on Sunday, Legere says the company will be "eliminating anyone who abuses our network," and complains that some "network abusers" are using 2TB of data monthly. The article says, "This is the first official word from the carrier that seems to confirm a memo that was leaked earlier this month. At that time, it was said action would be taken starting August 17 and would go after those who used their unlimited LTE data for Torrents and peer-to-peer networking."

1 of 346 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So it's not unlimited, then... by thejam · · Score: 0, Troll

    "Unlimited data, $X / month" is a pretty clear statement, if they want to caveat the hell out of it in the small print that's their problem

    If you sign up with such fine print, then, well, you actually agreed to it. I suppose you'd get angry about the old "Coke adds life" ads because Coke drinkers don't have longer lives, according to the fine print that some Coca Cola lawyer probably (should have) added to the bottom of the ad for fear of the wrath of folks who never really had to market anything themselves.

    They're selling unlimited data *for phones*, and the vast, vast majority of the population understands this, as, I'd wager, do the tetherers. A pushback on tethering is no bait-and-switch maneuver. Maybe they could change your "unlimited data, $X/month" to "unlimited PHONE data, $X/month", but I can't imagine that satisfying you. I think the reality is that tetherers and their apologists want everyone else to subsidize such fringe use of the network. Such anti-social behavior is a close analog of the free-rider problem in economics, and *is* abusive.

    Now, if you get cut off for watching too much Youtube or Netflix *on your phone*, well then, that's a different story and I'm right there with ya.