From Engadget · Anna Washenko · · 1m 20s
New York forces T-Mobile to drop data caps on low-income internet
T-Mobile was throttling speeds on affordable broadband plans for low-income New Yorkers. The state attorney general forced the company to comply with the law.
In brief
T-Mobile was throttling speeds on affordable broadband plans for low-income New Yorkers. The state attorney general forced the company to comply with the law. New York's attorney general found T-Mobile violated the Affordable Broadband Act by capping data on low-income plans and forced the company to remove the…
T-Mobile broke New York's broadband law
New York's attorney general found T-Mobile violated the Affordable Broadband Act, which requires providers to offer low-income residents broadband at 25 Mbps for fifteen dollars monthly or 200 Mbps for twenty dollars monthly.
The company throttled speeds after fifty gigabytes
T-Mobile placed monthly data caps on its affordable plans, throttling speeds to as low as 650 kilobits per second after customers used 50GB of data, which could happen in about four days of typical broadband…
T-Mobile hid plans from search engines
T-Mobile only offered its affordable plans where it had deployed 5G wireless and prevented search engines from accessing information about those plans on its website.
T-Mobile agrees to fix the violations
Following the investigation, T-Mobile will remove data caps, make affordable plans available statewide where it offers home internet, and ensure search engines can access plan details.
“Reliable and affordable internet service is a basic need for all New Yorkers, but T-Mobile flouted the law designed to help vulnerable New Yorkers access it.”
The takeaway
New York's attorney general found T-Mobile violated the Affordable Broadband Act by capping data on low-income plans and forced the company to remove the restrictions.
