The FCC has made a recent ruling that many have been waiting to hear. At the moment it only affects TracFone and their actions of throttling customers, but this can easily be applied now to all the other carriers to help prevent data throttling and deceptive advertising.
This ruling cost TracFone a $40,000,000 fine that has to be used to refund the affected customers. They now also have to detail any limitations they place on accounts openly.
Not all carriers practice throttling, but some either have tried in the past or have considered it for the future. The FCC decided that throttling an account takes away from that accounts unlimited privileges and instead punishes customers for choosing unlimited while alternative plans bask in higher data speeds.
The FCC stated that some throttled accounts were seeing speeds cut by even 60 or even 90%, crippling the customer’s abilities to surf the web or initiate basic online activities.
You may see the other carriers changing direction in their practices or openly advertising such limitations now in order to prevent being next under the hammer.
