The carrier is arguing that the FCC is trying to “coerce” settlement and that fine was pulled “out of thin air”
AT&T Mobility is fighting a $100 million fine levied last month by federal regulators charging the carrier with throttling data speeds to unlimited data customers, according to a July 17 filing with the Federal Communications Commission.
In June the FCC announced plans to fine AT&T Mobility $100 million for misleading customers about its unlimited data plan offering. Specifically, FCC investigators allege that AT&T “severely slowed down the data speeds for customers with unlimited data plans and that the company failed to adequately notify its customers that they could receive speeds slower than the normal network speeds AT&T advertised.”
Attorneys for AT&T countered the FCC allegations by arguing that the company disclosed plans for “congestion management” to customers and that competitors practicing similar throttling policies have not been subject to the same penalties, among other points. Counsel for AT&T argues that the company detailed its “maximum bit rate” policy online and in accordance with applicable guidelines.
The disclosure is described in the filing: “Its descriptions of the practice’s effects on subscribers to AT&T’s Unlimited Data Plan, the criteria or trigger for the practice, and the consequences of exceeding the usage threshold were unmistakable.”
“The commission’s findings that consumers and competition were harmed are devoid of factual support and wholly implausible. Its ‘moderate’ forfeiture penalty of $100 million is plucked out of thin air, and the injunctive sanctions it proposes are beyond the Commission’s authority. Both, moreover, reflect an unseemly effort to coerce settlement. … The related press campaign confirm[s] that the agency has already prejudged AT&T’s liability, abandoning any pretext that the commission remains an impartial arbiter of the case.”
AT&T Mobility first began offering unlimited data in 2007; that service option has since been discontinued. Customers who opted into the plan when it was available, however, are able to renew those plans.
