Re:T-Mobile will pay a $48M fine for throttling ‘unlimited d...
by chx on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @01:41PM
(#12745891)
That artificial throttle is not so artificial; they are charging you a lower amount because you are using less resources. The "last mile" is almost always bandwidth constrained, if you use less, then you pay less.
I understand that the word unlimited makes people feel good, but it shouldn't. Nothing is unlimited, ever. Just because they're not telling you what it is doesn't mean it isn't there.
Unmetered bandwidth that is capped at a gigabit or is physically incapable of going faster is not unlimited either. It's been throttled to only allow you to download a certain amount each month. It is also not unlimited, unless you consider a throttle to not be a limit.
Most cable modems, by the way, can go 3-5 times faster without the artificial throttles put on them by the providers. So even before Comcast started doing their stupid 1TB cap, they were already throttling your internet connection way below the possible speeds of the device.