FCC Reaches Settlement With T-Mobile Over Unlimited Plans
October 19 2016 - 12:10PM
Dow Jones News
The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday it reached
settlement with T-Mobile US Inc. valued at $48 million for failing
to adequately inform consumers of wireless data restrictions on
plans it called "unlimited."
The FCC said the carrier applied slower data speeds and
throttled customer traffic once certain usage threshold were hit
without telling its customers.
"Company advertisements and other disclosures may have led
unlimited data plan customers to expect that they were buying
better and faster service than what they received," the agency said
in a statement.
Under the settlement, T-Mobile will pay $7.5 million in cash
along with $35.5 million in "consumer benefits" in the form of
discounts and additional data to unlimited customers of both
T-Mobile and its prepaid brand MetroPCS. The company also agreed to
provide at least $5 million in services and equipment to
schools.
The Twitter account of T-Mobile CEO John Legere called the
consent decree a "good settlement with FCC" and that the carrier
"believes more info is best for customers."
Last year, the FCC sought to fine AT&T Inc. $100 million in
a similar case, but the company is contesting the proposed penalty.
In August, a federal appeals court threw out a government lawsuit
against AT&T that alleged the company misled wireless
subscribers by selling them unlimited data plans and then quietly
slowing down service if they consumed high amounts of data.
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2016 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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