AT&T will pay $60 million to resolve U.S. allegations it misled millions of smartphone customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans but reducing data speeds if they used too much, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Wednesday.
As part of the settlement of the 2014 complaint, AT&T is also prohibited from making any representation about the speed or amount of its mobile data, without also disclosing any material restrictions on the data.
The $60 million will be deposited into a fund to provide partial refunds to both current and former customers who had signed up for unlimited plans prior to 2011 but had their data speeds reduced, or “throttled” by AT&T when their usage went past a certain threshold.
FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra said he would push for big companies to be held responsible for failing to live up to agreements. “Scammers come in all sizes,” he said in a statement.
More at NBC News.