MetroPCS on Tuesday confirmed changes to its 4G LTE plans, several of which will now throttle users after a certain amount of data usage.
The regional carrier will now offer four data plans ranging in price from $40 to $70 per month. The $70 per month plan will offer truly unlimited access, while the three other options will slow down speeds after users hit a specific cap. That includes 5GB on the $60 plan, 2.5GB on the $50 plan, and 250MB on the $40 plan.
"On the $40 to $60 plans, once customers reach the threshold associated with their chosen plan, they will still be able to browse the Web or stream content at a reduced network speed," a MetroPCS spokesman said. "Customers will remain on the 4G LTE network but received a reduced speed similar to what they might experience on EVDO."
More details are available on the MetroPCS website.
MetroPCS dropped the price of its lowest-tier 4G LTE plan to $40 back in Jan. 2011, in advance of Verizon Wireless unveiling its first 4G LTE devices. At the time, however, it only offered one 4G LTE phone - the Samsung Craft - which had a browser that wasn't quite up to smartphone standards.
Earlier this year at CES, MetroPCS unveiled the LG Connect 4G, its first dual-core smartphone, as well as the Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G, which brought LTE to the masses for $199 without a contract. For more, see PCMag's Hands On With MetroPCS's New Phones.
The concept of throttling "unlimited" plans, meanwhile, has made a number of headlines in recent years. As more and more users picked up data-intensive smartphones and tablets, U.S. carriers switched from unlimited to tiered data options, but those grandfathered into unlimited data plans were largely allowed to keep them. Some unlimited users, however, still gobbled up a huge amount of data, prompting carriers to throttle their usage.
Last year, AT&T said it would slow down speeds for those with "extraordinary" data usage, effective Oct. 1. More recently, AT&T got more specific an said "unlimited" users who exceeded 3GB per month would be throttled because they are in the "top 5 percent of data users in our network."
Verizon has also said that customers who use "an extraordinary amount of data" and fall within the top 5 percent of Verizon data users will be subject to reduced data throughput speeds. T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile do the same.
As a result, Sprint has marketed itself as the only carrier to offer "truly unlimited" data service.
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