AT&T (NYSE: T) is going to implement a monthly usage cap on all traditional DSL and U-verse broadband subscribers beginning this May.
According to reports in both the Wall Street Journal and Broadband DSL Reports, AT&T will start sending letters to users that it will place a 150 GB usage cap on existing legacy DSL services and a 250 GB cap on U-verse services.
Seth Bloom, an AT&T spokesman, told DSL Reports that the usage cap that will officially go into effect on May 2, adding that only users who go over their usage limits will see any effect from the new rules.
With the typical broadband customer only consumes about 18 GB a month, AT&T estimates the new rules will only affect about 2 percent of its DSL customer base.
Like its wireless data plans, AT&T said it will "proactively notify customers when they exceed 65 percent, 90 percent and 100 percent of the monthly usage allowance" and provide consumers with online usage tools to track usage.
While the formal launch of the DSL usage cap is new, this is not the first time AT&T has tried to implement usage based billing caps on its DSL users. In 2008, the service provider conducted DSL metered billing trials in Reno, Nev. and Beaumont, Texas.
For more:
- the Wall Street Journal has this article
- Broadband DSL Reports has this post
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AT&T inflicts metered billing trial upon Texas town
Broadband metering: A misguided struggle for bandwidth control
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