AT&T to soon begin revoking unlimited data from jailbreak hotspot users

By on Aug 4, 2011 at 1:40 PM
mobile August 4, 2011

AT&T confirmed to BGR that it will soon begin revoking unlimited data plans from jailbroken iPhone users and other smartphone users who utilize unauthorized tethering and mobile hotspot solutions. Following reports from earlier this year, AT&T on Thursday confirmed that it will remove grandfathered unlimited data plans from accounts belonging to users who tether or use unsanctioned mobile hotspot apps without a tethering plan, which is expressly prohibited by AT&T according to its terms and conditions. “Earlier this year, we began sending letters, emails, and text messages to a small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but aren’t on our required tethering plan. Our goal here is fairness for all of our customers,” an AT&T spokesperson told BGR via email. The letter outlines three choices for customers who had been making use of unauthorized tethering solutions, one of which is “Do nothing and we’ll go ahead and add the tethering plan on their behalf — after the dated noted in their customer notification.” According to earlier reports, offending users will automatically be bumped to AT&T’s more recent tiered data plan, which affords 2GB of smartphone data and 2GB of tethering data for $45 each month compared to AT&T’s old unlimited smartphone data plan, which costs $30 each month but does not include tethering. A new report from 9to5 Mac claims that users will begin losing unlimited plans as soon as August 11th, but AT&T stated that the policy enforcement date varies depending on when the offending subscriber was sent the notification letter. AT&T’s full statement follows below.

Earlier this year, we began sending letters, emails, and text messages to a small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but aren’t on our required tethering plan. Our goal here is fairness for all of our customers. (This impacts a only small percentage of our smartphone customer base.)

The letters outline three choices:

  1. Stop tethering and keep their current plan (including grandfathered unlimited plan)
  2. Proactively call AT&T or visit our stores and move to the required tethering plan
  3. Do nothing and we’ll go ahead and add the tethering plan on their behalf — after the dated noted in their customer notification
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  • anymajordude

    AT&T will stop at noting to squeeze every last nickel out of us.  They are petrified that all that free profit they making for iphone text messaging will disappear when Apple rolls out IOS5.  The are lossing their ability to  reach into our pockets and they’re mad.

  • Victor Oliveira

    How r they finding out this is being done??? just by content used? are they tapping into the phones on software?? 

    • Anonymous

      I believe they can tell when the tethering is wireless. I think wired tethering isn’t possible to track (hence why apps like PDAnet work without root)

      • serpentor

        You just gave me an idea… a smartphone case that wired tether and has it’s own wifi to your other devices.

      • Anonymous

        Thanks for sharing the idea… I am on my way to the patent office all Apple style, while I steal your shit all Google style!

        In all seriousness, I think you may be on to something there.

      • serpentor

        Well, I can neither execute or finance this idea, so please, feel free to steal it so I can enjoy free tethering.

  • http://www.facebook.com/deandre.n.ruffin DeAndre

    Why are they hell-bent on stopping unlimited data?  Aren’t they supposed to have the fastest network???  The T-Mobile merger should only go through if they promise to bring back TRUE UNLIMITED DATA since they claim they can’t go without T-Mobile’s spectrum for the advancement of their network.

  • CMC

    It’s like they think their network is made of liquid gold or something. I mean, hell, half the time, data services and voice services become quite pathetic.  What is their hardon with their precious data???  These are the greediest a**holes ever.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EZVLTTP6B2FQDTG5ITY3TNEWDE Velma Mcfadden

    I just paid $22.85 for an iPhone 4-32GB and my girlfriend loves her Panasonic Lumix GF 1 Camera that we got for $38.76 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 40 inch LED TV to my boss for $674 which only cost me $62.81 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, CentHub.com

  • Banofbros

    Ha ha, that’s funny.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UQPMYS2QDEDX4PR3SZQXWT4VHY Dillon

    If you want to protest this do what I plan on doing.  At night when you charge up your phone make sure you are streaming the longest possible video you can find.  Eat up the data, make sure it’s streaming.  I’m going to try and break 100GB this month in my sleep.  Literally.  I’ve had the iphone unlimited plan since 08 and feel like they’re putting the nuts to me on this one.  I got the text message in early july, and I barely ever used MiWi.

    • Greg4

      You are proving them right. 

      • Chubs

        I disagree. This exposes how ridiculous it is to single out tethering. You might have one guy with an unlimited plan streaming videos 24/7 directly to the phone and he doesn’t get bothered. Meanwhile, another guy uses one tenth as much data tethering, and AT&T is threatening to pull their plan. Come on.

  • http://27183.myopenid.com/ Your name

    I have an AT&T version of the Nexus One that had hotspot tethering built in when I purchased it.  Is that unsanctioned tethering?

    Recently I rooted the device and put on cyanogenmod — but again, it’s still a Nexus One.  Is that unsanctioned tethering?

    • Anonymous

      Yes, because that phone was never officially sold from AT&T otherwise they would have locked tethering until it was added to your plan.

  • Drew

    F’n data Nazi’s…

  • USA Kiwi

    HI, I am a not too smart American consumer that uses AT&T or Verizon.  They make me sign a contract to get a discount on my mobile phone.  I am okay with that, because, for the most part they have really cool and shiny new phones.  That really do neat things on the internets.

    And they make me pay for use of the those shiny new phones because it uses this thing called dater.

    So I pay for dater and then I want to use the same phone to get more dater for my other shiny new toy called an iPads.  Which is a really cool toy as well.

    So AT&T says to me please use those shiny new toys and please use the dater that you are paying for.  But if you want to use them together and use that same dater that you have already paid for, well then you need to pay us twice for the use of the same dater…….that same stuff you have already paid for a first and now a second time.

    Makes good sense to me since i like paying twice for the same thing.

    • Chubs

      Bingo

  • https://steamcommunity.com/id/m-p-3 m-p{3}

    A byte is a byte, no matter where it goes or where it comes from. The customers paid for a plan, let them use it within what they signed for.

  • Anonymous

    My TMobile contract is almost up, time to jump ship before AT&T gets its grubby mitts on my money.

  • Tordmartell

    You have a lot of odd stuff in your country, least to say. 
    Freedom is supposed to be honored but that “freedom” is cut in all corners, if not by a wish to control you then by commercial reasons. Like trying to charge twice for the same thing.Now, if I buy an Internet connection it means that I buy a certain amount of traffic space. I can use it on my iPhone, or on another device. What device I use it for is my business, not the carrier’s.So, if I want to share that connection between two devices, it is still my business because I don’t occupy more space from the net.That is how it works in most countries, and certainly in Sweden. If I can create a wireless hotspot with my device, it is up to myself how it is used. It is also up to myself to assign access through a password to remain in control (so no outsider uses it).I believe that AT&T wouldn’t be allowed to do this even in Russia, because it would be considered to limit people’s freedom to much!However, using somebody else’s hotspot is theft, and that is a different matter.

  • Kurt

    ATT is full of shit. They accused me of tethering and my phone isn’t even jailbroken. I filled a complaint with the BBB and then they said it for hooking up the iPad 2 HDMI adapter to my phone and watching Netflix on the TV was also tethering.

  • Anonymous

    BIG BROTHER is watching. I’m not worried since I don’t do this, but it is also feeling like we are being controlled now all the time by these companies. Making me sick of the technology and wishing for a simpler time. It has gotten out of control.

  • Wisani

    Tiered Data is a slippery slope, and is entirely antithetical to the idea of the internet in general. The concept of the internet from the very beginning, was one of openness and unlimited data regardless or content, source, type, origin, or frequency; and indeed the modern manifestation of cloud-based-computing is its logical progression. Store everything online so that it can be accessed everywhere no matter how much data that constitutes. The internet is also not owned by any one individual, corporation or country, and is contributed to by people of all races and nationalities. This being the case, there should also not be arbitrary rules imposed on the internet regarding what can take place there, what can be found there, and how it is to be used. The ultimate analogy would be to compare the internet to the air, we may all use it freely as long as we can breath; we may take in or out as much as we please and the air is ruled by no one, Sorry Verizon!

  • Anonymous

    I can get you Unlimited Data for your current smartphone that you have. Most of you probaly know that the feature is no longer offered through AT&T. I will activiate it under your line of your account to work with any at&t smartphone. Iphones, Blackberrys, etc. The plan is $30 a month. For those of you that use up alot of data with GPS, Pandora, Youtube, etc will not have to worry about overage fees. If i canot get this added to your account, then i will refund your money. I canot activiate it under prepaid lines. It has to be an account. My service charge for getting this feature added for you is $50.00 as it takes a bit of work to get this no longer offered feature onto your AT&T account. Well worth it, if youre a heavy data user or would like to become one.If you have any questions or,If interested, email me at:unlimiteddatainfo@yahoo.comThank you

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NXN6ABSIRYBEF7MOPLZNDMJBDI Drew

    Wow…  Does anyone know how AT&T is able to distinguish and claim someone is “tethering” as opposed to just having high data usage? 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NXN6ABSIRYBEF7MOPLZNDMJBDI Drew

    Does anyone know how AT&T is able to distinguish and claim someone is “tethering” as opposed to just having high data usage? 

  • Anonymous

    this is UNBELIEVABLE. so glad I never switched to AT&T 2 yrs ago. I hope they get what’s coming to them, sooner than later.

  • ATT_STFup

    If this is the route AT&T wants to go I’d like to see them only bill for service they can actually provide.
    So, when I spend 75% of the time during the month without any G’s my bill is 75% less.

    European pricing per month is a fraction of what the US carriers charge and data is good most everywhere.

    This is a joke and somebody needs to slap AT&T, Verizon and others in the ass through some legislation.
    I’m tired of this BS.

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