While Virgin Mobile is technically unlimited (and aren’t they proud of it) their parent company had intended to begin throttling its data-hungry users some time in October. Today the company issued a statement saying that while they still intend to slow down the connection of their most active customers, the change won’t happen until an unspecified date in 2012.The information was released as Virgin Mobile confirmed that it’s offering the LG Optimus Slider and HTC Wildfire.

Previously, the company stated that their customers would begin to see intentionally reduced speeds after they used 2.5GB of data. They didn’t say when they would actually put the policy in place, just that they would let customers know. Accrding to Virgin Mobile, that’s less than 3% of their customer base – which is probably small comfort to the people who fall into the category. I suppose they intend to let their customers know that while yes, they’re going to be getting a restricted level of service while paying the same amount, they’re in a very small group of likewise restricted customers. It’s exclusive.

With more and more United States carriers switching to a capped data system, throttling seems to be the method of choice for those situations where unlimited plans are an inconvenient necessity (for the carriers, at least). T-Mobile still offers unlimited plans, but already has a 2GB limit before customers are throttled. Those legacy customers on AT&T who still have unlimited terms in their contracts will be throttled beginning October 1st if they’re in the top 5% of data users, no matter how much data they’re actually using.

So gather ye tethering apps while ye may, Virgin Mobile power users. You’ve been granted a reprieve for another few months at the very least.