TracFone has recently offered a bit of an update in terms of the data throttling policies for Straight Talk and Net10. Both are currently offering unlimited data options, however as many are familiar with, those unlimited claims often need further clarification. That being the case, we last heard from Straight Talk back in April when they denied those 1.5GB cutoff rumors.
Anyway, while there will still be some potential for throttling under both Straight Talk and Net10, there is a bit more room than just 1.5GB. This latest round of details are coming by way of TracFone who have said the limit to keep in mind will be 2.5GB. But they are not talking about cutting anyone off if or when they reach that limit. Instead the speeds will just be slowed.
According to a statement provided to Fierce Wireless, the TracFone representative said if a customer reaches 2.5GB in a billing cycle, “data will continue at 2G speeds for the remainder of the 30-day cycle.” To further that, the rep also made it clear that “high speed data is restored once a new 30-day service plan is added.” Of course, there are the other items that should also be considered.
In addition to offering some clarification in terms of the throttling limits, the same TracFone rep also touched on the other side and mentioned the right to terminate service. This is similar to what we see with other carriers and the best bet would be to read the fine print before getting service. As for the official line though, they reserve the right to terminate service for “unauthorized or abnormal usage.”
They should tell their customer service reps about this policy. I called them the other day and they all were still under the impression there was still a hard cap at 1.5GB. I had to quote them the emails I got that said that was no longer the case.
Chances are, they still don’t know, and likely still throttle you after 1.5GB.
They need to clarify the flakey MMS as well. A quick search shows that this has been an issue on the ATT network for some time.