Sprint to throttle “unlimited data” after customers use 23GB per month

(credit: Sprint)

Sprint today said it will throttle speeds for "unlimited data" customers after they use 23GB in a month. Sprint noted that what it calls "prioritization" will apply "only in times and locations where the network is constrained," so customers should still be able to use their phones at normal speeds most of the time.

The policy appears to affect only customers who sign up for unlimited data plans from now on and customers who "upgrade their handset on or after October 16 and remain on an existing unlimited data plan." The throttling will apply for the remainder of the monthly billing cycle after the customer uses 23GB. While customers may have their data rates slowed, paying for unlimited data allows them to escape overage charges.

Sprint CTO John Saw explained that the system "is intended to protect against a small minority of unlimited customers who use high volumes of data and unreasonably take up network resources during times when the network is constrained." About three percent of postpaid subscribers are using a disproportionate amount of data, he wrote.