Sprint just put a sour note on its unlimited data service as the carrier announced it would begin throttling data speeds for its heaviest users.
Fierce Wireless reports that Sprint, as well as its prepaid brands, Virgin and Boost Mobile will begin throttling its heaviest data users starting June 1. Supposedly the operators have been sending out notifications to customers informing them of a new data management measure they will employ soon.
In a newly updated Sprint FAQ page, the yellow carrier specifies that "congestion management" will bump down mobile speeds for any of its customers that fall within its top 5% of data users.
Sprint does not clearly specify exactly how much data usage will land users in this top five percentile. However, the company writes that anyone using 5GB or more will likely fall into this category.
The endless feast
Although Sprint has been beating its chest as one of the last defenders of unlimited data - while mocking other carriers for implementing data caps and throttling speeds - the carrier says it's a necessity to maintain a fair user experience for everyone.
The carrier paints this new restriction as a necessity to fairly allocate resources for times when network bandwidth isn't infinite and times of network congestion. Corporate spin aside, Sprint has slowly been changing its tune surrounding unlimited data.
Earlier in March Sprints two MVNO's, Virgin and Boost Mobile, began reducing users who overstepped their 2.5GB allotment of high-speed data down to 2G speeds. It was only a matter of time before Sprint began implementing some form of throttling with its own service.
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