T-Mobile US Inc. will pay $48 million in penalties because it didn't clearly disclose limits to wireless data plans sold as unlimited to "unhappy" customers left to complain about sluggish performance, regulators said.
The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday announced the settlement, including a $7.5 million fine and $35.5 million worth of discounted gear or data for customers of the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile and its MetroPCS unit.
An investigation found that company policy allows T-Mobile to decrease data speeds when customers on plans sold as unlimited exceed a monthly data threshold, the FCC said in a news release. The agency heard from hundreds of "unhappy" customers who complained of slow speeds and said they weren't receiving what they were sold, according to the news release.
"Consumers should not have to guess whether so-called 'unlimited' data plans contain key restrictions, like speed constraints, data caps, and other material limitations," said Travis LeBlanc, the FCC's enforcement bureau chief. "When broadband providers are accurate, honest and upfront in their ads and disclosures, consumers aren't surprised and they get what they've paid for."