T-Mobile Settles New York Case Over 50 GB Cap on $15 Low-Income Internet Plans

Q: Will T-Mobile's New York settlement force the telecom giant to permanently end data caps on low-income internet plans nationwide?

No. The settlement applies to T-Mobile’s low-income home internet plans in New York, not nationwide, and it does not by itself create a permanent national ban on data caps. What New York secured is narrower but still significant. Under the state’s Affordable Broadband Act, T-Mobile must within 120 days remove the 50 GB cap and post-cap throttling on its New York Affordable Broadband Act plans, expand those plans to all areas in New York where it offers home internet service, and make the plans easier to find online. The state’s position is that once speeds drop to about 600–650 Kbps after 50 GB, the service no longer meets the law’s required minimum speeds of 25 Mbps for $15 or 200 Mbps for $20. Nothing in the reported settlement says T-Mobile must eliminate caps on comparable low-income plans in other states. Other states would need similar laws, regulatory action, or separate settlements to force the same result. Federal law also does not currently impose a blanket nationwide rule barring data caps on low-income home broadband plans. That said, the case could still have broader practical effects. T-Mobile may decide it is simpler operationally or reputationally to align some offerings beyond New York, and the settlement may encourage other regulators to scrutinize low-income broadband plans more closely. But that would be a business or policy choice, not a direct legal requirement created by this New York deal.

Q: How did T-Mobile manage to intentionally hide its mandatory affordable broadband plans from New York's most vulnerable residents?

T-Mobile hid the plans mainly by making them hard to discover online and limiting where they were offered. According to New York officials, the company specifically coded its website so its Affordable Broadband Act plan pages would not appear in search engine results. That meant low-income residents searching online for cheap home internet, reduced-cost broadband, or similar terms were less likely to find T-Mobile’s mandatory $15 and $20 plans. The settlement now requires T-Mobile to make those pages discoverable by search engines and easier for customers to find. State investigators also said T-Mobile restricted the affordable plans to areas with its 5G service, even though it sold regular full-price home internet in some 4G areas that could still meet the law’s minimum 25 Mbps standard. In practice, that narrowed access for eligible households who should have been able to sign up. Beyond visibility, officials said the plans themselves did not function as advertised. T-Mobile imposed a 50 GB monthly cap and then slowed speeds to about 600 to 650 Kbps after customers hit it, even though the law requires at least 25 Mbps for the $15 plan or 200 Mbps for the $20 plan. New York said a typical customer could hit the cap in about four days. So the state’s case was not only that T-Mobile offered a noncompliant product, but that it also made that product difficult for vulnerable residents to find and unavailable in places where it should have been sold.

1 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Nov 11

New York said T-Mobile will drop data and speed limits on its low-income home internet plans and expand their availability under a settlement announced by Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James.
A state investigation found T-Mobile violated the Affordable Broadband Act by capping those plans at 50 GB a month, then cutting download speeds from 25 Mbps to 600 Kbps.
Officials said a typical customer could hit the cap in about four days, undermining the law’s requirement that eligible households receive high-speed service for $15 a month or 200 Mbps service for $20.
T-Mobile must eliminate the speed limits, broaden access to the plans and make plan information easier to find within 120 days; the case covers its wireless home internet service, not mobile plans.