What is AT&T accused of?
Thus, AT&T is accused of the following concerns related to business: Here is an overview of some of the main things they have been accused of in recent years.
Data Throttling
Customers of AT&T often object to their slowing down of the internet speed for customers on unlimited data plans. The Federal Trade Commission complained against AT&T in 2014 alleging that the firm was deceiving its consumers with costs for "unlimited" data plans while lowering its speeds after consumer data use reached a specific threshold. According to the FTC, AT&T neglected to tell anybody about this policy. AT&T resolved this matter in 2016 and promised to reimburse customers $60 million in charged fees even though their disclosures followed the law.
Overcharging Government Programs
An investigation conducted in 2020 established that AT&T Internet had been accused of overcharging government programs for Telecom services since 2008. For example, they were accused of exaggerating costs when offering services to the states under the federal Lifeline programs aimed at supporting low-income households and providing them with the necessary technology. Some states sued AT&T and claimed these were the manipulated costs that put taxpayers several millions of dollars over their heads. Although the overcharging is still under legal probe, some approximations suggest that AT&T may be answerable for up to $1bn over the perceived practice.
Deceptive 5G Marketing
In late 2022, AT&T did change some of the advertising concerning their 5G network coverage. The National Advertising Division suggested they stop using some of the “5G Evolution” or “5G E” logos since it gave a perception that the customers had 5G access when the network technology was something else. Critics claimed that names like ‘5G Evolution’ misled the public into thinking that AT&T was offering 5G when in fact it was just improving on its 4G network. Although AT&T claimed that their advertisements were not misleading, they agreed to make some aspects clearer to avoid future controversy.
Privacy Violations
Privacy violations and leaks of customer data have also been experienced by AT&T over the years due to various security breaches. In 2015 they were penalized $25 million by the Federal Communications Commission for their negligence to reasonably protect call records of nearly 280,000 American customers. Private data were also compromised because the records were accessed in violation of set policies. In 2021, a breach of the customer’s account information which included details such as social security numbers. Although AT&T said that breaches did not disclose too much information about the users, the regulators stated that AT&T was negligent on security safeguards.
Discrimination
Earlier in the year 2019, AT&T telecom company was forced to part with $23.8 million after the investigations revealed that the company had been discriminating against people with hearing impairments. Accusations stated that AT&T discriminated by not offering equal communication accommodations like American Sign Language and video relay services. In the settlement, AT&T committed to reviewing and enhancing its policies and increasing accessibility initiatives for the deaf and hard-of-hearing population to deliver compliant services.
These are some of the major categories of accusations that AT&T has faced for various wrongdoings such as deceptive marketing, overcharging, and privacy and discrimination issues about various telecommunication services. Different authorities and consumers have instigated legal cases and probes in a bid to address these business practices and policies of AT&T. The size of the allegations and the settlements suggest that there have been some significant problems with how AT&T behaves and treats its consumers as seen by critics and consumer rights activists.
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