What is the top 5%?  How much data puts me in the top 5%?  I might receive a text message warning me that I am getting close, but how much more data am I actually allowed to use?  How much is my speed reduced?  I don't want to hear what it is equivalent to.  I want to know exactly what my data speeds now are. 

Any commercial ATT produces bragging about the speed of its network is basically a lie.  The network is only fast if nobody uses it!

 There is no way for the consumer to verify what the "Top 5 percent" actually uses, and what data levels ATT deems acceptable.  This is merely an arbitrary degradation of service.  I signed a contract for an unlimited data plan.  I paid for a 4Gs iphone, but because I actually make use of my phone, ATT has decided that rather than pay to upgrade the capacity of its wireless network, it will simply degrade my service and save the money. 

This problem will only grow worse with time.  Anyone short-sighted enough to think that they "don't need that much bandwidth" should have their smartphone taken away from them now.  As new and more exciting Apps and other phone related data products are invented and offered, the data usage will continue to climb.  Throttling data speeds is a temporary fix for ATT that will only create a future nightmare.  More and more people will simply be unable to take advantage of the virtually limitless uses of a smartphone.  If you think that this doesn't apply to you, you are flat wrong.