Should unlimited data plans from the phone company have restrictions? Well, T-Mobile subscriber Trent Alvarez does not think so. He claims that no place in his agreement does T-Mobile USA reveal the cap on their unlimited data plans. Mr. Alvarez surpassed 10GB and T-Mobile then constrained his data throughput to 50Kbps.  Mr. Alzarez is claiming that T-Mobile is using false advertising when marketing it’s unlimited data plans and is filing a class action lawsuit in California.

Mr. Alvarez’s lawsuit states that after his data throughput was capped his phone became “essentially useless for anything other than making or receiving phone calls and text messages”. This is what is described as bandwidth throttling. In essence the data service provider boasts unrestricted usage but later, after a contract is signed, alludes to the small print on the very last page of its brochure revealing that the data feed is in fact capped.

The brochure states that, “Your data session may be slowed, suspended, terminated, or restricted if you use your service in a way that interferes with or impacts our network or ability to provide quality service to other users.”

So, are customers being misled by phone companies statements of unlimited data and phone use? The T-Mobile class action lawsuit thinks so. “Consumers are likely to be misled by T-Mobile’s promise of ‘unlimited’ data” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit is trying to get an injunction against further deceptive marketing together with monetary restitution for any money consumers spent on the company’s phone plans and smart phones.

If you recall there was a similar suit filed against Verizon a few years back in New York. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo alleged that the corporation had limited data usage even though they offered unlimited plans. Ultimately Verizon settled out of court for $1 million. It should be interesting to see how T-Mobile responds in this situation.