T-Mobile Faces Consequences for Restricting Low-Income Internet Access
The New York state government has reached an agreement with T-Mobile that mandates the company improve the terms of its internet packages for low-income customers. According to an official investigation, the telecommunications giant violated local legislation requiring providers to offer affordable, high-quality connectivity to low-income households.
What did T-Mobile violate?
The dispute concerns the Affordable Broadband Act (ABA), which came into effect in New York in January 2025. Under this law, internet providers with at least 20,000 customers in the state must offer low-income families internet at $15 for speeds of at least 25 Mbps, or $20 for 200 Mbps.
The investigation found that T-Mobile imposed a 50 GB limit on these packages. Once this threshold was reached, speeds dropped critically to 600 Kbps, which is effectively a service disconnection by modern standards. The New York Attorney General’s office stated that the average user exhausted this limit in just four days.
Artificial barriers and hidden information
Beyond speed throttling, T-Mobile restricted these packages to addresses where 5G coverage was available. Consequently, residents in 4G-only zones were denied social benefits, despite having access to the company’s standard, more expensive plans.
The company also attempted to complicate access to information about these discounted packages. Investigators discovered that T-Mobile added specific restrictions to its website code to prevent search engines like Google from indexing the page. This prevented users from easily finding information about services they were legally entitled to.
What changes for the consumer?
Under the agreement, T-Mobile is required to remove data caps and artificial speed throttles within 120 days. The company must also ensure these packages are available at every address where it sells fixed wireless internet, regardless of whether 5G coverage is present.
Furthermore, T-Mobile must simplify access to information and allow search engines to crawl the relevant webpage. While the company signed the agreement, it did not officially admit to violating the law. This is not the first time T-Mobile has drawn the attention of New York authorities; last month, the company was fined and forced to pay millions of dollars in compensation for illegal price hikes on various plans.
This case serves as an important precedent in the fight against digital inequality. It demonstrates that technology corporations attempting to bypass state regulations to cut costs will face stricter monitoring and legal accountability in the future.