New York Reaches Settlement With T-Mobile Over Low-Income Internet Data Caps
New York government officials have reached a settlement with T-Mobile regarding allegations that the carrier illegally throttled home internet speeds for low-income households. According to Ars Technica, an investigation determined the company violated state law by imposing restrictive data caps and limiting plan availability to specific network areas while obscuring enrollment details from search engines.
Context from Industry Pulse
The settlement highlights the ongoing friction between state-level affordability mandates and wireless carrier business models. New York's Affordable Broadband Act survived a four-year legal challenge from industry groups, including the CTIA, before enforcement began in 2025. The T-Mobile investigation, which lasted 18 months, underscores the technical ways providers may attempt to limit the impact of subsidized plans, such as restricting services to 5G-only zones or using metadata to hide enrollment pages from search results. This case establishes a precedent that data caps and throttling below 25 Mbps are incompatible with New York's definition of high-speed broadband for eligible households, forcing a shift in how fixed wireless providers manage network resources for low-income tiers.
T-Mobile has agreed to modify its affordable home internet offerings following a state investigation into compliance with the New York Affordable Broadband Act. As Ars Technica reports, the probe conducted by the Attorney General and the Department of Public Service found that the carrier was imposing a 50 GB monthly data cap on plans intended for low-income residents. Once customers reached this limit, their connection speeds were drastically reduced from the required 25 Mbps to just 600 Kbps.
The investigation determined that these restrictions effectively exhausted a typical user's data allowance in approximately four days. Furthermore, state officials alleged that T-Mobile limited these mandated plans to areas with 5G coverage, even though the company offered standard-priced services in 4G regions that met the state's minimum speed requirements. The carrier also reportedly used website code to prevent search engines from indexing the pages containing eligibility and enrollment information for these subsidized plans.
Under the terms of the settlement, T-Mobile must eliminate the 50 GB data caps and remove the associated speed throttling within 120 days. The agreement also requires the company to expand the availability of these low-income plans to more geographic regions and improve the transparency of its enrollment process. While the company is updating its service to meet these state mandates, it did not formally admit to any legal violations in the settlement documentation.
This enforcement action follows a lengthy legal battle over the Affordable Broadband Act, which requires providers with significant customer bases to offer high-speed access to eligible households for as low as 15 dollars per month. Ars Technica notes that the law stood after the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge from industry lobby groups. T-Mobile stated it is committed to helping New Yorkers stay connected and will maintain the required low pricing while clarifying its offerings.
The Industry Pulse Bottom Line
T-Mobile must remove data limits and expand low-income plan access in New York. This enforcement signals that state regulators will scrutinize technical restrictions like throttling and geofencing that undermine affordable connectivity mandates.