AT&T will implement an Internet data use limit for all of its users starting May 2. AT&T has confirmed that the data limit will affect about two percent of its users, but that number can change depending on Internet activity.

AT&T says it will apply a 150GB monthly limit on its regular DSL customers and a 250GB limit on its U-Verse (upgraded internet service) high-speed Internet customers. A $10 overage fee will be charged for every additional 50GB (one gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes) of data exceeded. Two grace periods are offered, meaning overage fees won’t be charged the first two times the limit is exceeded. Once the two periods are used, the subscriber will be charged for overages. 

The letters of notifications were sent on March 18 to give customers a heads up on the changes that are to come. 150GB is a big chunk of space, so most people don’t have to be concerned about exceeding their limits.

 Let’s say a person likes to watch movies online. Does it affect data usage? Of course it does, but an average 85-100 minute movie only takes up about 700 MB. To exceed the limit, computer users would have to put effort into using such amount.

“The urge for the change by AT&T is due to less than 2 percent users who are using a disproportioned amount of bandwidth… just one of these high-traffic users can utilize the same amount of user capacity as 19 typical households. With such usage, internet activity can be caught in a network congestion that slows down Internet speeds.”, said AT&T Representative Seth Bloom on enGadget.com . 

According to AT&T, this new plan addresses another of their concerns: customers believe that those who use the most bandwidth should pay more than those who don’t use as much.