Court Tosses Suit Accusing AT&T Of Throttling Unlimited Cellphone Data

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit by federal officials that claimed AT&T misled millions of smartphone customers with unlimited data plans who had their Internet speeds cut.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday that AT&T was exempt from the prohibition against unfair and deceptive practices that the Federal Trade Commission cited in its 2014 lawsuit.

AT&T said it informed all unlimited data-plan customers about the practice well before it was implemented.

The FTC did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The FTC said AT&T failed to adequately disclose that it would reduce customers' data speeds if they used more than a certain amount of data in a billing period.

The Federal Communications Commission fined AT&T $100 million for the practice last year.