AT&T
has
a
new
optional
feature
for
some
of
its
plans.
It’s
called
Turbo,
and
for
$7
per
month,
it
provides
“better
speed
and
stability”
for
a
line
of
service
by
upgrading
your
data
plan
to
“performance
data.”
AT&T
pitches
it
as
an
add-on
to
help
with
demanding
applications,
like
gaming.
Okay,
but
what
exactly
is
“performance
data?”
It’s
kind
of
unclear.
But
we
can
sort
of
piece
it
together
based
on
what
it
isn’t.
If
you
were
hoping
Turbo
could
help
boost
service
on
a
prepaid
or
entry-level
postpaid
plan,
I
have
bad
news.
It’s
only
available
on
a
handful
of
AT&T’s
postpaid
plans:
Unlimited
Premium
PL,
Unlimited
Extra
EL,
and
Unlimited
Elite.
They’re
already
some
of
AT&T’s
fanciest
and
priciest
plans,
with
lots
of
hotspot
data
and
“premium
data”
that
isn’t
subject
to
slowdowns
when
the
network
is
busy.
Additionally,
Turbo
only
applies
to
your
plan’s
included
data
allotment
—
if
you
run
out
of
hotspot
or
premium
data,
you’re
still
subject
to
slower
speeds.
Turbo
isn’t
making
use
of
next-gen
technology
like
L4S
to
make
connections
more
stable,
either.
According
to
Erin
Scarborough,
senior
vice
president
of
consumer
product
for
AT&T,
“L4S
technology
is
not
used
today
but
we
do
plan
to
continue
to
advance
and
evolve
AT&T
Turbo
in
the
future.”
The
Mobile
Report
suggests
that
Turbo
just
bumps
customers
up
to
a
higher
tier
of
service,
or
what’s
known
as
Quality
of
Service
Class
Indicator
(QCI).
Under
the
hood,
wireless
networks
assign
these
priority
tiers
to
different
kinds
of
network
traffic.
Some
AT&T
customers
worked
out
that
their
wireless
data
QCI
levels
were
recently
bumped
down
a
tier.
So
is
AT&T
just
selling
people
back
speed
that
used
to
be
included
in
their
plans?
AT&T,
unsurprisingly,
claims
that’s
not
the
case.
Scarborough
explains:
“Although
AT&T
Turbo
currently
is
assigned
to
a
QCI
to
which
some
of
our
consumer
traffic
previously
was
assigned,
we’ve
materially
modified
it
and
increased
network
resources
and
relative
weighting
for
AT&T
Turbo
traffic,
thereby
creating
a
higher
level
of
performance
than
we’ve
ever
before
offered
to
consumers.”
Fine.
That
still
doesn’t
completely
explain
what
performance
data
is,
but
if
nothing
else,
the
whole
thing
is
a
reminder
that
there’s
always
more
to
your
wireless
carrier’s
terms
than
meets
the
eye.
Don’t
even
get
me
started
on
“unlimited.”
(Originally posted by Allison Johnson)
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