T-Mobile will now punish customers who abuse unlimited data

T-Mobile issued a warning to customers: stop taking unlimited data to ridiculous extremes. CEO John Legere has publicly called out "a fraction of a percent" of users who've been sucking down hundreds or even thousands of gigabytes of data each month. But these customers aren't using all of that data on their smartphones alone; instead, T-Mobile claims they've come up with ways to conceal mobile tethering and hotspot usage.

Tethering allows customers to get other devices (PCs, tablets, etc.) online using their smartphone data plan. "We are going after a small group of users who are stealing data so blatantly and extremely that it is ridiculous," Legere wrote. T-Mobile says it has developed technology that can now detect when customers who've reached the tethering limit are "stealing" extra gigabytes from their phone's plan. Starting August 31, those users will receive a warning from the Uncarrier imploring them to stop immediately. Failing to heed that warning will result in customers being permanently kicked off of T-Mobile's unlimited data plan and moved onto the company's entry-level (and tiered) package.