unlimited data

AT&T has some 17 million customers with "unlimited data" plans that can be subject to throttling, or the placement of virtual wheel clamps that slow download speed dramatically. What's surprising customers is how little data use it takes to reach that level -- sometimes less than AT&T gives people on its "limited" plans.

Active smartphone users better get used to an ugly buzzword: throttling. AT&T has begun slowing down the most voracious 5% of its data users. And while cell carriers may feel they have to push back against the bandwidth hogs, the customer response may be more than they bargained for.

Want to pay by the day and surf on a 4G network? T-Mobile's got you covered. The nation's fourth-largest mobile carrier, in an effort to attract a new batch of cost-conscious customers, has announced new daily and monthly plans for its 4G network.

Come October, customers among the top 5% of AT&T's data users in any given billing period will be subjected to reduced access speeds. Rival Verizon introduced a similar policy earlier this year. With the smartphone market all but locked up between these two players -- and AT&T moving to acquire T-Mobile -- this is an ominous development indeed.

This may have been a holiday-shortened trading week, but there were plenty of financial nuggets that kept stocks moving. Let's go over some of the news from Netflix, Verizon, Immucor and more that shaped this abridged week in the markets.

Verizon Wireless stores were braced for a crushing wave of customers seeking the newly available Verizon iPhone Thursday. But thanks to a strong pre-order campaign, the crowds were lighter than expected, and happy shoppers got their phones quickly.

The Apple blogosphere is buzzing with what seems to be solid evidence that finally Verizon will be offering an iPhone to run on its network. The long-expected announcement would be the biggest thing to hit the wireless business since the first iPhone itself. Here are five things it would mean.

Verizon is considering expanding its wireless data pricing plans to include rates based on the speed at which data is delivered -- potentially adding yet another layer of complexity to the rapidly evolving systems by which customers are charged for consuming mobile data.

Verizon Wireless is sending out notices to existing customers in select markets, informing them they're eligible for a discounted plan that will give them unlimited text, mobile-to-mobile calls, data and 450 minutes of talk time for $69.99 a month -- but not everyone is eligible.

The New York Times will soon charge, AT&T is ceasing unlimited data usage for iPhones and not all video will be free on Hulu. It's slowly sinking in that even online, free can't compete with paid and unlimited can't compete with tiered. It's the end of an era.