The end of the world is in October!  Just kidding, it isn’t really, but if you’re an AT&T unlimited subscriber, it might seem like the end of the world.   The surge of internet use on mobile phones and tablets, due to video streaming and millions of  app downloads, has been taking a toll on AT&T’s network as more customers are experiencing really crappy internet connections, with more time is being spent on buffering videos rather than actually watching them.  So AT&T came up with a plan to throttle wireless service for the heaviest data users on unlimited plans.

Beginning Oct. 1, AT&T said the top five percent of data consumers on its unlimited data plan will see traffic slow to a crawl. These are long-time subscribers who were able to keep unlimited plans even after June, 2010, when AT&T stopped offering them.

Some analysts have stated that ISPs should not be blamed for internet problems because it’s the rise in smartphones and excessive network signaling of handsets for its bandwidth that’s causing the problems.  AT&T adds to this by stating that issues with devices and software might just as well be to blame for what are often labeled “network problems.”

“New applications come online all the time, each contributing new reporting data and metrics to a network awash in information.  All these devices, new and old, interact in a myriad number of ways that can be very hard to predict,” writes Jennifer Yates on the AT&T Labs blog.

So what is the solution for the ‘network problems?’  AT&T seems to think that the merger with T-Mobile is the solution.

“The planned combination of AT&T and T-Mobile is the fastest and surest way to handle the challenge of increasing demand and improving network quality for customers,” said AT&T.

But as reported before, consumers and politicians are opposing this as this merger could only end up making subscribers pay more for their offered service.  On a recent interview with Senator Al Franken, he is convinced that AT&T has not exhausted all possible options of improving their services and that the company is only focused on the T-Mobile merger.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) wrote: “I am not convinced that AT&T has effectively managed or used its available spectrum to improve service for its customers, AT&T owns more spectrum than any other company, yet AT&T has been plagued with delays in rolling out infrastructure to support spectrum it has been allocated.”

AT&T’s announcement could be seen as a desperate act so the merger will push through.  If consumers are threatened with having limited internet access on their mobile devices and the only solution to prevent this from happening is the T-Mobile merger, then people will likely support the merger and not hinder AT&T’s ultimate plan.  Quite remarkable actually.  With a desperate act that will lead to the desperation of consumers, they could actually win this one.

If AT&T is putting a limit on subscribers’ plans, other ISPs are going the other direction.  Sprint will be launching Phone Connect, which allows customers to port their existing home or office numbers to Sprint’s service, on August 11, as part of their  Sprint Biz 360 initiative.  And as for Verizon, the company is pushing for their 4G technology on both Apple devices and Android devices which proved to be a good strategy as more consumers are coming to Verizon for their quality of service.  If AT&T’s plan doesn’t work, we can safely conclude that their subscribers will be transferring to other carrier networks with better, more transparent optios.