Data Prioritization and Deprioritization on the AT&T Network
Some of AT&T’s services are prioritized ahead of others. When AT&T’s network is congested, subscribers using prioritized services will have better data speeds. Prioritization policies shouldn’t affect users’ experiences when AT&T’s network is not congested.
AT&T’s official information about prioritization can be hard to make sense of. Below, I list my best guesses about which AT&T services are prioritized.
Prioritized services
Plans offered directly by AT&T:
- Plans with the AT&T Turbo add-on (QCI 7)
- AT&T Elite 2.0 (QCI 8)
- AT&T Premium 2.0 (QCI 8)
Plans offered by other carriers that run over AT&T’s network:
- Cricket More (QCI 8)
- Most Cricket fixed-data plans (QCI 8)
- Consumer Cellular (QCI 8)
- PureTalk (QCI 8)
- H2O (QCI 8)
- US Mobile Unlimited Premium on the Dark Star network (QCI 8)
- US Mobile Dark Star plans with the priority data add-on (QCI 8)
Deprioritized services
Plans offered directly by AT&T:
- Unlimited Starter SL (QCI 9)
- Internet Air (Residential) (QCI 9)
Plans offered by other carriers that run over AT&T’s network:
- Cricket Core (QCI 9)
FirstNet
AT&T operates a program called FirstNet that’s available to first responders, some government officials, and others that may be called on in an emergency. FirstNet subscribers may be prioritized ahead of other subscribers on other AT&T services (including services I list as “prioritized”). For more details about the program, see FirstNet’s website.
Article last updated: May 2026