There's a huge difference between 100Mbps and 64Kbps, and throttling the former to the latter has earned Austrian ISP "Optus" a date with a judge.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Optus misled consumers with its "Supersonic" and "Think Bigger" broadband plans, violating the Trade Practices Act in the process. The ACCC points out 11 television, print, billboard, and Internet advertisements claiming the Supersonic services are "four times faster than standard broadband," but fail to disclose the almost dial-up speeds for users who chew through their monthly data limit.

The data caps sit at 50GB for peak hours (12am to 12pm) and 70GB for off-peak hours (12pm to 12am), and those who go over will see their supersonic 100Mbps throttled to a super slow 64Kbps. Absent, however, are any excess usage charges.

Even so, the ACCC "alleges that Optus engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made false representations in relation to the advertising of certain broadband plans." To help with their case, regulators plan to call in an expert to examine the practical differences between 100Mbps and 64Kbps by going over what services and apps can be realistically be used on each speed grade.

This isn't the first time Optus' advertising practices have landed the company in hot water. Back in June, the ACCC took Optus to court on similar charges for using the word "unlimited" to describe voice and data plans that had usage caps and prices.

Citing a Sprint-Nextel spokesman, The Wall Street Journal reports that laptop users who find themselves frequently roaming will soon have to contend with a strict data cap. Smartphone users will still be able to consume the same amount of bandwidth as before, but those with mobile broadband cards or USB modems are going to see some changes, the spokesman said.

Road warriors lugging around their laptops already face a 5GB monthly cap when within the network and 300MB while roaming, but starting July 11, excessive data roaming could result in suspended accounts until the next billing cycle. That is, unless a customer antes up for a data plan that includes extra charges for off-network data consumption.

Sprint isn't alone in looking to limit data usage. AT&T recently changed its unlimited data plan into a tiered pricing model with defined limits, and T-Mobile also is limiting excessive use on its network. That leaves Verizon as the sole major U.S. carrier without an altered data policy, though company execs said they're open to tiered pricing based on usage, WSJ reports.