• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, July 2, 2015

Earlier this week, Sprint proudly trumpeted its new “All-In” plan, which offered consumers a smartphone and unlimited high-speed data, text and voice, all for $80 a month.

There was just one catch: The company revealed in the small print that it would throttle video speeds to 600 Kbps.

A company spokesperson says that Sprint chose that speed “because it was demonstrated to provide a high-quality video experience while also preserving as much bandwidth as possible for other users.”

But observers say that it's difficult at best to stream video at the dial-up speed of 600 Kbps. Netflix recommends a connection of at least 1.2 Mbps, but says the minimum speed required is 500 Kbps, according to The Register.

As a practical matter, however, customers almost certainly would have found it frustrating to access video through services like Netflix, HBO Go or live-streaming apps like Periscope, while on Sprint's network.

By Tuesday night, just hours after launching the new plan, a flurry of complaints from Web users forced Sprint to backtrack.

"We heard you loud and clear, and we are removing the 600 kbps limitation on streaming video," CEO Marcelo Claure said in a tweet.

At the same time, the company appears to reserve the right to manage congestion by throttling subscribers. “To improve data experience for the majority of users, throughput may be limited, varied or reduced on the network,” Sprint now says on its site.

The controversy over the new All-In plan erupted just two weeks after Sprint promised to reverse a 2014 policy of throttling its heaviest data users. “Upon review, and to ensure that our practices are consistent with the FCC's net neutrality rules, we determined that the network management technique was not needed to ensure a quality experience for the majority of customers,” the company said at the time.