The word “unlimited” may dominate the telecoms market, but unlimited data does not necessarily mean unlimited speed. It appears that asterisks still apply, as providers continue to throttle speeds when data use exceeds certain limits.
According to figures in the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission’s (EETT) 2025-2026 Open Internet Report, 35 unlimited-data plans subject to fair-use policies with speed restrictions were recorded in 2025.
Throttling on unlimited plans
These restrictions are not confined to one type of connection, but are found in mobile telephony, fixed wireless access and satellite internet services. Of the 35 plans recorded, 25 were mobile plans, accounting for 71% of the total. They were followed by eight fixed wireless access (FWA) plans delivered over mobile networks, with a 23% share, while the remaining two plans, or 6%, were satellite connections.
The most common fair-use limit was 300 GB per month, after which download speeds were reduced to around 8 Mbps. This meant that, although data use remained unlimited, subscribers could continue browsing the internet at significantly lower speeds.
At the same time, the report says some mobile network operators applied additional congestion-management measures targeting specific user groups, such as those with high data use or users of 4G/5G FWA services.
How fixed and mobile internet speeds changed
Meanwhile, internet access speeds appear to have improved, with the largest gains recorded on fixed connections. According to measurements from EETT’s YPERION system, the average download speed reached 163.82 Mbps in 2025, up 47.66% from 2024. Upload speeds rose even more sharply, increasing by 219.21% to 80.38 Mbps.
Mobile networks also improved, although at a slower pace. According to Ookla figures cited in the report, the average download speed reached 162.97 Mbps, up 18.58% year on year, while the average upload speed stood at 25.11 Mbps, an increase of 8.84%.
Network response times also improved, with average latency on fixed connections falling to 24.67 milliseconds (ms) in 2025, from 29.54 ms in 2024, according to YPERION measurements. That was a 16.51% decline, while average latency on mobile networks stood at 29.4 ms, down 6.87%, based on Ookla figures.
Subscriber complaints and speed discrepancies
EETT figures also show that a total of 205,955 complaints about connection speeds and performance were recorded in 2025 for providers OTE, Vodafone, Nova and Inalan. Of these, 143,021 concerned fixed connections and 62,934 mobile connections.
Finally, 140,655 checks were carried out for discrepancies in connection speeds, of which 92,222 concerned fixed connections and 48,433 mobile connections. Discrepancies were confirmed in 137,649 cases, of which 89,220 concerned fixed connections and 48,429 mobile connections.