Throttling

Deliberately reducing your connection speed once you pass a data threshold, while keeping you connected.

Throttled speeds vary a lot in practice. Around 1 Mbps, messaging, maps, and email still work and video streaming does not. At 512 kbps, most things beyond messaging become frustrating.

Throttling is not the same as being cut off, and providers lean on that distinction in their marketing. Check the throttled speed as well as the cap — the gap between 1 Mbps and 512 kbps is the difference between a usable and an unusable connection.