FCC Questions Verizon Plan to Throttle Some Unlimited Data Customers

[bushido]

4.7GB is considered high usage..?

the avg. user uses about 500 mb to 1GB at least over here id say.

i get 1.2 GB LTE a month before i get throttled to 64kbs on my plan for the rest of the month but thankfully i havent reached it yet in the year i have had it

i guess its also part of their strategy which is actually kinda smart. if you know theres a limit on how much data u can use before u get potentially throttled you think twice before you start playing a video

 

[Jumpie]

Do some research as this has been gone over and over again about why AT&T can throttle at a cap and VZW can't.

When VZW bought the spectrum through auction, Google wanted certain criteria to be met and bid just enough on the 700n MHz for VZW to bid higher. VZW bid higher and has to play by certain rules for this spectrum; other carriers don't have this agreement or spectrum.

While true that most of Net Neutrality has been struck down in court, this is different. This is coded into law: Code of Federal Regulations. This is what VZW bought into and has to abide by it.

Specifically, 47 CFR 27.16 (c)(1) which can be found in its entirety here. It's not a long read either. Or, if you prefer, here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title47-vol2/pdf/CFR-2011-title47-vol2-sec27-16.pdf

 

[MyDataMyProbs]

I love how Verizon claim their problem is with "high data users in cell cities experiencing high demand".

Yet if you're in one such city, and suppose you're very rich, on a normal 5 GB plan and use 500 GB a month and pay whatever the extra 495 GB cost, they're fine with it and won't throttle you.

So really their problem isn't that you're a "high data user in cell cities experiencing high demand". It's that they regret entering into a contract with you where you didn't have to pay extra for that and now they're trying to unilaterally change the terms of the contract to make more money.

in a lot of words, yes. they put their foot in their mouths many years ago offering uimited and now they are pissed because of all the money they are missing. even though every phone company is worth BILLIONS. what pisses me off is them getting rid if subsidized phones. I liked signing a 2 year contract and getting a 200$ phone. I was debating if I could afford a 5.5 128Gb model iPhone. if I have to pay full price, I know I can't. it'll be like 1200$. I was already upset with 499!!!!! but, was going to do it. of course.

 

[abemonkey]

This is obviously a political maneuver so that consumers will see the FCC as actually protecting us before they destroy neutrality next year.

 

[76ShovelHead]

My uncle always mentions his grandfathered status with Verizon, and how I should switch. I know Sprint isn't the best (horrible coverage), but when I needed a cell phone they were the least greedy with the security deposit ($100 with Sprint vs $400 with Verizon for an iPhone 4s ) and continue to be so. Every time I experience an issue (like roaming IN MY OWN HOUSE) they knock another $25 off the bill. Best part is I don't have to worry about data.

 

[kenroberts83]

They should just cancel their unlimited plans, or no longer call them "unlimited". Personally, I think it's a bit ridiculous that people are using cellphone connections for at-home internet use. I wouldn't want to pay the same rate as some idiot that is using BitTorrent from his cellphone's wifi hotspot.

Truly unlimited data may have a future, but it's not any time soon.

 

[snebes]

I don't understand why the FCC is concerned now that Verizon is trying to throttle, yet didn't when the other carriers started doing it?!?

Tom Wheeler has Verizon. Simple as that.

 

[yeah]

But when a person signs up for their More Everything plan, the throttling disappears...

What a great way to BS your way of making an extra dime from your customers, Verizon.

 

[Sproctor61]

Aren't at least some of the other carriers already doing something similar on at least some of the (older/unlimited) plans they have?

My wife and I (years ago) had the Unlimited data plan at at&t and yes, eventually they did start throttling us.

 

[solamar]

I don't remember the FCC uproar when At&t did the same thing. Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken....please.

FCC is able to enforce an agreement they have that Verizon made to get an ass load of low-band spectrum.. That agreement is also why all Verizon LTE phones and Tablets come unlocked and can be used on other GSM carriers w/o unlocking. I do exactly that with my iPad Air.

They have no way to enforce it directly with ATT or any other carrier.

 

[e-coli]

Let me know when bet neutrality goes through, Mr. Wheeler. Otherwise this smells of placation.

 

[ayeying]

Any chance AT&T will be gone after next? I want full speed on my unrestricted, unlimited data; Not restricted with no data limit data plan.

 

[C DM]

But when a person signs up for their More Everything plan, the throttling disappears...

What a great way to BS your way of making an extra dime from your customers, Verizon.

Because there's a limit on the current plans and overage charges if those come into play vs. there being no limit on the older unlimited plans where someone can essentially abuse the infrastructure.

 

[bunnicula]

I don't understand why the FCC is concerned now that Verizon is trying to throttle, yet didn't when the other carriers started doing it?!?

My thoughts exactly. AT&T has been pulling that crap on me for years.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Any chance AT&T will be gone after next? I want full speed on my unrestricted, unlimited data; Not restricted with no data limit data plan.

Hopefully. That's the only incentive why I keep my at&t unlimited data plan. One day they just might make it truly unlimited. Maybe the FCC will intervene.

 

[827538]

Two things I don't envy the yanks for, ISP's and Mobile operators - no competition, horrendously overpriced, poor customer and operating service, little choice, little consumer protection.

While the UK was slow rolling out 4G I'm glad to see that solid competition has at least kept rates reasonable. I'm looking at an unlimited everything 4G contract from Three for £23 and even that could probably be haggled down to £20ish.

Really hope Net Neutrality isn't abandoned as that would be an utter disaster, how can the big ISP's even get away with extorting the likes of Netflix? Shouldn't it be a case of regulators enforcing the rules before debating net neutrality rather than the other way round? Can't believe Verizon actually sued the government to change the law on net neutrality AND the head of your FCC is a former telecoms chairman/lobbyist... and I thought our politics was broken .

 

[cocky jeremy]

All a good reason to go SIM-free, and go with T-Mobile.

If there was ANY sort of T-Mobile service here, believe me, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd gladly take lesser service just to use them but they literally have nothing here. Just slow "partner" areas.

 

[C DM]

Not in the US.

AT&T unlimited plan has 5GB then it states it was throttle speeds.

Verizon's plan is to throttle at "peak times". This can happen whenever Verizon feels like it, regardless of your data usage.

I believe it can be at peak times if you are a user of a high amount of data (around 5 GB of more). So pretty similar to AT&T. That said...

My thoughts exactly. AT&T has been pulling that crap on me for years.

It seems that where the difference might be is in the agreement that Verizon has with FCC in relation to spectrum it purchased for LTE.

 

[HarryWarden]

So does Verizon no longer offer unlimited plans? I'm on and always have been on their basic 2 GB plan as I rarely use more than 1 GB per month. I'd use more but knowing that I'm on such a plan, I don't. I know some people at work just use their phone for home internet usage so they use loads of data. I only use my phone's data when waiting at the doctor's office and other places that still don't offer Wi-Fi along with the occasional time when my home internet goes out of service for a few hours.

Also, by throttling, what kind of speeds do people get who are being throttled? It still could be better than what some people get with their home internet who live in rural areas.

 

[seamer]

The more concerning scenarios are Netflix striking deals with ISPs to guarantee bandwidth. FCC should be focusing efforts to eliminate those sorts of deals... unless Netflix is a Comcast or ATT subscriber.

The more concerning scenarios are Netflix being blackmailed into paying ransoms to ISPs to guarantee bandwidth, instead of ISPs working with Netflix to both improve delivery and lower total costs. All they need to do is add some servers inside the ISP's network, even if they're not caches. You can still load them with the trending popular stuff to reduce incoming data.

 

[Alisstar]

This leads me to believe that the FCC uses Verizon and not AT&T. Because otherwise, why care now about throttling all of the sudden?

 

[Bill Av]

Why not go after the electric companies?

Let's say that I want to run my air conditioner 24/7. I couldn't, because my bill would be outrageous. Why are people down on cell phone companies for trying to operate the same way?

Seriously. I'm genuinely curious - I fear that my Unlimited Data Plan will be taken away, and I'd like to see holes poked in this reasoning. Go nuts, please .

 

[Maverick1337]

When I was using unlimited on AT&T until just recently (had to change the plan == unlimited got yanked as result), I was doing 19gb/month. 4.7gb seems VERY low for tech savvy users.

How did you get anything done after the 5GB throttle cap? If I go over 5GB in a month I instantly get throtted down to 0.5mbps for the rest of the month, which is slow as **** and nothing loads. Getting 15 gigs at that speed is quite a feat.

 

[campyguy]

If Verizon really wants to get rid of unlimited data that badly, why not just yank it away. All of the contracts have expired for those with unlimited. There is no law that says they have to grandfather your plan.

There's no rational answer to this, coming from a holder of 53 UL data lines on VZW's network. It's cheaper for me to "just pay the bill" than pay a guy to monitor my employee's usage, pay an accountant to bill usage per client, and log in-and-out of my 6 accounts to monitor and adjust data use, anticipate next month's data usage, etc., etc., etc.

I don't qualify for a corporate-liable account - I'd need 80-100 lines. So, what VZW is facing is me taking 45-50 of my lines to Cricket or GoPhone - similar coverage for my region and losing $4000 per month of revenue. A few of my friends and I met over the weekend to see "what works for them" and they're all on GFed VZW UL data lines. We don't abuse the data, but VZW is forcing us to re-visit our bottom lines - ATTWS-based MVNOs are cheaper on the bottom line (not including overhead), offer similar coverage, and are about as easy to deal with on the phone - and, we can re-use our unlocked VZW iOS devices.

If VZW would yank our lines away, they'd lose about $20k of business from me and my friends - tomorrow. I'd keep one or two of my VZW lines, but go GSM with everything else. I'd still lose money because of my having to micromanage everything.

IMO VZW needs to cut off the users that use 100GB to 500GB of data each month, braggarts that spout off on forums like Howardforums. Even if I was a guy with 2-5 lines, having to check my bill for my kid's usage would be a major PITA. Data costs less than 20 cents per GB - delivered. VZW has gone on the record indicating that LTE is 6 times more efficient than EVDO. VZW has sold several billion dollars of unused lower block spectrum to ATTWS, USCC, and TMO - but our bills don't go down. After seeing the $4.3B reported as profit by VZW this past quarter, I have little empathy for them.

None of this is directed at you. If VZW cuts me off, I'll cut them off. And three of my four friends, all small business owners (170 lines between us), will do the same. Simple as that.

 

[tasset]

Let's say that I want to run my air conditioner 24/7. I couldn't, because my bill would be outrageous. Why are people down on cell phone companies for trying to operate the same way?

Seriously. I'm genuinely curious - I fear that my Unlimited Data Plan will be taken away, and I'd like to see holes poked in this reasoning. Go nuts, please .

Because the ISP's (both the wireless and wireline) do NOT want to be treated as utiltity providers., even though it would be good for both themselves AND customers would be treated fairly. Heavier consumers would have to pay more and lower users would not have to subsidize the others. But the carriers want their cake and eat it too. They want it to be like a gym membership where you sign up and pay a monthly fee and hopefully can deter you from using it. Being a utility would force them to compete on service and invest more on infrastructure,