I think you just nailed it in one word: "entitled". Todays "entitlement" mentality is the root of all this complaining. Folks seem to not understand that they ARE still getting data so it IS unlimited. Another option would be for the carriers to just raise their cost by 5 times and let everyone have those plans and let everyone suffer when the network gets congested. Or since VZW dropped those plans years ago, they could just NOT allow grandfathered at all. Once your contract is up they could change your plan to whatever they wanted to. You either re-up at the then current plan, stay on month-to-month with the then current plan, or jump ship. They actually did folks a solid by allowing grandfathering at all.
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Verizon to Begin Spot Throttling of High-Usage Customers on Unlimited LTE Plans
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I think you just nailed it in one word: "entitled". Todays "entitlement" mentality is the root of all this complaining. Folks seem to not understand that they ARE still getting data so it IS unlimited. Another option would be for the carriers to just raise their cost by 5 times and let everyone have those plans and let everyone suffer when the network gets congested. Or since VZW dropped those plans years ago, they could just NOT allow grandfathered at all. Once your contract is up they could change your plan to whatever they wanted to. You either re-up at the then current plan, stay on month-to-month with the then current plan, or jump ship. They actually did folks a solid by allowing grandfathering at all.
I don't. Its time to sue Verizon for false advertising among other things. These plans were never sold with an * saying until we feel like charging you more.
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Yes, actually they are entitled to the plans they bought. Since you only know the Republican definition of entitled let me educate you with the correct definition.
Entitled
- give (someone) a legal right or a just claim to receive or do something.
Just not when it comes at some effects on the others.Why wouldn't he. It's god damn UNLIMITED data plan
Unlimited data, not unlimited top-tier speed. They are not cutting off the data, simply lowering the rate of flow.
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It's not false advertising. They are responsibly managing THEIR network for ALL of their customers. They can't let the few ruin it for the many. They are not cutting off the data or charging overage fees like most carriers would do, they are honouring the "unlimited data" that they promised, just at a lower speed.
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Don't you think providing unlimited data and having it abused by careless users is a poor way to manage a business' resources? If you were in charge of Verizon's network, how would you handle this? It's a matter of balancing load across all paying customers. If there was truly unlimited bandwidth, then this wouldn't be a problem, but clearly it is a difficult problem to manage properly and keep everyone happy. It agree with the throttling solution.
They technically are unlimited, the speed however is not, and that's how they get away with it
Theres no problem with these high GB users. They're merely using their data and phones to the maximum and that should be acceptable just like any data connection if you want it and pay for that in your contract. Honestly these guys are talking about top 5% which includes many people only using a reasonable amount. I would class anything above 100GB excessive but these guys are talking 4-5GB excessive on UNLIMITED terms.
The phone companies see these users as causing them a problem, would it not be better to offer a plan for these people who enjoy being able to do what they want on an unlimited plan but price it so the users get the same experience no matter how heavy their use?
A user should be able to have a contract honoured no matter what. Holding onto a contract after the minimum period is the phone companies fault, they get to set a minimum term and the user gets to set the maximum term that's FAIR.
I'm pretty much in agreement there...not sure why you might have that reply to one of my posts.
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And it seems like the terms are still being honored as they didn't specify unlimited speeds or have some sort of guarantee of speeds or anything like that.
The link in the article is the same thing I posted. I really feel like everyone on an unlimited data plan is getting throttled OCT 1st.
It wasn't an issue for them before the smartphone surge. You HAD to buy data for things like Blackberry, and there was only one plan: unlimited. Even though before the iPhone the internet on phones was nothing like it is today, and people barely used any data, they didn't mind charging you one flat fee.
That's precisely the reason. There was no need to break down data by some tiers as practically no one would really use more than a very low amount given that their phone wasn't really capable of it anyway. So they offered unlimited since no one could really use up all that much to cause any issues. Once that started changing they started changing the plans as well.
As a side note...
It used to be that you could buy a (non-Blackberry) smartphone for Verizon and use it only over WiFi if you didn't want to pay $40 for unlimited data access.
Then the iPhone proved that the mass public was okay with being REQUIRED to buy a data plan, and that was the end of the option.
The requirement was there well before the iPhone came to Verizon (or even AT&T).
Nope, I had a Samsung i760 that did not require a data plan. And before that, an i730, ditto.
It wasn't until 2008 that Verizon took a page from AT&T / iPhone and started requiring data plans.
I still recall the huge hullabaloo with Verizon smartphone owners when it happened. It was such a big deal, that Verizon grandfathered in many older smartphones that were already in use:
The Palm Centro, Moto Q9c, SMT5800, XV6900, and the SCH-i760, all continued to NOT require a data plan even after the new rule went into effect.
I understand the reasoning behind it, but think of the money they were making off it back then. At about $30 a month for unlimited data, people were barely touching the internet, so the profit margin was off the charts. I understand it's their job to make money, but when they were raking in the dough for years by forcing unlimited plans on people, everything was fine and dandy. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they don't like it.
Well again it was fine and dandy because the infrastructure they had to handle it was just fine. Once they needed to start upgrading it and enhancing it almost constantly it started taking more money from them.
Using the loophole method is going to do what? Stop them from throttling you? I don't think so. Didn't Verizon throttle all their 3G unlimited data customers which many were in contracts. I honestly don't think there is anything we can do. It seems like they are dropping the hammer. For one I don't like it! I know some are saying that it's on month to month customers. But I've yet to find anything from verizon that states that. Maybe you can help me locate that contract customers are excluded from data throttling?
The only people who have been posting that the throttling is only for month to month users have been bloggers. No where on the new updated verizon page does it mention it. And in reading the different threads on Howards, Slick Deal and android Central, alot of people are asking this same question.
One user even called Verizon and the supervisor mentioned that it didn't matter if you were on-contract or off. You would still be throttled, but you can always argue that was the policy for 3G.
Nothing. When I read Droid-Life's post a few days ago it indicated that it would affect month-to-month users. I wanted to use the loophole to extend my contracts. At that time, VZW had not updated their FAQ - and now they have, and I've posted in another thread about this matter that D-L was wrong in that it affects all UL LTE data users. So, the loophole only locks me in on a *cough* optimized contract.
I don't like it either, especially since Comcast sells me a GB for 15-20 cents on my residential account and a lot cheaper on my Business Class account (UL data and no cap for $110, less if I was on the cheapest tier) - and VZW sells that GB for $20-$40. F that.
There's an ATTWS tower installed on my island, and T-Mo should have Wi-Fi calling worked out in iOS8, so a switch might be in my near future. My iPhones and iPads data speeds have tanked today, so I'm not happy about that either.
Finally someone found good some documentation. So I guess if your under contract your exempt from throttling. Thanks for the post.
That was written by a PR rep (read: BS spin doctor) on the 25th.
The actual terms for Network Optimization were revised on the 28th. I checked.
Selected text:
Am I affected by Network Optimization?
Only a small percent of customers will be affected. To be affected, you must be a data customer on an unlimited data plan who is among the top 5% of data users. Network Optimization of 4G LTE devices does not apply to government customers or business customers who have signed a major account agreement.
What about the other 95% of data customers?
The overwhelming majority of our data customers, 95%, are not impacted at all. The relatively high data consumption of just a small portion of data users could cause congestion for the rest of users, so we’re making this improvement to ensure that everyone continues to experience the nation’s best, most reliable network.
Link: http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/information/data_disclosure.html
There's nothing in the Data Disclosure or FAQs about being in or out of contract. There's a conflict between the two web pages IMO - I'm not an attorney but I am a technical writer.
Yes that page was made prettier as part of Verizon's recent website revamps, but that change had nothing to do with the throttling.
Then you should know about effective dates.
There's a huge difference between a heads-up press release, and the date that the revised rules go into effect.
The Terms of Service pages would not be updated until the change goes into effect sometime in OCTOBER, as the press release said.
How does that page have nothing to do with it if it's related to and about the change.
If the page doesn't include the change...
... a change which I repeat has NOT even occurred yet according to the official press release...
... then it's not about the change.
Ipso facto.
Just because some blogger at Android Central says it is, does not make it so.