Verizon has revealed a plan to limit the amount of data heavy users may access on Verizon smartphones. A statement on the wireless company’s website says it will now artificially and intentionally slow down speeds for wireless customers who use an unspecified amount of data Verizon unilaterally deems to be “too much.”
“If you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5% of Verizon Wireless data users, we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically,” the company says. Verizon does not specify what “an exraordinary amount” of data is, given that they offer an unlimited plan and one can watch feature-length movies on internet sites easily accessible by smartphone.
Verizon’s new measure is at sharp odds with its heavily promoted “Rule the Air” campaign and its “unlimited-data” plan which it touts as a big advantage over that of AT&T, its number one rival.
Verizon may come to face ire of an untold number of users who have purchased smartphones specifically for the purpose of streaming large data intensive media files. “I use my HTC Incredible on breaks at work because I don’t have access to video on work computers,” says a Los Angeles attorney who wishes to remain anonymous. “It allows me to watch entire newscasts and catch up on public radio shows I’d otherwise miss,” he adds. A colleague chimed in: “I just bought a smartphone two weeks ago to listen to podcasts while working out. I have a 30-day grace period, and this move will definitely make me reconsider staying on with Verizon.”
Verizon’s data restrictions are part of a larger plan to overhaul how wireless smartphone customers access information over the network. In a statement on the company’s website, Verizon briefly described their “new network management practices,” which include altering the size and content of material viewed on the network.
“As part of our continuing efforts to provide the best experience to our more than 94 million customers, Verizon Wireless is introducing two new network management practices. We are implementing optimization and transcoding technologies in our network to transmit data files in a more efficient manner
number of users. These techniques include caching less data, using less capacity, and sizing the video more appropriately for the device. The optimization process is agnostic to the content itself and to the website that provides it. While we invest much effort to avoid changing text, image, and video files in the compression process and while any change to the file is likely to be indiscernible, the optimization process may minimally impact the appearance of the file as displayed on your device.”
Verizon adds that users who subscribe to a data plan or add a feature on February 3, 2011 or thereafter, will be subject to clipped data usage “if you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5% of Verizon Wireless data users we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of your then current and immediately following billing cycle. …”
Verizon’s data management efforts will likely prove vexing for Iphone 4 users, who have historically been charged with giving AT&T a reputation for spotty service due to heavy data usage.
Are you presently experiencing interrupted service on your Verizon wireless smartphone? If so, tell us about your experience.