[Breaking]Verizon Plans to Slow Downloads of High Data Users Because of iPhone Launch

[pc747]

I love this conversation so much emotion is involved. Its funny but our most emotional threads have been threads where the iphone was involved how ironic. People were upset about the 2.1 upgrade debacle but I think iphone brings out more of beast in people than anything else. Its like apple is our joker or lex luthor or something.


opcorn:

 

[jkhonea]

Its like apple is our joker or lex luthor or something.


opcorn:

Or Kryptonite. :rofl2:

 

[huskerkate]

You didn't sound accusatory at all, Husker. You've actually been really good with your posts. I think the system could be realtime without any problem at all.

it was just my first couple of posts that were accusatory...

on one hand, that means that throttling could affect more users. on the other hand, it also means that it wouldn't affect them all the time. so, if you got throttled on one day, it doesn't mean that you will get throttled every time you access the data network (because it would depend on how much data you are using, and how much data others are using at that time)...??

 

[jroc]

heres exactly whats in my documents under my account:

Important Information about Verizon Wireless Data Plans and Features​

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]

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 to allow available network capacity to benefit the greatest 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. For a further, more detailed explanation of these techniques, please visit www.verizonwireless.com/vzwoptimization​

[/FONT][/FONT]If you subscribe to a Data Plan or Feature on February 3, 2011 or after, the following applies:
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]

Verizon Wireless strives to provide customers the best experience when using our network, a shared resource among tens of millions of customers. To help achieve this, 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 to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand. Our proactive management of the Verizon Wireless network is designed to ensure that the remaining 95% of data customers aren't negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users.​

[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Vzwsvc211-B
[/FONT][/FONT]

https://ecache.vzw.com/imageFiles/Myacct/nda/images/docs/VerizonWirelessServiceInformation.pdf
heres the link

Did anybody catch this? If thats the case, it really for new customers and maybe for ppl switching to 4G.

I got alot of thinking to do in the next few months. I wasnt planning on leaving for their policy changes, I just happen to move into a weak Verizon area thats also near my job.

And for folks doing the 1 vs. many argument yet again....many didnt help Win Mo. Android being a good product and on good hardware helped it along with being many phones on many carriers..

Its all in hindsight. Whose to say that if Android was on 1 phone, and a particular manufacture made it, it wouldnt have sold as many or outsold as the iPhone?

We will never know.

Like ppl wanna credit the iPhone for changing the game in the smart phone world. What if Apple woulda been first to try a smart phone and not MS, Palm, RIM? We dont know what the iPhone hardware or OS would have looked like.

We will never know.

Its all in hindsight....

 

[pc747]

in all seriousness that is why we are here and the thread is here so let it all out if u feel, hold off on cursing. But in the end just make sure we stay informed. We will keep providing info on this as we find out the up and up. I understand why people may be concerned and angry but lets allow time to reveal the truth before we running to the nearest vzw store to give the rep a piece of your mind.

 

[kodiak799]

But there is one point to keep in mind. How many different models of Android phones did it take to catch up to one model of iPhone? Just a point.

Sure, but I think the IPhone sold 14M at AT&T last year, but 75-80% were upgrades...call it 4M new users. I don't know any specific Android numbers off the top of my head, but several sold 2M or more. Granted, same thing in reverse with pent-up demand, but as noted there's also more competition.

That there are many more Android choices is also partially why one handset is not going to rival IPhone sales, too easy to switch between handsets and too many alternatives. But at the same time AT&T and VZW are going to have several premiere Android phones that are, for all intents and purposes, virtually perfect substitutes for each other AND the IPhone.

Just saying, if you had to choose between IOS and Android as a carrier, you would choose Android because it's ultimately going to have a much larger share, the number of handsets is really irrelevant. And part of the reason the IPhone is on VZW is because AT&T sales were slowing, reaching saturation - the economics of an exclusive deal didn't work for either party.

And a couple of points bear repeating here. First, if licensing IOS made sense (bottom-line $ sense), they would do it. And about the multiple device argument - Apple is big enough, with the cash and resources, to go make multiple devices and there's a reason they don't. Yes, they would sell more but they would largely be cannibalizing their own sales. Much of why IOS is so good and IPhone so popular has to do with being 1 device, and also really the only device for several years.

If you are talking more devices then you are talking about diluting the brand and diluting the quality, and "marginally" more sales is obviously not a trade-off they're willing to make.

 

[techguru]

So, I haven't read through all 20 pages of this thread, so I might be repeating what someone else said, but oh well...

I do not believe this is necessarily iPhone related. Verizon has been struggling with a while about what to do to balance giving customers a great data experience at a great price, and the cost of allowing unlimited data. They have talked about tiered data plans for smartphones, and not just for MiFi and data card devices, and in at least one market research group that I participate in we were overwhelmingly in support of reducing bandwidth speed for high use rather than tiered plans (particularly with high overage charges).

I just wish Verizon would come out and say what the cap is rather than the ambiguous (top 5% of users). I would also like for there to be an option to "buy in" to high speed if I do exceed the cap and really really need data at high speed.

Alan

 

[pc747]

But there is one point to keep in mind. How many different models of Android phones did it take to catch up to one model of iPhone? Just a point.

Sure, but I think the IPhone sold 14M at AT&T last year, but 75-80% were upgrades...call it 4M new users. I don't know any specific Android numbers off the top of my head, but several sold 2M or more. Granted, same thing in reverse with pent-up demand, but as noted there's also more competition.

That there are many more Android choices is also partially why one handset is not going to rival IPhone sales, too easy to switch between handsets and too many alternatives. But at the same time AT&T and VZW are going to have several premiere Android phones that are, for all intents and purposes, virtually perfect substitutes for each other AND the IPhone.

Just saying, if you had to choose between IOS and Android as a carrier, you would choose Android because it's ultimately going to have a much larger share, the number of handsets is really irrelevant. And part of the reason the IPhone is on VZW is because AT&T sales were slowing, reaching saturation - the economics of an exclusive deal didn't work for either party.

And a couple of points bear repeating here. First, if licensing IOS made sense (bottom-line $ sense), they would do it. And about the multiple device argument - Apple is big enough, with the cash and resources, to go make multiple devices and there's a reason they don't. Yes, they would sell more but they would largely be cannibalizing their own sales. Much of why IOS is so good and IPhone so popular has to do with being 1 device, and also really the only device for several years.

If you are talking more devices then you are talking about diluting the brand and diluting the quality, and "marginally" more sales is obviously not a trade-off they're willing to make.

If you compare one particular device like the droid or the incredible to the iphone then the iphone outsells them head to head. But if you bundle all the devices vs android then android wins.

 

[Jaxidian]

I just wish Verizon would come out and say what the cap is rather than the ambiguous (top 5% of users). I would also like for there to be an option to "buy in" to high speed if I do exceed the cap and really really need data at high speed.

Alan

Alan, I completely agree but I also acknowledge that there is absolutely no way they will do this, for 2 reasons:
1) They don't have to and this is their politician's response so they can't be held to anything they say.
2) They probably don't know what the number is. And even if they did today, that number is probably different next month and next year.

Why be specific and rigid when they can be vague and flexible? Vague and flexible is much easier and safer for them (especially as their infrastructure is ever-growing). It just sucks for us.

 

[smokiedabong]

How about VZ investing some of those $107.808 billion they earned in 09 in some towers ? A tower costs around $ 100.000 and it produces pretty much the same amount in one year , so after a year or two everything is profit . A lot of cell sites are rented for $12000-$35000 and they are producing more than double . For how much we are paying we should get better services not cuts .

 

[aRsTwiX]

I'm pretty sure High Data users are going to be people using USB modems or tethering all the time.

If 200 MB was a High Data User then it would be the best plan. 200 MB is the low data usage because it is the lower plan...

Don't know why you guys are that worried...

 

[pc747]

How about VZ investing some of those $107.808 billion they earned in 09 in some towers ? A tower costs around $ 100.000 and it produces pretty much the same amount in one year , so after a year or two everything is profit . A lot of cell sites are rented for $12000-$35000 and they are producing more than double . For how much we are paying we should get better services not cuts .

They are probably spend the money on upgrading to lte. If you have a strong lte network in some of the metro areas it will relieve some of the strain from the 3g towers while the continue to test and strengthen the lte service. I thing the throttle is what will come for 4g users and that to me will be a problem. If you throttle me for being a data hog then it better be for BEING an extraordinary data user. But if you start charging me 4g money and throttling back my 4g on a regular basis then I might as well stay 3g and not pay the extra money for 4g.

 

[kodiak799]

If you compare one particular device like the droid or the incredible to the iphone then the iphone outsells them head to head. But if you bundle all the devices vs android then android wins.

But not by nearly as much when you remove upgrades, plus the "multi-device" argument now works in the opposite direction. If you look at AT&T, for instance, there's no real Android competition but VZW had 4 or 5 good Android phones so individually each would only sell 1/3rd? 1/4th? what it would with no competition.

 

[Devilsephiroth]

If you compare one particular device like the droid or the incredible to the iphone then the iphone outsells them head to head. But if you bundle all the devices vs android then android wins.

Android os was# 1 in unit sales, in 2010. Whatever helps you sleep at night, but android ... The operating system... has won the popular vote last year. By 2012 its expected to be 2nd in the world with symbian os. I personally believe that android would reach far higher numbers than anyone would expect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android (operating system)

Also factor in that now companies are putting android on microwaves and washer machines.

[video=youtube;lSMerma7nBY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSMerma7nBY&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]


Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

 

[Bob Dammit]

Ok, Ive only read 10 pages of this thread and my eyes are bleeding. Heres what Im seeing:

They intend to slow the download speeds of any users who hit a 5 percent peak on data usage.

Any is stressed. They are not singling anyone out.

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 to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand.

That statement is a mess. It is a vaguely written bit of garbage that is open to interpretation.
Interpretation A:
-If you are in the top 5% of All data users, you MIGHT be capped.
Interpretation B:
-If you use an extraordinary amount of data (a level to be predetermined) you MAY be capped if you are in the top 5% of those customers.

I dont know what way they will go, but I dont see them trying to alienate 50% of their smartphone users.


From http://dictionary.reference.com

un·lim·it·ed

   /ʌnˈlɪm

ɪ

tɪd/ Show Spelled[uhn-lim-i-tid] Show IPA
–adjective 1. not limited; unrestricted; unconfined: unlimited trade.

2. boundless; infinite; vast: the unlimited skies.

3. without any qualification or exception; unconditional.



Use unlimited in a Sentence

See images of unlimited

Search unlimited on the Web

Origin:
1400–50; late ME; see un-1 , limited

—Related forms un·lim·it·ed·ly, adverb

—Synonyms
1. unconstrained, unrestrained, unfettered.

As you can see, you WILL have unlimited data, they will just control the speed at which you access it.