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

[jkhonea]

Class action lawsuit. The newest call to arms. Ugh.

 

[littlerick]

has no one read the part right above what everyone is posting? this is only for people who signed up 2.3.11 and after. go to you verizonwireless account, go to my documents and you will find it. so everyone (except those who signed a contract today is ok)

 

[czerdrill]

Since it seems like iphone and android wont have any different data plan. I would think the data throttling will be the same.

Although the idea that VZW will want to keep the IPhone speeds up to compete with AT&T is very interesting, people keep acting like VZW sold its soul to get the IPhone. That was definitely a two way street - Apple wanted/need to be on VZW every bit as much (arguably more) as VZW needed the IPhone. VZW doesn't sell phones, they sell service - look at their commercials: "The BEST line-up of smartphones". They're not going to play favorites and they aren't going to push one phone over another, especially if that risks alienating large segments of their subscribers.

Just like VZW was going to drop everything until Steve Jobs told them they could start selling other phones. Thunderbolt supposedly releasing Feb 14th.

very true that won't alienate users, and thats exactly the reason the throttling will affect everyone regardless of what phone you have. if you use what they deem extraordinary, and you're in the top 5% of those who meet that threshold you will be throttled. That's what the article says, nothing more nothing less. However...

you don't sell service without phones. you need a phone that people want in order to couple it with the service that people want. i can't just go in there and say "i'd like your data plan but i'll take an lg chocolate with it, no smartphone for me"...verizon needed an iphone just as much as apple needed verizon. their goal is to make money, and they are going to make plenty of money selling their service couple with the iphone.

 

[overtwo]

has no one read the part right above what everyone is posting? this is only for people who signed up 2.3.11 and after. go to you verizonwireless account, go to my documents and you will find it. so everyone (except those who signed a contract today is ok)

Wierd that i've been getting less than ~30kb ALL DAY

 

[kodiak799]

That means 10 users use an "extraordinary amount of data". Now, we look at the second part of the requirement: "and fall within the top 5% of VZW data users". That means it's 5% of those 10, which amounts to 1/2 a person. in other words, very very very few people will be affected by this.

You may be reading a bit much into that. I'm not sure it's even legalese, but it's certainly met to be vague.

We can parse and play semantics, but the average user isn't going to be affected anyway you slice it. 80-90% are probably falling under 2gigs, most well less than that.

If I may throw my hat into the parse and speculation ring, that may just be saying extraordinary users (maybe >5gigs) will be throttled occasionally (i.e. during peak times, or when their bandwidth usage is in the top 5% of demand which could be with large downloads or streaming music/video).

 

[czerdrill]

what I want to know is where does it state that in my contract?

Terms & Conditions

"We further reserve the right to take measures to protect our network and other users from harm, compromised capacity or degradation in performance. These measures may impact your service, and we reserve the right to deny, modify or terminate service, with or without notice, to anyone we believe is using Data Plans or Features in a manner that adversely impacts our network."

 

[Backnblack]

Verizon, Motorola, Crafty Criminals....what do they all have in common? They all get away with their wrong doings.

No one is forced to stay with any one company....Let your $$ do the talking and go elsewhere if you beleive it is so unfair.

 

[overtwo]

what I want to know is where does it state that in my contract?

Terms & Conditions

"We further reserve the right to take measures to protect our network and other users from harm, compromised capacity or degradation in performance. These measures may impact your service, and we reserve the right to deny, modify or terminate service, with or without notice, to anyone we believe is using Data Plans or Features in a manner that adversely impacts our network."

Thanks!

 

[czerdrill]

That means 10 users use an "extraordinary amount of data". Now, we look at the second part of the requirement: "and fall within the top 5% of VZW data users". That means it's 5% of those 10, which amounts to 1/2 a person. in other words, very very very few people will be affected by this.

You may be reading a bit much into that. I'm not sure it's even legalese, but it's certainly met to be vague.

We can parse and play semantics, but the average user isn't going to be affected anyway you slice it. 80-90% are probably falling under 2gigs, most well less than that.

If I may throw my hat into the parse and speculation ring, that may just be saying extraordinary users (maybe >5gigs) will be throttled occasionally (i.e. during peak times, or when their bandwidth usage is in the top 5% of demand which could be with large downloads or streaming music/video).

um...i've been saying the average user isn't going to be affected from the beginning. i'm speaking to the people in this thread who are screaming and yelling that they're going to get throttled. no...they're not.

very few people are going to notice any difference in their speed, their network availability or their network performance. the people who do notice it will be the ones who (a) tether or (b) legitimately somehow use over 5GB a month. like i said before, those are two groups that VZW simply doesn't care about.

 

[kodiak799]

their goal is to make money, and they are going to make plenty of money selling their service couple with the iphone.

I don't disagree that they need good phones, but they have no reason to push an IPhone over an Android phone. They simply don't care. And clearly the optimal approach is a diverse line-up, and that's the position they're taking. Sure, they were losing potential IPhone sales, but they were never going to spin around and risk losing potential Android sales.

 

[littlerick]

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]

 

[littlerick]

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

 

[huskerkate]

[
you didn't read the article sir. it doesn't say 5 percent of smartphone users will be throttled. what it does say is "If you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5% of Verizon Wireless data users"
how are you only seeing the 5% part and not seeing what comes before that? "if you use an extraordinary amount of data". now, tell me, is there some book somewhere that defines what "extraordinary amount of data" means? no there's not. So that means VZW will decide what that means. the article also includes the word "and" meaning both conditions have to be met. if you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5% of VZW data users, you will be throttled.

since we're doing math, let's make it simple. let's say there are 100 verizon users. and verizon decides that "extraordinary" means over 5GB. studies have shown that 90+% use less than that, but let's keep it at 90% use less. That means 10 users use an "extraordinary amount of data". Now, we look at the second part of the requirement: "and fall within the top 5% of VZW data users". That means it's 5% of those 10, which amounts to 1/2 a person. in other words, very very very few people will be affected by this.

They are not saying "of all the smartphone users, 5% will be throttled"...you're reading the article wrong, just like you read your contract wrong haha...

and yes...iphone users who fall in that 5% will be throttled.

that doesn't sound like correct math to me. if 10% of the users use an "extraordinary" amount of data, then this necessarily means that all of the "top 5% of VZW data users" fall within that 10%. someone who falls within the top 5% of data users can't be excluded from the "extraordinary" category.

by your example, all 10 of the users use more than 5 gb of data. at least 5 of them will fall within the top 5% of data users. and, there may even be a 6-way tie for 5th place, such that they could all be subject to throttling - i.e., 10 gb, 9 gb, 8 gb, 6 gb, and 6 people who use 5 gb.

 

[overtwo]

C'mon...we all know the reason (and have heard it before)...

"Due to the economy..." BWAHAHAHA

 

[kodiak799]

the people who do notice it will be the ones who (a) tether or (b) legitimately somehow use over 5GB a month. like i said before, those are two groups that VZW simply doesn't care about.

True, but the whining is priceless entertainment!

LOL, if you want to go old school it reminds me of those people who would steal HBO with those descramblers, and then they'd get spiked....