Actually that page specifically says that it is not throttling. It also states that it does not apply to LTE and only applies to the top 5% of 3G users when they are connecting to a congested cell site. Throttling is done to a user at all times.
It also says they do not do it with LTE. It is basically to curb abusive 3G users who were causing everyone in really heavy areas to have slower speeds by hogging up the whole pipe.
"Like AT&T did initially with its policy, Verizon also targets the top 5 percent of the heaviest data users. But the company uses network intelligence to only slow down those heavy data users when the network is actually congested.The way it works is that if you use more than 2GB of data per month, Verizon is likely to identify you as being in the top 5 percent of data users. Once you've been identified as a heavy data user, when the cell site you are in gets congested, Verizon will slow down your access until the network is no longer so crowded."
Actually the CNET article confirms what I said. They only do it on 3G not LTE and they only do it when identified "top 5%" users are on a hub that at that time is very congested. Plus as soon as the hub slows down a bit or they move to a slower one they stop it. AT&T is the one doing it in a really sleazy way as they bust you if you go over their cap for the rest of the month.
Actually the CNET article confirms what I said. They only do it on 3G not LTE and they only do it when identified "top 5%" users are on a hub that at that time is very congested. Plus as soon as the hub slows down a bit or they move to a slower one they stop it. AT&T is the one doing it in a really sleazy way as they bust you if you go over their cap for the rest of the month.
AT&T also has no clear throttling policy. Their throttling is arbitrary and has solicited some very nasty, angry words from disgruntled users on various forums. One guy was being throttled consistently at 250 MB while another one was getting away with high-speed up to 3 GB.
Verizon isn't throttling in the usual sense of the word. Remember the way they do it:
1) 3G ONLY. They do not do it at all on LTE.
2) Only top 5% 3G users and only if they are on a cellular hub that at that moment is experiencing very heavy traffic.
3) It automatically stops when the traffic lessens or the user goes to a lighter trafficked hub.
AT&T on the other hand out and out throttles the user on all connections and does it through the end of the billing period. The two are completely different and Verizon's way is FAR less intrusive.
This is what gets me, Joelist...bandwidth is VERY cheap today. VERY cheap. The carriers could easily expand the bandwidth to accomodate customers. Instead, they are creating tiered plans to replace their failed "pay for minutes" model which is now irrelevant. They are trying to maintain healthy profit margins, not provide the best service. If you knew how the infrastructure was laid out you would see this as I do. The reality of throttling is that it creates a conduit for profits. Texting, for instance, costs fractions of a cent to send and receive. However some wireless carriers charge up to 20 cents to text. Calls to information, $1.20. Whats more, more than 90% of the carriers do not provide a way to monitor data usage so that users will go over and have to pay overage charges.
Joe, do you REALLY believe that your wireless carrier is your advocate and is TRULY interested in providing you the best service? If you do, you are naive. Their job is to give you the most expensive service you can handle. If you know somebody working in the telecom industry, have a candid conversation with them and you will get an earful for sure. I have to work with them regularly, and some of the stuff I hear is amazing.
Put it this way...if they wanted to be truly competitive, they would not need 2-year contracts.
Definition of UNLIMITED
1
: lacking any controls : unrestricted <unlimited access>
2
: boundless, infinite <unlimited possibilities>
3
: not bounded by exceptions : undefined <the unlimited and unconditional surrender of the enemy — Sir Winston Churchill>
— un·lim·it·ed·ly adverb
Throttling, no matter "how they do it" means that the service is NOT "unlimited" which is my entire point of contention.
As to bandwidth being cheap, not really. Remember that the wireless carrier in order to expand bandwidth in a given area (especially on an old tech like EVDO which is what their 3G is on) has to replace equipment on towers. That equipment isn't cheap and also the question arises of why they should be upgrading obsolete equipment instead of implementing the newer, better stuff - which is what Verizon is doing. Their LTE is VERY fast and has a much larger bandwidth pool than the old 3G plus their LTE rollout is far larger than anyone else's. It is also fully LTE Advanced ready so that when handsets using it are out they will be able to roll them out smoothly.
I don't know what Sprint plans but I think their eventual goal is similar. Verizon's plan is definitely to sunset CDMA and 3G in the next couple of years and have their phones all be LTE for data and VoLTE and/or SVLTE for the voice component.
Where is the "limit"? The user is still getting their data at the same price and it does not cut off or stop. All that is happening is instead of everyone in a very high traffic hub experiencing slowdowns they are targeting the high users first. But even then their data does not stop - the performance simply temporarily slows down until either the hub traffic lightens or they go to a lighter trafficked hub.
Killing off their unlimited data plans in recent years hasn't made U.S. wireless carriers very popular in certain circles, but it has helped them make a lot of money off your mobile-data habit.
The New York Times reported this week that in the last quarter alone, AT&T reported more than $6.1 billion in revenues from mobile-data plans, while Verizon took in $6.6 billion. Those numbers also reveal significant growth of as much as 20 percent on an annual basis, despite the fact that carriers are adding customers at a slower pace now that most people already have a smartphone. That's because more people are gobbling up more wireless data, and they're also paying more for it as Verizon and AT&T have stopped offering unlimited data to new customers in favor of a variety of tiered pricing plans and overage charges that all add up -- literally -- to billions for the carriers and their shareholders.
I'm the bad guy... at least according to Verizon's throttling policy for the remaining "unlimited" (haha!) data customers utilizing 3G. And yes, it is throttling, "network optimization" doublespeak aside; a better term might be "bottom line optimization." I understand the desire to not end up in the same situation that ATT/Cingular did, whom I left for Verizon because their connectivity became atrocious. This action, however, is a step backward, disrecpectful of their most active users, and demonstrates a glaring lack of vision with regards to the ever-blossoming world of mobile data connectivity. I'm technically knowledgeable and understand that 10 million users all maxing out their connections 24/7 is unsustainable with existing architecture, I get it, but that's not what's happening. This action is nothing more than a means of forcing the remaining "unlimited" (again hah!) data users off of these grandfathered plans and onto the new tiered rate structure and ultimately is about $$$ and not equal opportunity bandwidth allocation. And if bandwidth is at that much of a premium, then it's Verizon's fault for not appropriately scaling up to accomodate the incredible increase in data users driven by it's own push towards smartphones for everyone and the adoption of the iphone; not the fault of users that use more data than the average person.
I would definitely agree with this. The evidence is plain to see. Shame so many people are just sheep when it comes to this stuff. We all know texting is a rip off but not enough people pay attention to the fact that throttling of data services is another scam. I sometimes use MiFi and the imposed limits on usage are laughable. I can have up to 5 people on that hotspot at a time but God forbid we go over the limit, then the charges really kick in. How lame. Just charge one fee for unlimited usage. If you don't want users downloading movies and heavy data streams that's fine, but having the data limits set so low that it's easy to go over them innocently is a scam pure and simple.
Many broadband providers offer "unlimited" broadband however it's all subjected to fair use policy. If they can see you are downloading major GBs, they will throttle your speed in most cases, as outlined in the terms and conditions. That's what they do here, so it's all about being sensible.
Definition of UNLIMITED
1
: lacking any controls : unrestricted <unlimited access>
2
: boundless, infinite <unlimited possibilities>
3
: not bounded by exceptions : undefined <the unlimited and unconditional surrender of the enemy — Sir Winston Churchill>
— un·lim·it·ed·ly adverb
Throttling, no matter "how they do it" means that the service is NOT "unlimited" which is my entire point of contention.
Many broadband providers offer "unlimited" broadband however it's all subjected to fair use policy. If they can see you are downloading major GBs, they will throttle your speed in most cases, as outlined in the terms and conditions. That's what they do here, so it's all about being sensible.