Verizon explains why it’s throttling its ‘unlimited’ data customers

[Victorious Secret]

 

 

Typical PR nonsense. You offer a truly unlimited service, you don't get to go back on it. Throttle all the poor peasants who don't pay for unlimited data you goons. Or upgrade your network capacity, you sure as hell make enough money off your absurd plan prices to do it. 

 

 

 

 

In a new blog post on Wednesday, Verizon said that it had decided to throttle some of its customers who have unlimited data plans because they were apparently causing congestion issues on its network.

“What we announced last week was a highly targeted and very limited network optimization effort, only targeting cell sites experiencing high demand,” the carrier explained. “The purpose is to ensure there is capacity for everyone in those limited circumstances, and that high users don’t limit capacity for others.”

 

 

 

 

http://bgr.com/2014/07/31/verizon-unlimited-data-throttling-2/

[ShadowCaptain]

TLDR: WE ARE DICKS

 

Also we are shit at providing internet... PLEASE SIGN UP

[Askew]

And are these plans still available to sign up for?

 

If so, why? The infastructure is under strain according to this drivel.

[flibberdipper]

TL;DR FUCK YOU CUSTOMERS WE JUST LIKE YOUR MONEY AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Jodomcfrodo]

This is so stupid. Don't throttle your highest paying customers. Buy better equipment (does it work that way?). Now I'm going to be throttled. Just plain stupid.

[Misanthrope]

I fully expected a simple "Because fuck you, that's why"

[Jodomcfrodo]

And are these plans still available to sign up for?

If so, why? The infastructure is under strain according to this drivel.

They don't let you buy unlimited anymore. You have to be grandfathered in AFAIK.

[Askew]

I fully expected a simple "Because fuck you, that's why"

 

To be perfectly honest I think I'd prefer that, they piss on us and say it's raining today.

[Vacsol]

If they can't handle unlimited data on high bandwidths, they shouldn't offer it. period.

[Jerakl]

Verizon is just

 

I'm glad we don't have any ISPs like this where I live. Although in Canada we get pretty slow speeds for the prices we pay....

[bbqsauce]

One of the largest ISP in Singapore offering 1gbps speeds at close to 400sgd per month(don't even actually give you 1gb, claims typical speeds of 500-890mbps. they are notorious for throttling you during peak hour and frequent connection drops with bs mandatory routers.), small upcoming competitor offers same 1gbps for 60 SGD per month, (99% 1gb speeds and no throttling during peak hour). Yes this exists. Feel free to laugh at the ISP nonsense.

When questioned why they still charge such a laughable price, they say you are paying for better customer service and support. Haha, joke. Their customer service only knows how to push blame to consumers and not admit their service is bad.

[IdeaStormer]

Well they never said "unthrottled and unlimited" did they?

 

Next year they'll offer a new set of plans, "unthrottled at n MB" then "unthrottled at n+1 MB" , ...

[Scheer]

Or upgrade your network capacity, you sure as hell make enough money off your absurd plan prices to do it. 

 

If only you knew how much it costs Verizon to put a site up... I've seen other carriers cut every corner possible and do it for around $100,000 but I doubt Verizon has ever built a site under $750,000. And when you cover 97% of the population(or w/e they say they cover) without roaming off other companies, that 3/4 million may only be to cover 500 people in the middle of nowhere.

 

Not only the cost, but the paperwork behind it is ridiculous, it takes several years from deciding to build a site and actually breaking ground.

[Vacsol]

Verizon is just

 

I'm glad we don't have any ISPs like this where I live. Although in Canada we get pretty slow speeds for the prices we pay....

Yes, but Bell-Aliant in Eastern Canada has unlimited data by default and pretty great customer service

[Jerakl]

Yes, but Bell-Aliant in Eastern Canada has unlimited data by default and pretty great customer service

I'm in Western Canada. DAMNIT

[Victorious Secret]

Wind Mobile Unlimited Master Race reporting for duty.

 

Does the lack of service in some area suck? A little. 

 

Does the 30 a month for unlimited everything for as long as I stay with them rule? Yup. Especially since its fair game with ANY phone I ever bring over, and since WP8 phones have AWS and Apple got on board the unlocked phone bandwagon (with all bands unlocked), I have little reason to ever leave Wind.

[Jerakl]

Wind Mobile Unlimited Master Race reporting for duty.

 

Does the lack of service in some area suck? A little. 

 

Does the 30 a month for unlimited everything for as long as I stay with them rule? Yup. Especially since its fair game with ANY phone I ever bring over, and since WP8 phones have AWS and Apple got on board the unlocked phone bandwagon (with all bands unlocked), I have little reason to ever leave Wind.

I'll keep that in mind when I get a phone. Hey, you live near me!

[Echodamus]

"Lets take away from the people that pay for the higher end service, and give it to the people who don't." Yep, seems about right to me. 

[Octagoncow]

Have they already begun throttling? I thought it wasn't going to start until October, but I'm unable to even play a Youtube video at 144p without it buffering every few seconds when normally I can play at 720p no problem. Maybe it's just a funky day today or something.

 

edit: Well that's odd. It's back to normal now. I guess I'm just paranoid. Hopefully Verizon doesn't go through with this or the throttling won't be awful.

[Victorious Secret]

"Lets take away from the people that pay for the higher end service, and give it to the people who don't." Yep, seems about right to me. 

 

TIL that Verizon is modern day Robin Hood. 

 

Holy shit. 

[Trik'Stari]

How is this not false advertising?

 

Someone sue them into the ground, take their money, buy them out, and make a decent ISP please

[thebennyboy]

Maybe they should stop paying the morons in Congress and start putting some money into upgrading the backhaul at these "high demand" sites. Most operators here in the UK do it, reported that a mast near me was getting congested and a month later it had it's backhaul doubled. Since then the mast pretty much constantly gives 5 - 10Mbit which is plenty for watching youtube and twitch streams and what not.

 

We have an operator here called "Three" and the data they provide is TRULY unlimited, they do throttle but they ONLY throttle p2p. Masts that are congested do have traffic management enabled on them to keep the service running. Masts are usually upgraded with more backhaul within 6 - 8 weeks of the problem appearing. They also monitor the masts in real-time to make sure problems are logged as soon as they become apparent so they can be resolved. I called the other day to ask about a problem at my grandparents house as the signal had gone bad, they said that the backhaul was congested and said the cell was reducing it's area of coverage to keep service levels ok. 6 weeks later service was returned to normal.

 

Verizon: Stop paying those overpaid monkeys in Congress and start throwing money at your infrastructure. Also, stop giving these delusional PR "statements".

[Echodamus]

TIL that Verizon is modern day Robin Hood. 

 

Holy shit. 

Lets not do that to robin hood. Please. lol

[Nomelas]

Next up: pay to NOT be throttled on top of paying for unlimited data! Only costs you an extra $100 a day. suckers....

[Scheer]

Maybe they should stop paying the morons in Congress and start putting some money into upgrading the backhaul at these "high demand" sites. Most operators here in the UK do it, reported that a mast near me was getting congested and a month later it had it's backhaul doubled. Since then the mast pretty much constantly gives 5 - 10Mbit which is plenty for watching youtube and twitch streams and what not.

 

We have an operator here called "Three" and the data they provide is TRULY unlimited, they do throttle but they ONLY throttle p2p. Masts that are congested do have traffic management enabled on them to keep the service running. Masts are usually upgraded with more backhaul within 6 - 8 weeks of the problem appearing. They also monitor the masts in real-time to make sure problems are logged as soon as they become apparent so they can be resolved. I called the other day to ask about a problem at my grandparents house as the signal had gone bad, they said that the backhaul was congested and said the cell was reducing it's area of coverage to keep service levels ok. 6 weeks later service was returned to normal.

 

Verizon: Stop paying those overpaid monkeys in Congress and start throwing money at your infrastructure. Also, stop giving these delusional PR "statements".

 

For the most part, Verizon sites have the capacity, the issue is with ISPs providing them the connection to the internet.

 

LTE in my area was held back nearly two years because it took that long for Century link to provide the fiber. The sites had all the equipment installed and tested, just sat turned off as there was no point to it when they were still running on T1's. A site up in the middle of nowhere covering about 500 people was one of the first to get LTE because Century Link did not cover that area and the local ISP actually tried to get fiber to them in a timely manner.

 

Several of the Lincoln sites are finally running 100Mbps yet are still maxed on capacity, and cannot go any further until LTE-A is fully tested. They do test runs in small markets for several months to a year before deploying new equipment.

 

Don't quote me on this because I am not positive... but Verizon Wireless and Verizon Communications are managed completely independently of each other. From what I understand money doesn't even flow back and forth from each of them when needed, if one went under the other wouldn't help. We don't work in the large cities very much so I'm not sure how often it happens, but I've been to a few Verizon sites in California where Verizon Communications had fiber coverage there, and the Verizon Wireless site was using another ISP.