Verizon Throttles Fire Department Data

[JoostinOnline]

6 minutes ago, ivan134 said:

No rational person is saying it has anything to do with net neutrality. The reason it's being brought up is because the argument against net neutrality has been that we don't need to regulate the market because corporations will do the right thing on their own, because their bottom line depends on it, even if they were a monopoly. This is not the first example, but it is the latest to remind idiots that there is literally zero evidence to suggest that is true, and mountains of evidence suggesting the opposite.

I'm not saying it's rational.  I don't know if you've noticed, but lots of people don't understand what Net Neutrality is.  It's not their fault though.   Even ArsTechnica did an article about how it was a violation of NN, although they've semi-fixed it. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/

[mynameisjuan]

Update from Verizon puts it pretty clear:

 

"We made a mistake in how we communicated with our customer about the terms of its plan," Verizon said. "Like all customers, fire departments choose service plans that are best for them. This customer purchased a government contract plan for a high-speed wireless data allotment at a set monthly cost. Under this plan, users get an unlimited amount of data but speeds are reduced when they exceed their allotment until the next billing cycle."

 

Bought the plan knowing damn well its going to throttle but Verizon held a neutral veiw which I see wrong there.  

[highwolf_x]

6 hours ago, mynameisjuan said:

Update from Verizon puts it pretty clear:

 

"We made a mistake in how we communicated with our customer about the terms of its plan," Verizon said. "Like all customers, fire departments choose service plans that are best for them. This customer purchased a government contract plan for a high-speed wireless data allotment at a set monthly cost. Under this plan, users get an unlimited amount of data but speeds are reduced when they exceed their allotment until the next billing cycle."

 

Bought the plan knowing damn well its going to throttle but Verizon held a neutral veiw which I see wrong there.  

Yeah, but also under emergency situations, the throttle should have been lifted. In addition, they continued throttling after the billing cycle reset, which is unreasonable.

 

7 hours ago, ivan134 said:

No rational person is saying it has anything to do with net neutrality. The reason it's being brought up is because the argument against net neutrality has been that we don't need to regulate the market because corporations will do the right thing on their own, because their bottom line depends on it, even if they were a monopoly. This is not the first example, but it is the latest to remind idiots that there is literally zero evidence to suggest that is true, and mountains of evidence suggesting the opposite.

The argument for net neutrality was how you can throttle unlimited plans to alleviate congestion in areas, but now after the restrictions were lifted, they can throttle anyone's plan at any time they wish (which is where the high-speed data cap comes in). At least that's how they explained it in the latter half of this article (https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/fire-dept-rejects-verizons-customer-support-mistake-excuse-for-throttling/)

[79wjd]

1 hour ago, highwolf_x said:

Yeah, but also under emergency situations, the throttle should have been lifted. In addition, they continued throttling after the billing cycle reset, which is unreasonable.

I said it earlier, and I'll mention it again, the throttling system is automatic. There isn't some guy just sitting at a desk who decides to turn it on and off (excluding a high tier CSR who can override it if given notice of the problem). If it was still enabled, then the billing cycle wasn't over -- either the FD was mistaken as to when the cycle ends or there was some glitch in Verizon's system that caused it to be charged. The former being far more likely.

1 hour ago, highwolf_x said:

The argument for net neutrality was how you can throttle unlimited plans to alleviate congestion in areas, but now after the restrictions were lifted, they can throttle anyone's plan at any time they wish (which is where the high-speed data cap comes in). At least that's how they explained it in the latter half of this article (https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/fire-dept-rejects-verizons-customer-support-mistake-excuse-for-throttling/)

Yeah....umm... Net neutrality has nothing to do with throttling performance because a data limit was reached. 

 

Net neutrality is about unfair prioritization of traffic.

[highwolf_x]

6 minutes ago, 79wjd said:

I said it earlier, and I'll mention it again, the throttling system is automatic. There isn't some guy just sitting at a desk who decides to turn it on and off (excluding a high tier CSR who can override it if given notice of the problem). If it was still enabled, then the billing cycle wasn't over -- either the FD was mistaken as to when the cycle ends or there was some glitch in Verizon's system that caused it to be charged. The former being far more likely.

Yeah....umm... Net neutrality has nothing to do with throttling performance because a data limit was reached. 

 

Net neutrality is about unfair prioritization of traffic.If you

 

I mean if you read the latter part, "The rules banned throttling but had an exception for "reasonable network management"", and at the time the FCC chair didn't allow throttling just because of the data cap, but rather if they exceeded the data cap AND were in a congested area.

Quote

In 2014, then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told Verizon that he was "deeply troubled" by Verizon's plan to throttle 4G users with unlimited data plans. Wheeler told Verizon that "'reasonable network management' concerns the technical management of your network; it is not a loophole designed to enhance your revenue streams."

 

Wheeler rejected the "reasonable network management" explanation in that instance even though Verizon said it would only throttle its heaviest data users when they connect to congested cell sites. Verizon caved to Wheeler in October 2014, halting the plan to throttle LTE users on grandfathered unlimited data plans. Verizon also stopped throttling 3G network users in 2015, shortly after Wheeler's net neutrality rules were implemented.

 

Granted there was no official ruling on it, but it would have prevented this scenario, as there would have been no reason for them to throttle the fire department and claim "congestion" while another personal device was fine.

[Mooshi]

So....no outrage at T-Mobile for doing the same thing with their reg unlimited vs their "amped" version? - That one service that adds higher streaming priority etc? Ya know, the company that always complains about Verizon that Verizon ironically copied the business model of?

 

Cell phone industry as a whole is terrible. They skirt around NN because it's less specific sites and more overall slowness. Even logging into the My Verizon app during slow down on Verizon is stupid slow, I've personally experienced that. Remember, NN is high speed for some sites while slowing others -- not slowing everything entirely. People that are saying Verizon and Net Neutrality are just shouting buzzwords. You think any company would actively target a single group out of millions of customers? Be real. This story helps no one, just bait for clicks.

 

The problem is the industry is overselling on towers not designed to support the strain. If 4G speeds were at maximum speed regardless of usage, we'd have people with 2GB plan being slowed down to unusable for the person using their cell data as a replacement for home internet. Until the towers themselves can support that, you get slow down from load for higher data users. No customer agent can flip a magic switch to have full control over all towers for a specific customer. The best they can do is offer a higher package to get the results you want. 

 

Basically, it'd be like buying a GTX 1030 for 4k gaming and then being upset your frames suck and you have to buy the expensive card. Consumer or business customer, doesn't matter. You pay for your service and what level of service that fits a need. If one service doesn't, you choose one that does.