Starting this past Thursday, unlimited data plan users on the Verizon network who use huge amounts of data will see their speeds dropping. The new policy will only affect those people on 3G smartphones with an unlimited data plan, and only those who are within the top 5% of data consumers while they move through areas of data congestion. The company’s 4G LTE service will not be included in the data restriction plan.
In their statement, Verizon apparently claims that this policy is not really throttling. The company points out that other data providers, namely AT&T, restrict connection speeds for an entire billing cycle. Verizon, on the other hand, says it uses a “smart” approach by only restricting speeds when heavy data users are in particularly congested zones.
High-volume users looking to avoid speed reductions are advised by Verizon to switch to a 4G LTE plan, use WiFi more often, or opt out of the unlimited data plans and switch to a tiered plan. Users who fall into the top data consumption category and are included in the speed reduction plan will be informed via their monthly bill, though it’s likely that they’ll notice on their own.
