Verizon planning to push biggest unlimited data users into capped plans

Ratcheting up the pressure on people grandfathered into unlimited data plans, Verizon is planning to force its greatest data consumers into picking a fixed plan or leaving entirely.

Starting Thursday, the carrier will be sending out notifications to people consuming "extraordinary" amounts of data, according to Droid Life. The carrier hasn't defined what it means by "extraordinary," except that it refers to using amounts "well in excess" of 100 gigabytes on a single device. The carrier's current 100-gigabyte plan is normally meant to be shared among several people.

People violating Verizon's new limits will have to switch to a fixed plan by August 31 or lose their service. There should be a 50-day window within which they can resubscribe, but they won't be able to get unlimited service back.

Both AT&T and Verizon have gradually tried to push customers off their unlimited plans. While they were once a fairly simple way of drawing in customers, particularly for the first-generation iPhone on AT&T, speeds and bandwidth consumption have risen in parallel — a person with an unlimited plan could now use it as their only internet connection, simply tethering their computer or TV to their phone. Without infrastructure upgrades, that kind of consumption can potentially interfere with traffic for other customers.

Verizon recently announced a new set of plans costing $5 to $10 more per month than their predecessors, but with significantly more data in some cases.

10 Comments

sockrolid 2789 comments · 14 Years

About 8 years ago

AppleInsider said:

Both AT&T and Verizon have gradually tried to push customers off their unlimited plans.

Over the years, AT&T has offered me the occasional "improved" plan.
Every time, I asked whether or not my unlimited data plan would be affected.
Each time their answer was "Yes."
Therefore each time my response was "No."

Moral: always ask your carrier if they're trying to screw you out of unlimited data.

slprescott 759 comments · 10 Years

How many hours of Netflix = 100 GB ?

newtonrj 25 comments · 13 Years

slprescott said:

How many hours of Netflix = 100 GB ?

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87

3Gb per hour at HD, 7Gb per hour at Ultra HD. So either 1.5 seasons of binge watching NCIS at HD or 1.5 seasons of GOT. -RJ

mnbob1 269 comments · 10 Years

Okay it's an unlimited data plan. But exceeding 100gb per month on a single device is excessive. The carriers never intended LTE bandwidth to be a tethered service for all your internet use. In fact when I had an unlimited plan with AT&T tethering wasn't allowed. That was one of the reasons I switched to a different plan. I also switched so I could save money by sharing data with my whole family and not have to worry about limits on texting and calling minutes. As a whole I save a lot more money.

Using that much data on a monthly basis especially if it's from say one location such as your house can reduce the available bandwidth for others in your same area. I get it that you feel "I got the unlimited plan and I'm going to stick with it until hell freezes over and screw the carrier as much as I can in the process " but exceeding the appropriate amount for a smartphone user is just screwing others using the same network.

lordjohnwhorfin 866 comments · 18 Years

mnbob1 said:

Okay it's an unlimited data plan. But exceeding 100gb per month on a single device is excessive. The carriers never intended LTE bandwidth to be a tethered service for all your internet use. When they introduced 3G and then later LTE, they had every opportunity to only offer these faster services on metered or capped plans. They didn't. Who are you to say what is excessive and what isn't? We're talking about a megacorporation that has all the power on the contracts they dole out. This is a totally one sided affair where the consumer has absolutely no say. They wrote the contracts which state "UNLIMITED". Not "UNLIMITED, but we'll throttle after X amount of data," but an unqualified "UNLIMITED." They can't even plead ignorance, because the same exact issue happened when the iPhone was introduced and all of a sudden everybody wanted data. So stop blaming users, for crying out loud! They're absolutely entitled to whatever it is they're paying for as spelled out in the contract. Of course, all these contracts also contain the clause that the carrier can terminate them unilaterally at any time without giving any reason. Isn't that nice to be in a country where consumer rights are absolutely non-existent.