Prepare to be throttled: Verizon Wireless to stifle subscribers’ unlimited data

By Malarie Gokey July 25, 2014

verizon next gen tv

If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer with unlimited data, you may soon find your speeds throttled by the network. For those of you who don’t know, throttling is the practice of slowing down a user’s data speeds in response to congestion in the network, or some other factor. In other words, even though you’re paying for unlimited 4G LTE data, you may receive data speeds of 3G or less.

Verizon is expected to announce the changes as part of its updated “Network Optimization” plan, according to Droid-Life. Verizon already throttles data for those with 3G data, but now it will reportedly do the same with 4G data. The carrier claims that its policies are intended to give the best service possible to all its subscribers. Ironically, in order to ensure that its network performs optimally, Verizon says it has to give some users sub-par data. The data throttling will begin on October 1 and could affect millions of customers who still use Verizon’s unlimited data plans.

In a statement on its website, Verizon lays out the requirements users must meet to experience throttling (currently for 3G data speeds only.) The carrier says that users must:

Be in the top 5 percent of data users (using 4.7GB+ of data a month)
Subscribe to an unlimited data plan
Fulfill the minimum contract term
Try to use data on a cell site that is overwhelmed by users

Verizon is expected to notify customers of the changes on August 1. Luckily, this new policy should not slow down most Verizon users’ data. The carrier told BGR that less than 22 percent of its subscribers have an unlimited data plan. A recent study from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that Verizon has been very successful at convincing its users to pay more for data plans with a finite amount of data than any other carrier.

It’s unclear how frequent the data throttling will be or exactly how many subscribers will be affected by the new policy.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…

Deals

This Verizon smartphone deal gives you up to $1,000 for your broken phone

The iPhone 12 Pro Max in-hand.

It’s a question as old as smartphones themselves: What do we do with our old iPhone or Android phone when we no longer need it (especially if it’s cracked or no longer turns on)? Well, to go along with these smartphone deals, Verizon has a solution. Right now, you can take advantage of a special offer and receive up to $1,000 when you trade your old phone into Verizon. The newest 5G phones, and a place to trade in old phones for up to $1,000! Where do we sign up?

This deal sounds too good to be true; it even gave us pause at first. The catch, if you can call it that, is that you need to switch over to Verizon if you want the maximum rebate on your new Phone. Verizon is offering up to $800 for your old phone (and that would be for the newest phone; chances are you will get something less); the other $200 comes in the form of a gift card that can be used toward your new phone, or to purchase accessories or other Verizon services.

Mobile

The best 5G phones for Verizon

samsung galaxy s21 ultra review helicopter view

There's no time like right now to buy a 5G phone. 5G network coverage is expanding across the U.S. -- and the world -- at an impressive rate, so if the 5G rollout has yet to hit your town or city, it likely will soon. To make use of 5G technology, however, you'll need both a 5G-capable device and a network that supports it.

Not all networks are rolling out 5G at the same rate. Verizon's mmWave network is the most widespread of all the carriers, and their nationwide 5G network -- which uses the sub-6 spectrum -- has already been rolled out in over 2,700 cities. Their Ultra Wideband is now available in parts of more than 60 cities. However, even if you don't have 5G in your area just yet, it's still worth investing in a 5G device -- think of it as future-proofing your phone.

Mobile

How to reduce data usage on your smartphone

Smartphone-Future-0001 how to reduce your data usage

Remember when smartphone plans were all about call minutes and how many text messages you got, while the data was unlimited? Today, it's exactly the opposite. At the point when carriers understood that customers really wanted was data, they switched gears to offer unlimited minutes and texts while capping data.

While carriers do offer unlimited plans -- see our guide to the best unlimited plans -- that freedom turns out not to be as free as we'd like, as customers often put up with unexpected charges, speed throttling, or hidden limits. Every megabyte must be accounted for, or you might find yourself paying an arm and a leg in overage charges, or having your connection speed throttled at the worst time. Here are some tips to help you reduce your data usage, watch your continued data usage, and maximize your data plans.
How much data do you need?
You will likely overestimate the amount of data you need, so stick to the facts to decide on which data allotment is best for you. Log in to your carrier's website and review your data usage over the past few months. Select a plan that is higher than the amount of data you used during this period -- but as close to that number as possible. A tool like Verizon’s Data Calculator makes it easy to get a rough estimate of your data usage, but we recommend basing it on your real-world use. Does your carrier offer a rollover data option? If so, you might even have extra data to fall back on in an emergency should you use more data than normal in a particular month. For more tips, check out our in-depth guide to choosing the right data plan for you.
Set data alerts and limits
You can check your data usage on iOS devices in iOS 14 by going to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data > Current Period. Switch on Cellular Data, if it is not already. These data stats do not automatically reset for each billing period, so you have to remember to do it yourself. If you're looking for a more tailored way of tracking data usage on your iPhone or iPad, some third-party apps are helpful. My Data Manager VPN Security tracks your usage and even allows you to set custom alarms when you exceed a certain amount of data in a month.