Verizon to cut off 'unlimited' users who guzzle more than 100 GB per month

[Scorpus]

Verizon Wireless isn't happy with a small group of customers, still on now-discontinued unlimited data plans, who consume an "extraordinary amount of data" every month. This group will have to migrate to a limited data package, or face service disconnection.

Unlimited data used to be a key component of Verizon's more expensive services, however the company stopped offering these plans to new customers around five years ago. Those who saw the value in unlimited data have resisted switching to newer, capped services, instead remaining on unlimited data plans on a month-to-month basis.

Verizon has finally had enough of some unlimited data customers taking full advantage of their 'unlimited' plans. The company has notified a "very small group" who use more than 100 GB per month that they must migrate to a new Verizon plan by August 31, 2016, or they will have their service disconnected.

The largest Verizon plan currently comes with 100 GB of data and costs $450 per month, so the heaviest users will have to cut back their data usage even if they migrate to the most expensive plan. Alternatively, heavy users will rack up significant overage fees on top of the already-expensive high data plans.

Customers who don't migrate to a capped service by August 31, and thus get disconnected, will have 50 days to reactivate their account on a new plan.

These changes to the unlimited data plan will only affect a very small subset of Verizon's customer base. Less than one percent of all customers have an unlimited plan, and even fewer use more than 100 GB per month.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/65682-verizon-cut-off-unlimited-users-who-guzzle-more.html

 

[psycros]

I can't fathom using that much data on a wireless connection unless you'd been accustomed to broadband and it suddenly wasn't available any more. If you *could* get DSL or cable it then it would make no sense to abuse wireless this way - cable Internet is cheaper.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I can't fathom using that much data on a wireless connection unless you'd been accustomed to broadband and it suddenly wasn't available any more. If you *could* get DSL or cable it then it would make no sense to abuse wireless this way - cable Internet is cheaper.

When your options are
A.) 3Mbps DSL for $95 a month or
B.) use your phone's 20+Mbps LTE for internet

Is it really that much of a surprise that people are using their data in this way.

Besides which, it shouldnt matter. These plans are "unlimited". if verizon cant deliver, then they shouldnt have sold them in the first place.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

I can't fathom using that much data on a wireless connection unless you'd been accustomed to broadband and it suddenly wasn't available any more. If you *could* get DSL or cable it then it would make no sense to abuse wireless this way - cable Internet is cheaper.

Big if though. My guess is that these people can't get DSL or cable because it would be cheaper. Or these people are thinking along the lines of "My regular cellphone bill is X dollars every month. I can pay $10.00 more and have unlimited internet service so why have an extra bill for no reason?

I'm not an expert on this issue but I could see heavy NetFlix users consuming 100GB of data monthly especially since the demand for high resolution movies is increased. If a Blu-Ray movie can be compressed to the size of a DVD movie or smaller that would be approximately 5GB of data a movie. Which translates into a viewing habit of 1 movie for every weekday of the month.

I've never done this but I'm under the impression you can use your cellphone as a base station for allowing multiple users to use the same cellphone bandwidth at the same time.

So, if a couple of college roomates were doing something like this the 100GB would be consumed even quicker.
If "unlimited" does not actually mean "unlimited" then they should change the wording of their contracts. To portray people taking advantage of this situation as non-average users seems unreasonable with respect to my theory above.

It's Verizons fault if they thought all anybody would ever use their phones for is text messaging.

"Less than one percent of all customers have an unlimited plan, and even fewer use more than 100 GB per month."

This statement alone gives the appearance of the decision to make these changes seem petty. The demand for increased bandwidth will probably only go up in the future. It would be interesting to know what data is being downloaded.

 

[Lionvibez]

I can't fathom using that much data on a wireless connection unless you'd been accustomed to broadband and it suddenly wasn't available any more. If you *could* get DSL or cable it then it would make no sense to abuse wireless this way - cable Internet is cheaper.

When your options are
A.) 3Mbps DSL for $95 a month or
B.) use your phone's 20+Mbps LTE for internet

Is it really that much of a surprise that people are using their data in this way.

Besides which, it shouldnt matter. These plans are "unlimited". if verizon cant deliver, then they shouldnt have sold them in the first place.

I think you are right 100GB's a month on a cell phone is ridiculous they have to be using it as a hot spot.

 

[psycros]

When your options are
A.) 3Mbps DSL for $95 a month or
B.) use your phone's 20+Mbps LTE for internet

Is it really that much of a surprise that people are using their data in this way.

Besides which, it shouldnt matter. These plans are "unlimited". if verizon cant deliver, then they shouldnt have sold them in the first place.

I can't fathom using that much data on a wireless connection unless you'd been accustomed to broadband and it suddenly wasn't available any more. If you *could* get DSL or cable it then it would make no sense to abuse wireless this way - cable Internet is cheaper.

When your options are
A.) 3Mbps DSL for $95 a month or
B.) use your phone's 20+Mbps LTE for internet

Is it really that much of a surprise that people are using their data in this way.

Besides which, it shouldnt matter. These plans are "unlimited". if verizon cant deliver, then they shouldnt have sold them in the first place.

Sounds like you're talking about business-class DSL..certainly no regular consumer pays that much for it. One of DSL's big selling points is how cheap it is but you'd still be nuts to buy it if cable is available for literally a few dollars more. As for "unlimited", AT&T and the rest of the industry has already bought off regulators to insure that "unlimited" is a meaningless term. Even after 5g becomes the norm, I guarantee that you won't be able to get unlimited - and more importantly un-throttled - 4g or even 3g.

 

[CortyDK]

Using NFL Gamepass in Denmark where I live, a complete livestreamed game consumes roughly 6 Gigabytes of data. I tend to watch 2 games every sundag, that is 12 Gb data, times 4 weekends, that is 48 Gb. Watching a condensed game takes about 1,5 Gb. We usually watch 3-4 condensed games every week, that is a further 6 Gb pr week or 24 Gb in 4 weeks. Total just streaming NFL (48+24) 72 Gb. That leaves just 28 Gigs for the rest of the month for the entire household on a 100Gb plan. So yes, a 100 Gb can easily be consumed within a month. Needless to say, I'm quite satisfied with my 50/50 Fibre connection with no limits whatsoever...

 

[J spot]

I have unlimited data on my current plan. And I used to have unlimited data on a Verizon Wireless plan. An out of courtesy I automatically tried not to abuse it. It's the only internet service I have, so I try to download larger files when I go to my cousin's house. I hate that about myself.

 

[SirDigby]

To those saying that it's unlimited and should be unlimited, this offer was built back in the day around 5 years ago before streaming was all the rage and it was difficult to fathom just how much 100GB was on a data network - especially when 4G just came out and barely anyone used it heavily.

 

[RustyTech]

So yesterday I watched Strange Things in 4k...you guys know how much data I went though??? yeah...A LOT!
So 5 years ago there was no 4k, but for those on Unlimited, you bet they would get nothing less than 1080p!

What I'm saying is 100GB is not much at all since it's obvious they are using it as a hotspot in their home for everyone; it is unlimited after all.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Unlimited means unlimited
if it is " very small group", less than 1%, I wonder why it is such a problem. I sincerely don't know. Maybe it is, but I don't know why.

 

[p51d007]

In a few years (from a perspective in the USA), people will probably be ditching cable/dsl/wired internet for wireless, will probably be "unlimited". Heck, I remember when your dial up modem connection was limited to
60 minutes per call. Of course that was 33.3k or less, dos based, but still, you had to redial and redial to get a connection. Then, when AOL came along, they'd shut you down at like 2am. I remember when people first got DSL, they would "turn off" their DSL box when they got "off the internet" because that's how they did it before 24/7 online came long.

 

[Rippleman]

I can't fathom using that much data on a wireless connection unless you'd been accustomed to broadband and it suddenly wasn't available any more. If you *could* get DSL or cable it then it would make no sense to abuse wireless this way - cable Internet is cheaper.

When your options are
A.) 3Mbps DSL for $95 a month or
B.) use your phone's 20+Mbps LTE for internet

Is it really that much of a surprise that people are using their data in this way.

Besides which, it shouldnt matter. These plans are "unlimited". if verizon cant deliver, then they shouldnt have sold them in the first place.

they are sold with the intention (and small print) not to be a abused.

 

[Rippleman]

If I was the owner a cell company, on all "unlimited" packages I would throttle after 5 gigs to the required bandwidth to allow up to 144p video... enough to allow complete internet usage, but not enough to be abused to the point of losing money.

 

[Rippleman]

Unlimited means unlimited
if it is " very small group", less than 1%, I wonder why it is such a problem. I sincerely don't know. Maybe it is, but I don't know why.

that 1% is using up +25% resources. You are paying to subsidize their use. Is that fair for you? If they didn't, your bill could be 1/2 of what it is now.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Unlimited means unlimited
if it is " very small group", less than 1%, I wonder why it is such a problem. I sincerely don't know. Maybe it is, but I don't know why.

that 1% is using up +25% resources. You are paying to subsidize their use. Is that fair for you? If they didn't, your bill could be 1/2 of what it is now.

seems reasonable, but modern life has already made me so jaded I don't believe they would drop their price if they got these guys, I guess it might impact performance for other users though....

 

[moral hazard]

You do realize, at 5+ years, they are way, way out of contract. It is no longer binding. Verizon can dump you just as you can dump them, no questions asked.

 

[Soulburn74]

What I don't understand is why anyone would take the carrier's side in this 'debate' Their equipment is not at capacity. They are just soaking us for more money because they can. Such is life. I'm beyond happy that my wired internet is still unlimited and pretty damn fast (300 down) I doubt it will be that way for long with the merger...........we shall see...........

 

[misor]

Less than one percent of all customers have an unlimited plan

u.s. telecom Verizon is like Philippine ISPs. more data consumed = $$

if the users were using their phones as hotspots/modems to download updates for their desktop/laptop/tablet computers, then a sizeable portion is already consumed by windows/android OS/apps/games updates.
my personal consumption on my globe lte plan (Philippines): about 300mb-900MBs per pc per month for microsoft's patch Tuesday, more if I download latest windows 10 stable/slow ring OS installer. (I enabled windows update to search computers on LAN to lessen data download from the internet.) about 40mb-60mb per google app update and more MBs per android OS minor/major system updates on my android one and android one G1 phones. tons of GBs for my steam game downloads and updates.
the software pirates are winning in our country as they are selling pirated softwares at less than a dollar equivalent per DVD while legit steam/windows users are bandwidth-limited by our ISPs.

 

[Boilerhog146]

I'm on a DSL 1.6 meg is the best they can push to me.stable .and they are charging me 85 .00 a month,I can use my phone as a hotspot but I only have a 2 gig per month contract .which I am also getting screwed on..just as well I pay for a few extra gig on the phone and cancel the DSL.but then it would lag,,,,tried it at the acreage,Teamspeak and ,joint ops.painful..

FU Bell Aliant..monopolistic bastards..

Aaaahhhhh... that felt good..

 

[Emexrulsier]

$450 for 100Gb limit! I didn't know the US internet was so expensive. I am currently paying £25 for 200Mb with unlimited data so about 32$. For 450$ for a personal line Id want a gig line.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I pay $155 per month for the Gigabyte FIOS connection.

I see around 500 Mbps up and 500 Mbps down.


There ain't nothing "discounted" here.

 

[captaincranky]

I pay $155 per month for the Gigabyte FIOS connection.

I see around 500 Mbps up and 500 Mbps down.


There ain't nothing "discounted" here.

Psst, "necrobump"