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Verizon To Disconnect Unlimited Data Customers Who Use Over 100GB/Month
Verizon Wireless customers who have an unlimited data plan and use significantly more than 100GB a month will soon be disconnected from the network unless they agree to move to limited data packages that require payment of overage fees. Ars Technica reports: Verizon stopped offering unlimited data to new smartphone customers a few years ago, but some customers have been able to hang on to the old plans instead of switching to ones with monthly data limits. Verizon has tried to convert the holdouts by raising the price $20 a month and occasionally throttling heavy users but stopped that practice after net neutrality rules took effect. Now Verizon is implementing a formal policy for disconnecting the heaviest users.In a statement, Verizon said: "Because our network is a shared resource and we need to ensure all customers have a great mobile experience with Verizon, we are notifying a very small group of customers on unlimited plans who use an extraordinary amount of data that they must move to one of the new Verizon Plans by August 31, 2016." a Verizon spokesperson told Ars. "These users are using data amounts well in excess of our largest plan size (100GB). While the Verizon Plan at 100GB is designed to be shared across multiple users, each line receiving notification to move to the new Verizon Plan is using well in excess of that on a single device." FYI: The 100GB plan costs $450 a month.
Verizon actually are NOT advertising their plans as unlimited--that's exactly the point here, the people involved are grandfathered users from a time when Verizon DID advertise such a thing (largely before 4G deployments were of real size). What it looks like here is they are telling "unlimited" users, "if you use more than 100GB we're not going to do business with you under these terms." Given that 100% of these users are out of contract (that's how they're still on unlimited plans--they haven't signed a new contract) there's no legal problem here--Verizon will just terminate their service if the user doesn't switch plans.
What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
Around the Nordic Countries, I'm able to get *truly* unlimited LTE for around $30/mo. Hurts to think of all the fellow nerds across the pond who have to pay themselves sick for something like this.
-SR
They can cut you off in the middle of a two-year contract. If you read the fine print, it isn't a guarantee of service, just a guarantee that you will keep paying them unless they choose to terminate the contract early.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Yes-- according to Verizon, "unlimited" has its limits.
"Unlimited" comes with a caveat: common sense.
Personally I'd rather have that caveat than pay extra to support the 0.01% of the people that consume 1000x more resources than everyone else.
I really do hope somebody hits them hard for false advertising [cornell.edu]
Nope. If you are a subscriber, you do have unlimited data. These people are no longer subscribers. Verizon isn't offering them a service any longer, and they aren't paying for it. Business transaction complete.
The problem with relying on common sense is that it's not that common and what seems perfectly reasonable to one person "The only reason I signed up for Verizon was because they offered an unlimited plan that I could use to stream videos to my mountain retreat", may be unreasonable to someone else.
That's why we have truth in advertising laws -- if you lease someone a car with "unlimited mileage" included, you can't charge them extra (or take back their car) when they put 300,000 miles on it in a year. Unlimited has a very clear meaning.
As soon as they tied next month's usage directly to this months usage, they gave up the ability to call this month's usage unlimited.
And your car rental annalogy is exactly the same, if they can't make money on "unlimited" and don't want to sell it, then they should fix their fraudulent and deceptive marketing, not ban individuals who comply 100% with the rules as they were laid out to them.
Unlimited by definition means that there are no limits, not being able to renew if you do a certain thing is by it's very definition a limit.