Andre Yoskowitz
18 Sep 2011 10:57
Verizon, as of their latest "Data Disclosure" FAQ dated September 15th, has confirmed they will begin throttling 3G users with unlimited data plans.
The new policy means users who hit over 2GB of mobile bandwidth per month will have their connection throttled, at least in high congestion areas (looking at you NYC and San Francisco), during high congestion times of the day.
As of August, Verizon says the top 5% of subscribers used over 2GB, so it says the new policy will not affect the vast majority. Some (very) quick calculations show there will around 2 million of Verizon's 106 million subscribers affected.
Verizon does note that 4G LTE is not affected (at least for the time being) so if you have a new fast 4G device, do not fret. (That is until Verizon gets enough 4G users and implements the same throttling).
The most notable user base to get screwed is likely the new iPhone 4 owners, who were given unlimited data with the phone's launch in February as a means to keep customers away from AT&T.
Read the whole FAQ, at 9to5