Only A Giant Telco Could Introduce Bandwidth Throttling And Spin It As 'Network Optimization'

from the and-charging-you-more-is-merely-wallet-efficiency-management dept

Oh, Verizon. The company is ramping up its mobile data throttling on its LTE network. Basically, if you're a heavy user, your packets get "de-prioritized" (i.e., throttled). However, Verizon insists it's, like, totally, totally different.

Is this the same as throttling?
No, this is not throttling.

How is this different than throttling?
The difference between our Network Optimization practices and throttling is network intelligence.  With throttling, your wireless data speed is reduced for your entire cycle, 100% of the time, no matter where you are. Network Optimization is based on the theory that all customers should have the best network possible, and if you’re not causing congestion for others, even if you are using a high amount of data, your connection speed should be as good as possible. So, if you’re in the top 5% of data users, your speed is reduced only when you are connected to a cell site experiencing high demand. Once you are no longer connected to a site experiencing high demand, your speed will return to normal. This could mean a matter of seconds or hours, depending on your location and time of day.

In other words... it's throttling. It may be temporary, and it may only impact top users, but it's still throttling. No matter what they say. As Broadband Reports notes, this bit of Orwellian speak probably doesn't work in reverse:

One wonders how Verizon would feel if customers stopped paying them, insisting they were simply "dynamically and intelligently altering payment transit."

Of course, if the FCC actually lived up to its transparency demands, perhaps it would ding Verizon for this. What are the chances of that happening?

Filed Under: bandwidth, clogged, network optimization, orwellian, telcos, throttling
Companies: verizon, verizon wireless

Doom And Gloom: AP Latest To Claim The Internet Is Getting Clogged

from the that-damn-series-of-tubes-again dept

It really felt like we had just gone through this, but here we have a couple of articles from the Associated Press repeating the unsubstantiated claim that growing traffic on the internet is clogging it up. This has been the story that various ISPs have been claiming for a few years, but there's little to no facts to substantiate it. Yes, traffic has been increasing, but when you get beyond the marketing and PR folks, the lawyers and the lobbyists -- there's little evidence to find that the growth in traffic is at risk of clogging anything. Research has shown that the internet remains blissfully unclogged and when you talk to the actual CTOs at ISPs, they seem perfectly happy to admit that there's no bandwidth crunch. So why does the AP repeat the claim as if it's fact, without any citations or evidence?

Filed Under: clogged, internet, net neutrality, traffic shaping, video