Verizon clarifies why it is throttling down LTE users' unlimited data speeds

Several days ago, we told you that last week Verizon has been throttling down the speed of some of its users, who were subscribed for unlimited LTE data. The carrier has already been approached by the FCC and now Big Red came out with an official explanation about its actions. Just as expected, Big Red claimed that it is limiting the maximum download speed of its “high users”, which use large amounts of data on a daily basis, creating data “congestions”. Fortunately, only a small amount of users were affected.

Apparently, these congestions caused a lot of issues for the lighter users, who only used LTE now and then. Driven by the principle that unlimited data with adequate speed should be accessible to all of its LTE subscribers, Verizon pulled the reins of the biggest data hogs, who had gotten ahead of the crowd. According to Big Red, last week's “network optimization effort” has only been targeting busier cell towers.


Verizon's explanation is nothing else but an answer to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's open letter, which questioned the motives and actions of the carrier. According to him, the largest US carrier shouldn't be putting restrictions on the download/upload speeds of its users, but putting the focus on the improvement of its infrastructure.

source: Verizon via BGR