Starting Thursday, according to a PDF on Verizon's website, the company will deliberately start reducing download speeds for its heaviest users, the top 5% consumers of data.
Verizon does not explicitly link the policy change to the many thousands of new iPhone users that are set to start using its network this month. Many among that top 5% may well use other smartphones. But iPhone owners, given the unparalleled number of apps at their disposal, have a distinct tendency to be data hogs -- as AT&T found out to its chagrin. Over the last few years, the carrier made a number of efforts to reduce iPhone users' load on the network, from launching clusters of wifi "hot zones" to dumping its unlimited data use plan for new customers.
Verizon's spin on the policy change: It's standing up for the little guy. "Our proactive management of the Verizon Wireless network is designed to ensure that the remaining 95% of data customers aren’t negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users," says the policy change statement.
"If you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5% of Verizon Wireless data users, we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of your then current and immediately following billing cycle to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand."
Trouble is, there's no way of telling if you're one of that top 5%. Verizon does not say it will inform users whose data stream gets throttled. And given that early reviews of the Verizon iPhone have noted its data service is significantly slower than the AT&T version, it may be hard for switchers to tell the difference between regular service and throttled service. Throw in the fact that Verizon iPhone users will not be able to use data services and make calls at the same time, and the carrier's launch of the phone starts to look a lot less enticing.