Verizon Admits that their Unlimited Data Plan is Limited to 5GB Per Month
Back in August of 2006 I wrote about a guy who had his unlimited Verizon EVDO Wireless Data Service canceled because buried deep into the Terms of Service (TOS) they mentioned some things that were unacceptable. Some of these things included downloading/streaming music and videos…which is what the Internet is all about these days.
At the time Verizon didn’t explicitly state that their unlimited service really was limited, but I was looking at the service once again yesterday for someone and decided to see what the terms look like 7–months later. Now they explicitly come out and say that their unlimited plan can only be used for up to 5GB a month otherwise your usage will be considered unacceptable and your service will be terminated (the bold text points out the important things):
Unlimited Data Plans and Features (such as NationalAccess, BroadbandAccess, Push to Talk, and certain VZEmail services) may ONLY be used with wireless devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games; (ii) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine–to–machine connections or peer–to–peer (P2P) file sharing; or (iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited. A person engaged in prohibited uses, continuously for one hour, could typically use 100 to 200 MBs, or, if engaged in prohibited uses for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, could use more than 5 GBs in a month.
For individual use only and not for resale. We reserve the right to protect our network from harm, which may impact legitimate data flows. We reserve the right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, and to deny or terminate service, without notice, to anyone we believe is using an Unlimited Data Plan or Feature in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts our network or service levels. Anyone using more than 5 GB per line in a given month is presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above, and we reserve the right to immediately terminate the service of any such person without notice. We also reserve the right to terminate service upon expiration of Customer Agreement term.
So all the service is really good for is viewing websites and sending emails since you cannot download or upload anything. They say that sending emails is okay, but what about if you constantly have large attachments in your email which results in high bandwidth usage? Does that fall under the download/upload restriction that can terminate your account, or is that considered acceptable use since it is an email?
One of the other restrictions that they mention is that you must have another Internet service as well since you cannot use it as a substitute or backup of a dedicated Internet connection. Even if all you do is check emails for work, you must have another Internet connection as your primary source for access.
So why would anyone use the service? Many people use it because their employers pay for it, and I’m sure they never inform their employees about what they can and can’t do with it. For that reason, a lot of people are “inappropriately” using the service which is good news for Verizon because they can terminate your account whenever they want. I look at it as Verizon’s way to cover their own back since they can sell the service to as many people as they possibly can, and then when their network starts to see a pattern of overall heavy usage, they can just terminate the people who use their accounts the most. This will maximize their revenue while keeping the network usage to a minimum.
I definitely understand their reasoning for limiting the service to only 5GB of bandwidth per month, but what boggles my mind is how they can advertise this as unlimited when they explicitly say that any usage over 5GB will cause your account to be terminated?
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Tags: Hardware, Web Sites, Verizon
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Must be Verizon uses that “new math”, how else is unlimited usgae = 5 GB per month?
Oh yeah, I guess the same people who did the math are the ones who wrote this agreement.
Obviously the data plan is unlimited for very small values of unlimited… disgusting behaviour.
Obviously no one is talking about the fact that this is wireless not cable. When data is going wireless it’s very expensive cause of the large avian network that’s needed to carry bits from Verizon to your mobile.
If I have the service for an unlimited number of months, then unlimited * 5GB = unlimited. So no, they are not lying.
What we are talking about is bait-and-switch marketing. I don’t believe anyone assumes that it’s easier to transport packets of information wirelessly, but when Verizon markets to its consumers that they will have “Unlimited” bandwidth for a set monthly fee, they are falsely advertising it’s capabilities.
Think about it the other way - if unlimited means 5GB to Verizon; and you, the consumer, are paying $70 for unlimited, then by proxy - the service should then be free for only 5GB. They put a maximum on infinite size, you remove the minimum infinitely from cost.
Some idiot at Verizon got the math wrong. The 100-200 MB per hour, 10 hours per day, 7 days per week adds up to 30-60 GB’s per month - NOT 5 GB!
Cranston:
Who got the math wrong? Verizon computed 30 and said that it was more than 5. You computed 30 and claimed that Verizon was wrong. Bzzzt!
Hint: 30 is more than 5.
We all know that Verizon can’t do math. It took an internet uproar for that guy who went to Canada who had an unlimited data plan on his phone in the US, and was quoted “.002 cents” per kilobyte something like 4 times, but was charged “.002 dollars” per kilobyte.
I call:
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT!
Forget anything about what the service can actually do or what it costs verizon per bit of data moving through the air. They say you have unlimited data transfer per month and they don’t offer it, plain and simple. It’s deceptive and they should be sued for it. If you cap it at 5gb, then say in the advertisement that you offer ‘5GB of Data transfer per month for $70′
I hate how products are now sold with unlimited stamped all over it, and when you read the fine print they slap the cuffs on. It’s a sad sad legal situation.
No class action lawsuit! Has there ever been one that benefited consumers, rather than lawyers and the defendant? A bunch of lawyers make a pile of money, and Verizon settles by offering $20 off coupons for wireless service (providing you renew your contract, of course!!). It’s better than an advertising campaign.
The best thing to do is have a class action lawsuit. They are committing fraud by advertising it as unlimited, and yet, still have it limited. This is a load of crap.
I LOVE DIAL-UP INTERNET!!!
Obviously Verizon is not understanding that “Unlimited” ought to mean just that. If it’s too expensive to pay for that much bird seed then they need to raise the rates or lower the limits.
“No class action lawsuit! Has there ever been one that benefited consumers, rather than lawyers and the defendant? A bunch of lawyers make a pile of money, and Verizon settles by offering $20 off coupons for wireless service (providing you renew your contract, of course!!). It’s better than an advertising campaign.”
Even if the consumers don’t get the money, hopefully it will cost them enough in both time and dollars that they will be less likely to do it again.
Reminds me of when I was an AT&T customer that made the mistake of switching to a new phone shortly after the merger with Cingluar. They told us all that we would be able to use the full network, but that was a bold faced lie. The end result? The worst cell service I have ever recieved in my life (including the brick phone days) combined with Cingluar employees trying to convince me I was imagining it.
All the more reason to go with another provider. Sprint has much better data service anyway, here I go!
Yet the agreement everyone signs clearly states the bandwidth cap, and people still don’t read the LEGALLY BINDING SERVICE AGREEMENTS.
As long as people continue to just click and agree without really looking at what they are agreeing to (mostly young people), forget about suing Verizon or anything like a class action lawsuit. It would be a huge waste of time because Verizon would just show the contract that YOU SIGNED!
I’m sure it is really expensive, but consumers are paying for what’s being advertised and Verizon is inappropriately advertising the wireless service. It would be like saying you get unlimited calling to anyone in the world anytime you want it on your cellphone…and then they terminate the service after you’ve used a few hundred minutes because that amount of use is considered inappropriate. As the other commenters have pointed out this isn’t right for them to do that.
FYI some dialup limit you to a limited amount of hours. I remember back when I was in high school, I would run 56k from Friday 3pm until Monday morning. A good weekend was 0 disconnects.
If you want to get out of your contract with Verizon, then, just use 5GB/month, and they’ll cut you off. Sounds like a winner.
(iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections
Could that have anything to do with the fact that Verizon sells that as a service?
So if you signed up for stuff like watching video news, sports, youtube, whatever on your daily 1 hr (each way)
NJ-NYC commute you should get your termination notice about mid month…
note to self: keep pr0n surfing under 5 gb/month.
I mean, VPN traffic under 5 gb/month.
isn’t it nice that in Germany at least a data service with 5 GB of monthly volume costs about 25 € (or about 33 $), less than half the price of an unlimited Verizon service
My experience with the big “V” is their services are a bit expensive (except DSL) but pretty good quality & reliable. I’m not surprised by this 5 Gb deception at all, I’ve seen worse from them. It fits them to a ‘T’ along with nickel & diming at every opportunity. Of course, that’s just like most any large corporation today.
Maybe they should call it “Unlimited Access Plan” instead of unlimited data, because you have unlimited access to the internet but you’re limited by the amount of data you can download?
UAP sounds better too, could be pronounced “you-app”
Yeah, but what isn’t mentioned in this article is that when you go over this limit, not only do they disconnect your service, but they charge you an enormous “disconnect fee.” I read another article months ago about someone who used this service for completely legitimate reasons (email and web browsing) but because of the nature of his job, he pushed the bandwidth limit. Suddenly, his service was cut, and Verizon was demanding insane amounts of money. As if disconnecting actually costs them anything…
I am one of the lucky Verizon customers who had their service terminated. The termination fee was waived, and when I called to complain, I had my service reactivated for free. A few weeks later I did the same thing (was terminated, and called for free reactivation).
I pointed out to their regional manager that they were on shaky legal ground, having sold the service as unlimited. Sure, I may have exceeded 5GB in a month - but the TOS did not include that provision when I purchased my plan.
Good to see that Verizon is being a little more forthright. Of course, they will reconnect you for free if you ask them to. They would rather not lose their customers to Sprint, and clearly that is where folks will go if they are terminated.
Is it a hassle? Yes. Despicable? Yes. But it’s just a load of carp, and they won’t hold you to the limit.
@DS: At least you were lucky and got reconnected, but as you mentioned that is definitely a hassle to have to call each time to get setup again.
I wonder how long it will take before cable/DSL providers implement the same sort of caps with bigger numbers? Seems like everyone’s talking about the impact of YouTube, BitTorrent, etc. on the “last mile” providers.
I would think that these providers would have to start meeting the demands of the users, which are definitely going to increase as video sharing continues to get more and more popular.
That statement is fine until this line: Anyone using more than 5 GB per line in a given month is presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above,
That is not worth the bits used to display the characters. As a US citizen we are presumed innocent(Patriot act notwithstanding). That statement says they are presuming you are guilty. This is blatantly unconstitutional, and would not hold up 30 seconds before an honest judge. Who is the lawyer that wrote this? Albert Gonzales?!?!
Personally from what I’ve researched on their websites, Sprint has better coverage on the higher speeds in my area anyway.
What is with the ’spam protection’? Last I knew 2 7=9, yet it wont let me post!
If I stream Verizon disconnects. How can I get it to keep from disconnecting me. I know there is a way.
so can i play online poker for 10 hours a day and not go over the 5gb