Verizon Responds To FCC's Scathing Letter, Defends Decision To Throttle Data For Unlimited Subscribers

Earlier this week, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler penned an open letter to Verizon telling the wireless carrier that he's "deeply troubled" by its decision to throttle data for the top 5 percent of users subscribed to the company's unlimited data plans. The way Wheeler sees it, Verizon isn't trying to relieve network congestion, but is instead targeting a group of users to squeeze more money out of them. Not so, says Verizon.

The Verge got its hands on a copy of Verizon's response to Wheeler's angry letter. Verizon's response highlights the fact that customers will only see slowdowns in data service "under very limited circumstances" and only at "particular cell sites experiencing unusually high demand."

Verizon Phones
Image Source: Flickr (Mike Mozart)

Verizon also explains to Wheeler that any data throttling that occurs will stop the moment an overburdened cell site returns to normal operation.

"Our practice is a measured and fair step to ensure that this small group of customers do not disadvantage all others all others in the sharing of network resources during times of high demand," Verizon said.

Verizon also claims that every other major wireless carrier in the U.S. -- AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint -- have some form of data throttling, otherwise known as "network optimization," that's been "widely accept with little or no controversy." As for Verizon's policy, exceeding 4.7GB per month would