Verizon Puts Throttling Plan in Place Ahead of iPhone Rush

Verizon is aiming to safeguard its network from bowing under the crush of iPhone users attracted to its unlimited data plan by establishing some new ground rules. The top 5 percent of data munchers will be throttled — slowing performance for them, while keeping the traffic flow steady for users with more moderate habits.

Verizon is taking pre-orders for the iPhone 4, which launches on February 10, and it has announced some network changes designed to help prepare for the influx of activity it expects. They involve optimization and transcoding techniques.

Under the new plan, files will undergo additional compression, less data will be cached, and videos will be resized. This change, which affects all data users, may minimally impact the appearance of videos on the device, Verizon said.

Also, the heaviest 5 percent of unlimited data users will be throttled, thus giving them slower data transfer performance. This will allow other users to have network priority, especially during periods of high traffic. Verizon claims this will affect only a sliver of its overall customer base.

Verizon did not respond to the E-Commerce Times’ request for comment by press time.

Sacrificing a Few for the Good of the Many

“It is interesting timing given the imminent arrival of the Verizon iPhone,” Chris Hazelton, research director for mobile and wireless at the 451 Group, told MacNewsWorld. “That said, the biggest impact will be felt by a small amount of people since this only affects 5 percent of data users, not 5 percent of all Verizon Wireless subscribers — since only a portion of all 94 million subscribers are data users.”

These changes may help the network adapt to more advanced technologies and higher rates of use.

“On the optimization side, caching popular videos or websites will speed delivery for mobile users by temporarily storing content on Verizon’s network,” said Hazelton. “There will be some change to the appearance of content which will be apparent in more advanced browsers — which are now more common with smartphones and tablets.”

Advanced Applications Eat More Data

Verizon is responding to the fact that a few users take advantage of unlimited data by watching high-quality video that gobble tons of bandwidth.

“We’ve seen that carriers are very concerned about what the heaviest data users will do to their network,” Josh Martin, senior analyst, Strategy Analytics, told MacNewsWorld. “The concern is, what happens when video proliferates to more devices? How do you cut that off at the pass to prevent network outages?”

Smartphones and applications are getting more advanced, therefore requiring larger data transfers.

“We’ve seen a couple video applications that have become popular — the March Madness app, Major League Baseball applications and other sports applications,” Martin said. “I think there are a couple solutions, such as better network management and moving some of the network load to WiFi networks. Carriers can also charge more at different times of day, or charge more for different speeds. It’s all still up in the air.”

More Users – More Data

Smartphone use is growing rapidly, and it’s becoming more popular to download and stream video and music.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Verizon is planning on throttling the top 5 percent of data users,” Greg Potter, research analyst, In-Stat, told MacNewsWorld. “With the increasing use of video and data in general over the wireless networks, carriers are increasingly forced to use these types of network management tools to deliver a consistent experience for all users.”

Carriers need to limit the burdens on their networks or face deterioration that could hurt quality.

“In the future, even with the introduction of LTE, carriers will have to use throttling, compression, and data overage charges to help shape a consistent user experience for all users,” said Potter. “The carriers will have to be careful, though, in how they implement their network management. As carriers have less and less differentiation on the handsets they offer, network performance and pricing will become key factors in attracting new subscribers.”

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