Verizon lifts data restrictions for first responders after throttling Calif. firefighters

Ryan Suppe | USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO – After taking criticism this week for throttling a fire department's data speeds during a wildfire, Verizon announced Thursday it no longer will place restrictions on data speeds of first responders during emergencies on the West Coast.

Verizon Senior Vice President Mike Maiorana says Verizon will lift data restrictions and provide full network access to first responders during disasters.

The announcement comes a few days after a Silicon Valley fire department revealed in court documents that Verizon intentionally throttled the department's data speeds during the Mendocino Complex fire, the largest wildfire ever in California, covering more than 400,000 acres.

Santa Clara County Fire Chief Tony Bowden wrote in a declaration, filed as evidence in a lawsuit over net neutrality rules, that his department was tasked with coordinating resources – such as personnel and vehicles – during the wildfires. Using a mobile router in a vehicle that acts as a mobile command center, SCC Fire Department staff communicated with email and used web-based spreadsheets to track resources.

These tools were rendered useless to the SCCFD while data was being throttled. The department was forced to use other agencies' internet service providers, and some personnel had to use their personal devices for connectivity, Bowden said.

Bowden said in the declaration that even though the SCCFD had an "unlimited" data plan with Verizon, internet service on the department's devices slowed to 1/200th normal speed after the SCCFD reached 25 gigabytes of data usage.

The data restrictions were not lifted until the SCCFD paid Verizon for an upgraded data plan at double the cost of the original plan, emails included in the court documents show.

More: Verizon throttled 'unlimited' data of Calif. fire department during Mendocino wildfire

Slowing down data speeds after a customer reaches its monthly data limit is a common practice among internet service providers and cellular carriers that's known as throttling. Users can still access the cellular network for basic services such as email or web browsing, but speeds are often too slow for activities such as video streaming.

Verizon spokesperson Heidi Flato said in a statement to USA TODAY on Wednesday that the issue is not related to net neutrality court proceedings but was a customer support error.

"In this situation, we should have lifted the speed restriction when our customer reached out to us. This was a customer support mistake," the statement said.

The California State Assembly's Committee on Natural Disaster Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding is holding an informational hearing Friday on "The Verizon Wireless 'Data Throttling' of Mendocino Complex Firefighters' Internet Access."