Insider: Verizon Caps FiOS at 10 TB and DSL at 1.5 TB Earlier this week we noted how customers on "unlimited" FiOS connections have been getting this warning from Verizon, informing them they're violating their terms of service by consuming an "excessive" amount of bandwidth. If usage isn't curtailed, the notice warns, customers will see their accounts terminated within two months.

Verizon obviously wants these extremely heavy users (who consume multiple terabytes per month) to migrate to more expensive business-class connections. The problem is that Verizon refuses to define what "excessive" is, or what level of consumption is actually acceptable. They've also stated on several occasions that there is absolutely no limit and that FiOS "doesn't cap usage in any way." I reached to to Verizon to try and get a handle on precisely what "excessive" means, and the company made it very clear we're talking about a very small number of overall customers the company would prefer to see move to business-class. "Business-class services are designed to meet significantly higher requirements than those utilized by residential/consumer customers," says the company. "A small number of High Speed Internet (DSL) and FiOS Internet residential service customers are consuming volumes of data every month at levels that far exceed the monthly residential service customer average for their service." When pressed for an exact definition of "excessive," or whether this invisible threshold varies by market, Verizon would only comment in movie-related abstraction. "FiOS Internet customers we have contacted would have to watch at least 6,660 SD movies per month or 222 SD movies per day to consume the amount of data they are using per month," Verizon tells me. "High Speed Internet customers we have contacted would have to watch at least 1000 SD movies per month or 33 SD movies per day to consume the amount of data they are using per month." Fortunately, a Verizon insider familiar with Verizon's network management practices was willing to give me a much more specific answer. According to front-line support materials provided to Verizon reps, the company has a 10 terabyte monthly cap in place for FiOS connections, and a 1.5 terabyte monthly cap in place for DSL lines. Verizon could simply state this in the terms of service, but I assume that might mute the unlimited marketing potential of fiber in the company's fight against cable. That doesn't explain why the subject of our original story was targeted after using "just" seven terabytes, nor does it explain why some users in our forums have received the same letter for consuming less. I imagine the cap may vary depending on market and regional congestion, another reason why Verizon may be unwilling to specifically define what the company considers to be "excessive." That doesn't explain why the subject of our original story was targeted after using "just" seven terabytes, nor does it explain why some users in our forums have received the same letter for consuming less. I imagine the cap may vary depending on market and regional congestion, another reason why Verizon may be unwilling to specifically define what the company considers to be "excessive."







News Jump California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law; AT&T's Traffic Up 20% Despite Data Traffic Actually Being Down; + more news Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news Verizon To Buy Reseller TracFone For $7B; 5G Not The Competitive Threat To Cable Many Thought It Would Be; + more news MS.Wants Records From AT&T On $300M Project; Google Fiber Outages In Austin, Houston, Other Texan Cities; + more news States With The Biggest Decreases In Speed; AT&T Hopes You'll Forget Its Fight Against Accurate Maps; + more news AT&T's CEO Has A Familiar $olution To US Broadband Woes; EarthLink Files Suit Against Charter; + more news 5G Doesn't Live Up To Hype, AT&T's 5G Slower Than Its 4G; Cord-Cutting Now In 37% of Broadband Households; + more news FCC Cited False Broadband Data Despite Warnings; ZTE, Huawei Replacement Cost Is $1.87B, But Only $1B Allocated; + more Cogeco Rejects Altice USA's Atlantic Broadband Bid; AT&T Is Astroturfing The FCC In Support Of Trump Attack; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed

Most recommended from 174 comments



Zenit

The system is the solution

Premium Member

join:2012-05-07

Purcellville, VA 9 recommendations Zenit Premium Member 1.5tb Cap Its honestly impossible to hit that 1.5tb cap on VZ DSL.



Why? Most customers are stuck at 3mbps. It would take downloading full tilt for 49 days to hit the 1.5tb cap, by then you are out of the billing cycle and it resets.



Ok, lets say your a lucky duck and you get 5mbps or 7mbps VZ DSL:

On 5mbps DSL, its possible to hit the 1.5tb cap after downloading full tilt for 29 days.

On 7mbps DSL, 21 days.



These caps are more than reasonable for a residential usage. The FIOS cap is generous and is probably designed to prevent MORE peering congestion issues and reduce the chance of local congestion as GPON is split between typically 32 customers.



Am I for data caps? No. Tactfully applied QoS to the highest user who is causing documented problems for others on the shared network segment WITH clear notification as to what is going on should be done...



Comcast's 250gb hard cap of the past was a joke, and the proposed 350gb cap is still a joke.