Verizon is in a reliability and efficiency war with AT&T right now. While it used to be a given that AT&T’s GSM network had nothing on Verizon, and blame was typically placed squarely on the shoulders of the iPhone, Verizon’s entry into the iPhone world is nothing short of a stress test on their networks, especially when customers are going to be specifically looking out for any dropped calls or service failures.

According to BGR, Verizon will now start implementing data throttling for the top 5% of its data consumers. The memo uncovered by BGR defends the other 95% in this move, saying, “our proactive management of the Verizon Wireless network is designed to ensure that the remaining 95% of data customers aren’t negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users.”

Verizon, of course, won’t actually call it throttling, instead opting for the more neutral “optimizing.” Some of you will be happy to hear that the regular user will get better service, while the movie downloaders amongst us will be upset that their previously unfettered bandwidth is now being reserved for those that may not need it. However you look at it, this could be an admission that Verizon isn’t 100% ready for the sudden influx of iPhones onto their network. As there hasn’t been very many complaints about Verizon service up until now, it seems that the most probable reason for this action is in preparation for the coming iConquest.