BIG DATA DISPUTE

Net neutrality fuse lit in Verizon feud

A heated spat between a Silicon Valley fire department and Verizon has engulfed official Washington and the FCC’s net neutrality ruling.

Santa Clara County firefighters have rejected the wireless provider’s claim that the smoke eaters data was slowed while battling the Mendocino Complex fire because of a “customer support mistake.”

A lawyer for the county brushed aside the excuse, saying, “Verizon’s throttling has everything to do with net neutrality.”

Verizon vows the data slowdown wasn’t tied to the controversial move by the FCC last December to repeal net neutrality.

The firefighters said the telecom giant made their job harder when it slowed the flow of data to as little as 1/200th of its normal speed from its usual 25GB rate.

The data slowdown “shows that the ISPs [internet service providers] will act in their economic interests, even at the expense of public safety,” said James Williams, the county lawyer.

Verizon admits the firefighters data was throttled even though, as an emergency services customer, it has unlimited data.

But data for non-emergency services customers — even those with unlimited plans — is slowed after a certain threshold.

Emergency services customers’ data wasn’t supposed to get throttled. It happened on this occasion because it wasn’t properly communicated that the account was for a fire department, Verizon said. It will not happen again, the company pledged.

Tony Bowden, the chief of the Santa Clara County fire department, said when Verizon was contacted it refused to stop the throttling until the department switched to a new data plan that was twice as expensive.

In fact, Verizon wanted the department to switch to a $99.99 a month plan from a $37.99 plan, according to reports.

“It is likely that Verizon will continue to use the exigent nature of public safety emergencies and catastrophic events to coerce public agencies into higher cost plans,” Bowden said. “Even if that means risking harm to public safety during negotiations.”

The FCC vote last December to repeal net neutrality was a win for ISPs like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon.

Under current regulations, ISPs are free to block rival apps, slow down competing services or offer faster speeds to companies that pay up. They are obliged to post their policies online or tell the FCC, which could deem the action anticompetitive.

A group of 22 state attorneys general has sued the FCC in federal court to overturn the repeal.

The group argues the FCC action could harm public safety, citing electrical grids as an example.

“The absence of open internet rules jeopardizes the ability to reduce load in times of extreme energy grid stress,” it said in court papers. “Consequently, the order threatens the reliability of the electric grid.”

‘ Verizon’s throttling has everything to do with net neutrality — it shows that the ISPs will act in their economic interests, Williams even ’ at the expense of public safety. —Santa Clara County Counsel James

‘ ... this situation has nothing to do with net neutrality or the current ’ proceeding in court. —Verizon