Amid blaze, Verizon slowed firefighters’ data speed
Chief: Throttling ‘had a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services’
In the heat of the largest wildfire in California history, Verizon dramatically slowed down data speeds for Santa Clara County firefighters helping to battle the blaze and suggested the department should pay more for a better data plan.
Santa Clara County Fire Department Chief Tony Bowden wrote to the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, saying the data slowdown — known as throttling — “had a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services” for firefighters dispatched to the Mendocino Complex wildfires in Northern California. Bowden said Verizon knew the data slowdown affected the firefighters’ crisis response but did nothing. He provided email correspondence as evidence.
Wednesday, Bowden’s comments became a flashpoint in the ongoing battle over net neutrality rules, which long regulated how broadband providers can manipulate their networks. They were recently repealed by the Trump administration. Bowden initially made the comments as part of a court battle over the issue.
In the emails, Verizon accounts manager Silas Buss initially suggested Bowden’s staff should upgrade to a $39.99 unlimited data plan in early July, before the Mendocino Complex fires, in order to restore data speeds that were being reduced under the terms of their existing plan. On July 30, when the fires were raging, Buss raised the suggested price to $99.99 per month to remove throttling.
Santa Clara County firefighters deployed to the two Mendocino Complex fires, which
have burned more than 400,000 acres so far, experienced internet speeds slashed to 1/ 200 that of previous speeds. Firefighters who battle wildfires rely on live document-based apps, such as Google Docs, to update information, and the speed reduction made the communication nearly impossible, said Bill Murphy, a public information officer with the Santa Clara County Fire Department.
Buss did not respond to requests for comment.
Verizon spokeswoman Heidi Flato called the throttling a “mistake” and said that the data restrictions should have been lifted at the fire department’s request.
She said the Santa Clara County fire department initially encountered the throttling because it had subscribed to an unlimited data plan for government agencies that reduces speeds after a certain allotment of data is used.
“Regardless of the plan emergency responders choose, we have a practice to remove data speed restrictions when contacted in emergency situations,” she said. “We have done that many times, including for emergency personnel responding to these tragic fires. In this situation, we should have lifted the speed restriction when our customer reached out to us. This was a customer support mistake. We are reviewing the situation and will fix any issues going forward.”
Murphy said it is unclear
whether Verizon’s throttling jeopardized the lives or safety of any firefighters. The department no longer gets throttled as it has upgraded to a different plan, he said.
“The fire department’s concern is more that the throttling may impact the public in times of emergency and disaster,” Murphy said. “We as a society rely so much on our ability to communicate through the internet. Our bigger concern is the throttling will impact people accessing evacuation notices, maps and public warnings.”
Bowden disclosed the throttling incident in a Monday addendum to a larger brief by 22 state attorneys general and other government agencies seeking to overturn the recent repeal of net neutrality
rules by the Federal Communications Commission.
“It is likely that Verizon will continue to use ... public safety emergencies and catastrophic events to coerce public agencies into higher cost plans ultimately paying significantly more for mission critical service,” Bowden said in the addendum.
Net neutrality rules seek to prevent internet service providers and broadband carriers such as Verizon from favoring one website or service over others by granting unequal loading speeds, or by blocking or slowing content.
The FCC adopted net neutrality protections in 2015, but the agency under Trump administration’s voted in 2017 to repeal those rules.
Flato, Verizon’s spokesperson, insisted, “This situation has nothing to do with
net neutrality or the current proceeding in court.”
But Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams — representing the county’s fire department — countered in a press release Wednesday, saying, “Verizon’s throttling has everything to do with net neutrality.”
“It shows that the ISPs will act in their economic interests, even at the expense of public safety,” Williams said. “That is exactly what the Trump Administration’s repeal of net neutrality allows and encourages.”
Verizon was allowed to throttle data plans under the old net neutrality rules, according to Gigi Sohn. She worked for former Democratic FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who was the FCC chair when the 2015 net
neutrality regulations were adopted.
The FCC’s new rules require internet service providers to publicly disclose how they manage traffic but charge the Federal Trade Commission — not the FCC — with handling complaints. Sohn argued that this change leaves the public exposed.
“(The FCC) abdicated its role in protecting the public,” Sohn said. “What the FCC may tell you is that the Federal Trade Commission is now taking care of this. But if Verizon reserves the right to throttle you in their terms of service, the FTC can’t do anything because the agency only can go after unfair and deceptive trade practices.”