We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. (Photo credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images) While firefighters in Santa Clara, California, were responding to wildfires that spread across the state earlier this summer, Verizon Wireless was throttling the fire department's data. Santa Clara County Fire Chief Anthony Bowden disclosed the throttling incidents as part of an ongoing lawsuit to restore net neutrality rules. On Monday, a group of attorneys general representing 22 states filed a new brief calling for the FCC to bring back net neutrality protections prohibiting internet service providers (ISPs) like Verizon from engaging in practices such as blocking, throttling, or paid prioritization. As Ars Technica first reported, email evidence of the throttling and a statement from Chief Bowden were included as part of an addendum to Monday's brief. Bowden stated that while responding to the Mendocino Complex Fire in June and July of this year, the department discovered that devices and emergency response vehicles were experiencing capped download speeds due to the department exceeding the 25GB monthly threshold of its unlimited data plan. In a June 29 email, Santa Clara Fire Captain Justin Stockman wrote to Verizon regarding throttled download speeds. Verizon told the department it would have to move from a $37.99 per month plan to a $39.99 plan "to get the data speeds restored on this device" and later recommended a second switch to a $99.99 plan. In early July, Daniel Farrelly, a Santa Clara fire department IT officer, wrote that "after using 25GB of data, our service drops to zero. This is unacceptable and needs to be fixed." The email exchanges between Verizon and the fire department continued through late July when the Mendocino Complex Fire broke out. Specifically, the brief lists an emergency response vehicle named OES 5262 that uses a Verizon SIM card for internet access and was unable to function effectively during the fire due to throttled data speeds. The crux of the email exchange is that the fire department thought it was already paying for unlimited data. Officials asked Verizon repeatedly to cease its data throttling, and were met with multiple suggestions to upgrade to more expensive unlimited data plans. Heidi Flato, Verizon's public relations manager for the Pacific US region, told PCMag that Verizon "made a mistake in how we communicated with our customer about the terms of its plan" and also stressed that the situation "has nothing to do with net neutrality or the current proceeding in court." "Like all customers, fire departments choose service plans that are best for them," Flato said. "This customer purchased a government contract plan for a high-speed wireless data allotment at a set monthly cost. Under this plan, users get an unlimited amount of data but speeds are reduced when they exceed their allotment until the next billing cycle. Regardless of the plan emergency responders choose, we have a practice to remove data speed restrictions when contacted in emergency situations. 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." Mobile network throttling and unlimited data plan caps are nothing new, but the FCC's rollback of net neutrality protections also removed an official mechanism for filing complaints regarding unjust or unreasonable prices and practices. The FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules took effect on June 11; Verizon's throttling of the Santa Clara Fire Department's data started a few weeks later. Bowden's official statement said the throttling had "a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services. Verizon imposed these limitations despite being informed that throttling was actively impeding County Fire's ability to provide crisis-response and essential emergency services."
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We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. (Photo credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images) While firefighters in Santa Clara, California, were responding to wildfires that spread across the state earlier this summer, Verizon Wireless was throttling the fire department's data. Santa Clara County Fire Chief Anthony Bowden disclosed the throttling incidents as part of an ongoing lawsuit to restore net neutrality rules. On Monday, a group of attorneys general representing 22 states filed a new brief calling for the FCC to bring back net neutrality protections prohibiting internet service providers (ISPs) like Verizon from engaging in practices such as blocking, throttling, or paid prioritization. As Ars Technica first reported, email evidence of the throttling and a statement from Chief Bowden were included as part of an addendum to Monday's brief. Bowden stated that while responding to the Mendocino Complex Fire in June and July of this year, the department discovered that devices and emergency response vehicles were experiencing capped download speeds due to the department exceeding the 25GB monthly threshold of its unlimited data plan. In a June 29 email, Santa Clara Fire Captain Justin Stockman wrote to Verizon regarding throttled download speeds. Verizon told the department it would have to move from a $37.99 per month plan to a $39.99 plan "to get the data speeds restored on this device" and later recommended a second switch to a $99.99 plan. In early July, Daniel Farrelly, a Santa Clara fire department IT officer, wrote that "after using 25GB of data, our service drops to zero. This is unacceptable and needs to be fixed." The email exchanges between Verizon and the fire department continued through late July when the Mendocino Complex Fire broke out. Specifically, the brief lists an emergency response vehicle named OES 5262 that uses a Verizon SIM card for internet access and was unable to function effectively during the fire due to throttled data speeds. The crux of the email exchange is that the fire department thought it was already paying for unlimited data. Officials asked Verizon repeatedly to cease its data throttling, and were met with multiple suggestions to upgrade to more expensive unlimited data plans. Heidi Flato, Verizon's public relations manager for the Pacific US region, told PCMag that Verizon "made a mistake in how we communicated with our customer about the terms of its plan" and also stressed that the situation "has nothing to do with net neutrality or the current proceeding in court." "Like all customers, fire departments choose service plans that are best for them," Flato said. "This customer purchased a government contract plan for a high-speed wireless data allotment at a set monthly cost. Under this plan, users get an unlimited amount of data but speeds are reduced when they exceed their allotment until the next billing cycle. Regardless of the plan emergency responders choose, we have a practice to remove data speed restrictions when contacted in emergency situations. 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." Mobile network throttling and unlimited data plan caps are nothing new, but the FCC's rollback of net neutrality protections also removed an official mechanism for filing complaints regarding unjust or unreasonable prices and practices. The FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules took effect on June 11; Verizon's throttling of the Santa Clara Fire Department's data started a few weeks later. Bowden's official statement said the throttling had "a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services. Verizon imposed these limitations despite being informed that throttling was actively impeding County Fire's ability to provide crisis-response and essential emergency services."