Verizon throttled data of California firefighters as they battled Mendocino fire

[Betty P]

As California firefighters battled the state’s largest wildfire, Verizon throttled their data

In an August 20 court filing, Santa Clara County Fire Chief Anthony Bowden said his department relies on internet services to keep track of fast-moving fires and coordinate resources and efforts among emergency personnel.

“The Internet has become an essential tool in providing fire and emergency response, particularly for events like large fires which require the rapid deployment and organization of thousands of personnel and hundreds of fuel engines, aircraft, and buIldozers,” Bowden wrote.

Firefighters report as they fought fires, their internet service slowed to dial-up speed, about 1/200th of normal speed. Verizon fixed the problem after the Santa Clara County FD agreed to purchase a data plan that was twice as expensive.


Fire dept. rejects Verizon’s “customer support mistake” excuse for throttling

Verizon yesterday acknowledged that it shouldn't have continued throttling Santa Clara County Fire Department's "unlimited" data service while the department was battling the Mendocino Complex Fire. Verizon said the department had chosen an unlimited data plan that gets throttled to speeds of 200kbps or 600kbps after using 25GB a month but that Verizon failed to follow its policy of "remov[ing] data speed restrictions when contacted in emergency situations."

Verizon throttled service even though Santa Clara had an "unlimited" data plan?