The debate over whether unlimited data plans really mean unlimited data came to a head this week as Verizon Wireless agreed to settle a lawsuit brought on by the New York attorney general's office charging the operator with deceptive advertising over its unlimited data service pricing. Verizon will pay a total of $1 million to customers who were booted for using certain high-bandwidth applications.
The attorney general says Verizon cut off more than 13,000 customers since April 2004 for excessive use of the network. By April 2007, the operator had stopped the practice. According to a statement from the attorney general: "Verizon Wireless sold its plans as unlimited plans "without disclosing that common usages such as downloading movies or playing games online were prohibited. The company also cut off heavy Internet users for exceeding an undisclosed cap of usage per month."
For more about Verizon's settlement:
- read this article from RCR Wireless News
- and this release from the New York Attorney General