Verizon has decided to abruptly cut off wireless internet to some 8,500 rural customers in 13 states, saying their heavy data use had made it impossible to profit off of the accounts—even though many of the users had purchased unlimited plans.
“Approximately 8,500 customers—using a variety of plans—were notified this month that we would no longer be their service provider after October 17th, 2017,” Verizon corporate communications director Kelly Crummey told BGR .
“These customers live in 13 states (Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin) and in areas outside of where Verizon operates our own network.”
Verizon’s decision has ramifications for the regional carriers as well, which say the company encouraged them to build infrastructure to expand their service areas but is now backing out on the deal .
Though US telecoms have long gotten away with the digital equivalent of murder while providing terrible service , Verizon’s decision is particularly ominous given it could soon be given free license to treat rural customers even more poorly.
- Verizon plans to terminate 8500 rural accounts due to roaming data usageAndroid Authority (blog)
- Verizon Wireless is dropping 213 rural Maine customersPress Herald
- Verizon dumps customers for roamingThe Daily Nonpareil
- 8500 Verizon customers disconnected because of “substantial” data useArs Technica
- Verizon Purging Customers: Thousands Of Rural Users Disconnected For Data UsageInternational Business Times
- 'Plan wasn't so unlimited': Verizon terminates 100s of rural Montanans' contractsMontana Standard
- At Least 8500 Verizon Wireless Customers Booted Off the NetworkDSL Reports
- Verizon Wireless is dropping 213 rural ME customersNewburgh Gazette
- Verizon is disconnecting 8500 customers who need its service the mostBGR
