Verizon Threatens Public Safety with Throttling, Calls It a “Customer Support Mistake”

On Aug 21, the County of Santa Clara (CA), joined by 22 States and the California Public Utilities Commission, filed its brief supporting network neutrality in the ongoing litigation to protect the open internet. The brief attached testimony and an email thread from the County Fire Chief, Anthony Bowden, describing how—during the worst wildfire in California history—Verizon throttled the Internet connection of a critical emergency response vehicle .  “This throttling has 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,” Santa Clara County Fire Chief Anthony Bowden wrote in his declaration.

In response, Verizon on Aug 22 claimed that, “[t]his situation has nothing to do with net neutrality or the current proceeding in court...This was customer support mistake.” To the contrary, said County Counsel James R. Williams, “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. That is exactly what the Trump Administration’s repeal of Net Neutrality allows and encourages.” Williams added, “in repealing Net Neutrality rules, the Trump Administration failed to consider public safety threats as required by law. For this reason alone, the repeal of Net Neutrality is illegal and must be overturned.”