A Verizon Wireless 4G/LTE customer that managed to consume nearly 56GB of data over a two-week period has found he has temporarily lost his 4G privileges during peak usage times on Verizon’s network.

Droid Life reports Verizon’s speed throttle apparently also works on the company’s much-faster 4G network, because the customer found his 4G speeds reduced to dial-up during peak usage periods.  The throttle reduces speeds so much, even browsing web pages becomes a painful experience.  Remarkably, the customer tells Droid Life he still has regular speed access to Verizon’s more congested 3G network, which he now uses when his 4G speeds are reduced.

Verizon Wireless specifically exempts 4G customers from wholesale enforcement of their speed throttle, but the company’s standard Acceptable Use Policy still gives Verizon broad latitude to deal with customers who create an “adverse impact” on their network:

Network disruptions and unfriendly activity: Using the Services for any activity that adversely affects the ability of other people or systems to use either Verizon Wireless Services or other parties’ Internet-based resources. This specifically but without limitation includes excessive consumption of network or system resources whether intentional or unintentional. This also includes “denial of service” (DoS) attacks against another network host or individual user. Interference with or disruption of other network users, network services or network equipment is prohibited.

Such policies are commonplace at every Internet Service Provider, but they are typically enforced only in instances where a neighborhood or region is experiencing especially heavy traffic loads.  That seems to be the case with Droid Life‘s reader, because other customers report they have managed to rack up nearly 120GB in 4G usage over 10 days with no speed reductions.  Verizon reportedly told the throttled customer his speeds were reduced because his ‘excessive downloading’ was an “abuse of the network.”

To run up tens of gigabytes of usage over two weeks usually means the customer is using a tethering application or mobile hotspot app, services for which Verizon charges extra.  We don’t know if this customer is paying for those services or using one of the third-party apps Verizon frowns on.

The selective enforcement of speed throttles may be the result of an overeager Verizon employee subjectively cracking down.  It might also result from the subscriber using services on an especially congested cell site.  We cannot be certain, and Verizon isn’t commenting on the record.  The company officially claims it is standing by the terms of its original plans to throttle the top 5% of 3G users.

With the ongoing crackdowns on what providers deem to be “excessive usage,” it is safe to assume those attempting to use any wireless broadband plan as a home or office broadband replacement is risking the wrath of their providers who consider anything beyond 2-4GB of usage per month on an “unlimited data plan” to be “too much.”

Before the billing problems, apartment and building numbers appeared on customer bills.

Cox Communications’ third-party billing vendor decided a billing system upgrade was required to comply with post office regulations governing the bulk mail discounts the company receives when sending millions of subscriber bills.  But that upgrade caused some renters serious headaches this summer when apartment and building numbers were omitted from the envelopes, resulting in bills being returned to Cox undelivered.

Despite the billing snafus which began in June, customers were still expected to pay their bills on time to avoid late fees.  In Lincoln, R.I., one apartment complex is up in arms as residents in their 80s have been forced to drive to Cox offices just to find out how much they owe and pay their bills in person.

“At first they blamed the post office when I called,” said Cox subscriber Anita Messier.  “I’m 81 years old and I can’t see myself driving [to the cable company] this winter to pay my Cox bill.”

The problem: Cox deleted the apartment and building numbers from the billing addresses of many of their customers.  Now, only a generic street address is listed, and that is a problem for the affected Lincoln residents, many of whom live in apartment complexes with well over 100 individual families.  Mail carriers have not been equipped to guess what bill belongs in which mailbox, so Cox’s monthly statements stopped arriving.

Now they don't, and the post office won't deliver them.

The Messier family’s bill ceased arriving in June, and despite repeated calls and promises the issue would be corrected, they still haven’t received a Cox bill, and it is now October.

In frustration, Messier threw her hands up and called Providence TV station WPRI for help.

“I don’t usually ask for help,” Messier confesses.  “I usually come out of this by myself, but right now I’m frustrated with Cox.”

When the station called Cox, it appears to have lit a fire under the cable company to help finally resolve the issue.  Cox officials profusely apologized for the billing blunder, claim they will refund any late charges that result, and now Lincoln residents are wondering whether they will finally see their Cox bills return to their mailboxes before Halloween.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WPRI Providence Cox Stops Billing Lincoln Cable Customers 10-5-11.mp4[/flv]

WPRI in Providence intervenes on behalf of elderly Lincoln residents who have been forced to drive to local Cox offices to pay the cable bills they haven’t seen since June.  (3 minutes)

[flv width=”480″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Daily Local New cable TV programming guide on display 10-5-11.mp4[/flv]

Comcast has been showing off changes to the company’s set top boxes, which have been effectively “dumbed-down” by removing internal processing power for box-based program guides and other content functions and moving it to the cloud.  Comcast’s newest generation of boxes offer a slimmed-down “browser” experience which relies on stored content at the cable company office, delivered over the cable to the set top box. 

In Denver, Xfinity representatives demonstrated the new products to groups of media and local radio personalities.  Among the most visible improvements is the program guide, which is starting to come closer to Netflix and farther away from the TV Guide Channel of years-past.  Among the features includes box art from movie titles, online reviews, social networking tie-ins, and instant recommendations for other similar programming to watch, either concurrently or in the future.  Subscribers can program shows for recording, alert friends to upcoming shows, and even submit their own review for other subscribers to see.

It’s a significant improvement over older technology, like that still used by Time Warner Cable and other cable operators, which requires extensive delays before incremental improvements are made, and operates on expensive set top terminals.  Video courtesy of: The Daily Local.  (2 minutes)

One of the country’s smallest cable operations grew a little bigger this month with the acquisition of 113 US Cable-owned systems in rural Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Approximately 33,000 customers in communities like Brewster, Heron Lake, Okabena, and Round Lake will be transitioned from New Jersey-based US Cable to Midcontinent this fall.

They will join over 275,000 Midcontinent customers in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  US Cable sold the cable systems as the company continues to unwind its partnership with Comcast.

Midcontinent intends to beef up its customer service operations by opening a new call center in West Fargo, N.D.

Eventually, US Cable subscribers will find their Internet services transitioned to Midcontinent, which delivers service over a reasonably advanced hybrid fiber-coaxial network.

Frontier Communications has announced the availability of Metro Ethernet service to a total of 55 cities in 11 states, with one Frontier representative describing it as perfect for individuals “who are serious gamers, people who download videos and those who watch TV and movies on their computers.”  Apparently Diana Anderson, technical supervisor for Frontier in Kennewick, Wash., has not read Frontier’s Washington State service tariff (5.7.7b) to understand the cost implications of signing up for the service.

Metro Ethernet falls between DSL and fiber optic connectivity, and delivers service at speeds that can approach 100Mbps or more, depending on telephone company facilities and the distance of copper between your home or business and the central switching office.  There are Metro Ethernet services that work over fiber networks, fiber-copper hybrid networks, and even traditional copper landlines — the ones Frontier uses to deliver its MetroE service.

Frontier is pitching Metro Ethernet primarily to medium and large-sized businesses who need more speed than the phone company can offer over its traditional DSL products.  The reason it’s not marketed to consumers is the cost.  Frontier’s Metro Ethernet service is included in Frontier’s tariff for Washington with an installation fee of $320 and a Metro Ethernet-Special Transport fee of $75 a month per DS1 (1.544Mbps).  Customers can get additional speed above 1.544Mbps by paying for additional DS1’s.

We called Frontier’s customer service and asked about service pricing in the Rochester area.  A residential customer service representative had to transfer us to the business products office — they do not sell “residential” Metro Ethernet.  A representative there said the service was available in several parts of Rochester, but was “completely unfeasible” for residential customers because of its cost.  Frontier DSL is the recommended solution for all residential customers in western New York, despite the fact the service does not exceed 3Mbps in our neighborhood (although it is marketed at speeds up to 10Mbps locally).

The following communities now have access to Frontier MetroE service:

• Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
• Bloomington, Carbondale, DeKalb, Freeport, Jacksonville, Lincoln, Marion and Olney, Illinois
• Elkhart, Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Richmond, Terra Haute and Valparaiso, Indiana
• Adrian, Coldwater, Mount Pleasant, Muskegon and Sturgis, Michigan
• Bryson City, Burnsville, Cherokee, Creedmoor, Durham , Hayesville, Marion and Murphy, North Carolina
• Gardnerville, Nevada
• Athens, Bowling Green, Delaware, Jackson, Marion, Medina, Troy and Wilmington, Ohio
• Beaverton, Coos Bay, Gresham and Hillsboro, Oregon
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
• Everett and Kennewick, Washington
• Merrill, Sun Prairie and Wausau, Wisconsin

Let us know what kind of pricing and promotions you can get from Frontier for Metro Ethernet in your area in our comments section.