Verizon to limit iPhone downloads

Verizon Wireless, facing a jump in data consumption as Apple Inc.’s iPhone goes on sale, said it will prevent users from downloading entire videos at once to help “ease capacity burdens on the network.’’
The carrier may also limit the download speeds for some customers, who are among the top 5 percent in data consumption, in areas where they risk jamming the network, a practice known as throttling, according to Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon.
Verizon will also eliminate some colors and other data from videos it deems to be “not visible to the human eye,’’ according to the policy on its website.
Customers began preordering the Verizon iPhone yesterday — ending almost four years of AT&T Inc.’s exclusive US rights to carry the device. AT&T has said the iPhone contributed to a sharp rise in data use on its network. Verizon Wireless, based in Basking Ridge, N.J., said it will only allow the beginning of videos to be downloaded initially while the remainder is sent to a device as it is being watched.
“This is in order to manage the network,’’ Nelson said. Any data slowdowns would be for “specific high-traffic locations at specific high-traffic times of the day, where we are seeing instances where lots of people are being negatively impacted.’’ The curbs would apply only to customers signing up for new or renewal contracts as of yesterday, he said.