AT&T has stated that 98% of its users use less than 2GB per month. If Verizon is going to throttle the top 5% of its users, Verizon is probably anticipating th

AT&T has stated that 98% of its users use less than 2GB per month. If Verizon is going to throttle the top 5% of its users, Verizon is probably anticipating throttling a good bit below 2GB for a couple reasons. First, data usage is exponential. According to AT&T, 65% of data users use under 200MB meaning that only 33% use between 200MB and 2GB. So, capping the top 5% might mean throttling at 1.5GB or 1GB. Second, Verizon has fewer heavy smartphone users (for now). Verizon has stated that it sold 9M Android phones in 2010. AT&T sold more iPhones in half a year. AT&T has also been selling these high-data devices for longer. Much of Verizon's smartphone population consists of RIM and WiMo users who didn't have another option on Verizon until late 2009. So, it's likely that Verizon's average smartphone and top 5% data usage is below AT&T's simply because their mixture of devices is skewed toward devices people use less data with. I was really excited that Verizon was going to be offering unlimited data with the iPhone. However, they've just said that they're actually going to be offering less data. The difference is that they're throttling while AT&T is offering full-speed with the risk of overage. I guess Verizon is worried about a ton of high-usage iPhone users degrading their network and has decided that they'll simply degrade service for high-end users. It's disappointing, but I do appreciate that there are realistic concerns about keeping networks running. The introduction of the iPhone on Verizon is likely to double the number of high-data smartphones on their network and that will mean that the shared bandwidth available will become scarcer. I understand that networks are shared resources, but I'm disappointed in Verizon. After saying that their network had the capacity, they announce that they're going to be throttling at amounts less than AT&T's plan. Information from AT&T comes from http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=17991&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=30854&mapcode=financial|wireless http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=17991&cdvn=news&#3...