I understand that Verizon didn't have a plan set up. PPPP, as we said in the military. But somebody from the FD contacted somebody at Verizon.
Somebody at Verizon made a bad decision. Even if it was a first line CSR, they should have known that this was something to be handled by high level management. Even middle management would probably have had to kick it up.
Somebody might have made a decision they weren't authorized to make. That would mean the top level management might not have been aware of the problem. If so, shame in the Verizon employee (regardless of level) who made the bad call.
If high level management made the bad decision, it's disgusting that as mentioned, they had to be shamed into corrective action.
I hope other carriers have taken notice, if not already made plans to assist emergency services.
Personally, I doubt any major carriers would need to throttle customers to provide unlimited, un-throttled throughput to first responders in the event of an emergency, but it would a minuscule price to pay.
We know many first responders have paid a significantly higher price for us.
How is that bad decision? You talk as if Verizon MUST by law offer that level of service! Verizon offers the level of service they think is right. That is how free businesses operate in America (or any free society, for that matter).
"We know many first responders have paid a significantly higher price for us."
They also are getting paid SIGNIFICANTLY higher salaries by us, comparing to the rest of the population. It is their job and a profession. It is what they get paid to do - literally. Am I saying they are not risking their lives? Absolutely not. But what I am saying is - their risk is why they get paid that much. There is no reason to make them into heroes and basing your argument against Verizon on that, because it is irrelevant to the discussion.
I understand that Verizon didn't have a plan set up. PPPP, as we said in the military. But somebody from the FD contacted somebody at Verizon.
Somebody at Verizon made a bad decision. Even if it was a first line CSR, they should have known that this was something to be handled by high level management. Even middle management would probably have had to kick it up.
Somebody might have made a decision they weren't authorized to make. That would mean the top level management might not have been aware of the problem. If so, shame in the Verizon employee (regardless of level) who made the bad call.
If high level management made the bad decision, it's disgusting that as mentioned, they had to be shamed into corrective action.
I hope other carriers have taken notice, if not already made plans to assist emergency services.
Personally, I doubt any major carriers would need to throttle customers to provide unlimited, un-throttled throughput to first responders in the event of an emergency, but it would a minuscule price to pay.
We know many first responders have paid a significantly higher price for us.
How is that bad decision? You talk as if Verizon MUST by law offer that level of service! Verizon offers the level of service they think is right. That is how free businesses operate in America (or any free society, for that matter).
"We know many first responders have paid a significantly higher price for us."
They also are getting paid SIGNIFICANTLY higher salaries by us, comparing to the rest of the population. It is their job and a profession. It is what they get paid to do - literally. Am I saying they are not risking their lives? Absolutely not. But what I am saying is - their risk is why they get paid that much. There is no reason to make them into heroes and basing your argument against Verizon on that, because it is irrelevant to the discussion.
The carriers are certainly not businesses "freely able to operate in America"; they are regulated, by law, and barely at that. It's just libertarian nonsense to believe otherwise.
Here's an even more response from a wildland fire site;
So you follow up with a straw man argument, wrt salary, and society's treatment of firefighters as "heroes", factors which are abundantly distasteful to you.
I would note that most seasonal firefighters, who are the backbone of wildland fire services, make base hourly wages pretty similar to other entry level workers. In a busy fire season, most of their income is generated due to long hours, ie, overtime, and Hazard Pay, which is 25% of the base pay, for every hour of the day worked, as long as the fire has not been contained.
I would guess that a typical Type 1 crew, a Hot Shot Crew, which is trained and qualified for Initial Attack, might spend 12 hours on the fire line, every day, for up to 20 days, at which time they are required to be taken off the line for 24 hours for R&R. That would be the scenario that I would see for a fire the size of the Mendocino Fire Complex, which today, sits at:
424,419 acres 76 percent contained 3, 114 personnel 67 Crews 192 Engines 22 helicopters 280 structures lost $156 Million cost to date to fire the fire
I should mention that the numbers were much greater earlier in the fire.
Fireman normally don’t need truly unlimited data, and it would be enormously expective on a limited budget. The public doesn’t need to be paying for firemen watching Netflix...
this was NOT about personal phones etc. it was about the cellular data connection for an official communication video. that's why the department was peeved. they tried to explain this and were told they needed to pay more money. it's ridiculous when they can tell that I stuck my iphone sim card in my iPad to think that they can't find a way to ID such devices and put them on a special no throttling ever for public health and safety plan. heck if they wanted to block hulu etc on the data coming to that device just to be certain it's not used for such personal activities no one is likely to gripe.
Why didn’t the department pay more money? What they set up as a plan that got throttled after a certain amount to save a few bucks. They knew this, and Verizon knew this. But becuase the Dept didn’t want to pay extra for truly unlimited, becuase it didn’t use all of it most of the time, it stitched up a deal with Verizon that when there was a crisis Verizon would manually turn off the throttling. This has nothing to do with the firefighters, but everything to do with the poor risk management of the beancounters in the office. Of course this would go wrong in a crisis, and it did.
Why didn’t the department pay more money? What they set up as a plan that got throttled after a certain amount to save a few bucks. They knew this, and Verizon knew this. But becuase the Dept didn’t want to pay extra for truly unlimited, becuase it didn’t use all of it most of the time, it stitched up a deal with Verizon that when there was a crisis Verizon would manually turn off the throttling. This has nothing to do with the firefighters, but everything to do with the poor risk management of the beancounters in the office. Of course this would go wrong in a crisis, and it did.
Why didn't Versizon, as a publicly regulated company, provide an actual Unlimited plan at a fixed rate for Emergency Services Providers, instead of a plan that required an additional $8 dollars per additional GB after the first 25 GB, all the time with a verbal promise to convert to true unlimited in the event of an emergency?
Why should Emergency Services Providers pay more money when they were told by Verizon that it would be easy to get an exemption request during extended emergencies?
Why was the throttled rate at 30kbps? That's just greed.
You may see it as poor risk management, but I see it as a lack of real choices for Emergency Services Providers.
Of course, Verizon was shamed into doing this, and there will now be truly Unlimited services available, with much better response to requests during emergencies.
That’s hocus pocus. They don’t need internet to efficiently communicate & operate water. A cb radio & a switch. Communication & water. They rely too much on an isp.
You’re not right in the head. Holy cow the vitriol from the brain dead few is retarded on this post.
They need the internet because it’s the easiest way to interact with multiple sites at the same time. What, did you think they could use Skype or FaceTime over Landlines or something? Ever tried to use a landline conferencing system? Holy crap I’d much rather have my eyeballs ripped out my nostrils by rabid wolverines than deal with that pathetic crap ever again.
It’s not about opening or closing valves or whatever it’s about getting detailed maps of the best place to open those valves and all that requires data and because a plane, helicopter, or man on the ground fighting the fires aren’t connected to a landline it ALL has to go through the freaking cellular system.
Man if I was a firefighter I’d find your address and frankly let your house burn which hopefully will include your laptop and cellphone so that idiots like you can’t access the internet. If I worked for Verizon I’d find out who you were and throttle you to 2800baud speeds.
Comments
Here's an even more response from a wildland fire site;
http://wildfiretoday.com/2018/08/25/verizon-feels-the-pressure-says-will-provide-unlimited-data-to-emergency-services/
So you follow up with a straw man argument, wrt salary, and society's treatment of firefighters as "heroes", factors which are abundantly distasteful to you.
You need to stop digging.
Here's another link, about a specified
http://wildfiretoday.com/2018/08/24/new-rhabdomyolysis-resources/
One of the many maladies that firefighters face in their work environment.
http://wildfiretoday.com/2018/02/06/study-shows-firefighters-exposure-smoke-increases-disease-risk/
http://wildfiretoday.com/2009/03/18/fema-study-shows-firefighters-at-high-risk-for-heart-disease/
http://wildfiretoday.com/2018/02/24/inadequate-sleep-can-help-explain-high-rates-suicide-cardiac-events-among-firefighters/
I would note that most seasonal firefighters, who are the backbone of wildland fire services, make base hourly wages pretty similar to other entry level workers. In a busy fire season, most of their income is generated due to long hours, ie, overtime, and Hazard Pay, which is 25% of the base pay, for every hour of the day worked, as long as the fire has not been contained.
I would guess that a typical Type 1 crew, a Hot Shot Crew, which is trained and qualified for Initial Attack, might spend 12 hours on the fire line, every day, for up to 20 days, at which time they are required to be taken off the line for 24 hours for R&R. That would be the scenario that I would see for a fire the size of the Mendocino Fire Complex, which today, sits at:
424,419 acres
76 percent contained
3, 114 personnel
67 Crews
192 Engines
22 helicopters
280 structures lost
$156 Million cost to date to fire the fire
I should mention that the numbers were much greater earlier in the fire.
Of course this would go wrong in a crisis, and it did.
Why should Emergency Services Providers pay more money when they were told by Verizon that it would be easy to get an exemption request during extended emergencies?
Why was the throttled rate at 30kbps? That's just greed.
You may see it as poor risk management, but I see it as a lack of real choices for Emergency Services Providers.
Of course, Verizon was shamed into doing this, and there will now be truly Unlimited services available, with much better response to requests during emergencies.
They need the internet because it’s the easiest way to interact with multiple sites at the same time. What, did you think they could use Skype or FaceTime over Landlines or something? Ever tried to use a landline conferencing system? Holy crap I’d much rather have my eyeballs ripped out my nostrils by rabid wolverines than deal with that pathetic crap ever again.
It’s not about opening or closing valves or whatever it’s about getting detailed maps of the best place to open those valves and all that requires data and because a plane, helicopter, or man on the ground fighting the fires aren’t connected to a landline it ALL has to go through the freaking cellular system.
Man if I was a firefighter I’d find your address and frankly let your house burn which hopefully will include your laptop and cellphone so that idiots like you can’t access the internet. If I worked for Verizon I’d find out who you were and throttle you to 2800baud speeds.