Is Data Throttling a Necessary Evil for Cellphone Carriers?

Data throttling — slowing down the Internet connection of a customer who uses too much data — has become a common practice for cellphone carriers. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all say they do it to some customers to keep their networks usable for everyone. But that does not mean throttling is the only and best solution.

Carriers could potentially create separate types of data plans for customers with specific types of use patterns. They could charge extra for these special plans, and in exchange give these customers priority in gaining access to the higher network speeds so they would get a consistently good connection when playing games or watching video. The rest of the customers on normal data plans would still be able to enjoy fast Internet speeds, stream the occasional video or play a game, and not be throttled either. This is just one potential alternative to data throttling proposed by Volubill, a London-based company that advises wireless companies on charging policies.