At the 11th hour, Verizon decides to cancel its controversial throttling plans

October 1 was supposed to be the day that Verizon’s new 4G “network optimization” policy went into effect. Verizon’s heaviest data users on grandfathered unlimited plans faced the possibility of having their speeds throttled down to make room on the LTE network for customers who pay for data by the gigabyte. But Verizon said it would pull the plug on the new policy before it went into effect.

The company’s statement: “Verizon is committed to providing its customers with an unparalleled mobile network experience. At a time of ever-increasing mobile broadband data usage, we not only take pride in the way we manage our network resources, but also take seriously our responsibility to deliver exceptional mobile service to every customer. We’ve greatly valued the ongoing dialogue over the past several months concerning network optimization and we’ve decided not to move forward with the planned implementation of network optimization for 4G LTE customers on unlimited plans. Exceptional network service will always be our priority and we remain committed to working closely with industry stakeholders to manage broadband issues so that American consumers get the world-class mobile service they expect and value.”