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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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 Unlimited broadband: BT says ‘goodbye’ to fair usage policies | | | | Quote: As of today, BT has followed in the footsteps of Sky and removed its fair usage policy, which it used to apply to its ‘unlimited’ broadband services.
This usage policy allowed BT to restrict broadband access or slow it down for those download-happy customers who were making the most of the package they had paid for. For those among you who subscribe to BT Unlimited Broadband, Unlimited Broadband Extra, Unlimited BT Infinity 1, Unlimited BT Infinity 2 or BT Total Broadband Option 3 – ‘unlimited’ will finally mean unlimited.
Unfair fair-usage policies
And that’s how it should be. Unfortunately, the Advertising Standards Agency’s rules mean that internet service providers are allowed to label a package as ‘unlimited’, just so long as the fair usage policies are mentioned somewhere in the ads. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem fair to me.
That’s why the Committee of Advertising Practice launched a consultation on this issue last year. Several solutions were up for consideration as part of the process, including the option to make ‘unlimited’ claims unacceptable for certain broadband services. This included services that came with a fair usage policy, which lead to extra charges or a suspended service if customers exceeded a certain usage limit. | | | | |
Brilliant.
_________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:17 pm |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am
Posts: 7935
Location: Manchester.
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I was with Demon Internet a few years ago, and they have never, (as far as I am aware) had a fair usage policy. If they did have one they never contacted me about it, even though I was a big downloader...
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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| Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:43 pm |
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Geiseric
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:35 pm
Posts: 1657
Location: Ipswich
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Good news
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| Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:47 pm |
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steve74
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:43 pm
Posts: 1798
Location: Manchester
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PlusNet (owned by BT now) have recently launched truly Unlimited packages too, so it was bound to filter down to the parent company. PlusNet will no doubt be cheaper, and they're a heck of a lot nicer to deal with than BT's call centre hell.
_________________
* Steve *
* Witty statement goes here *
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| Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:55 pm |
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Linux_User
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 3:29 pm
Posts: 7173
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Hopefully Virgin Media will now follow suit,
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| Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:55 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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It was the reason I left Vermin. They had a ridiculous cap during the day. _________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:58 pm |
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pcernie
Legend
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm
Posts: 45931
Location: Belfast
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I have to phone O2 about their geezer lying to me - I'm building up to it  _________________Plain English advice on everything money, purchase and service related:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
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| Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:28 pm |
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timark_uk
Moderator
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:11 pm
Posts: 12143
Location: Belfast
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Is this retro-active?
I signed up to a package that has a cap, is that cap now removed?
Mark
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| Thu Feb 07, 2013 7:41 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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It will probably apply to any package that is unlimited. If you have a cap then you will probably have to upgrade to an unlimited package. _________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Fri Feb 08, 2013 9:31 am |
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l3v1ck
What's a life?
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:21 am
Posts: 12700
Location: The Right Side of the Pennines (metaphorically & geographically)
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| Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:46 pm |
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E. F. Benson
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:42 am
Posts: 798
Location: land of the free, Bexhill-on-Sea
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I suppose this explains why my 15 meg connection is now running at 300k down but 750k up(normal). All I want to do is watch i player silent witness before tonights episode.
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| Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:58 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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The problem is that early evening is a peak time for many ISP's and everyone has the same idea of catching up with iPlayer when they get home from work. _________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:11 am |
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big_D
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:25 pm
Posts: 10691
Location: Bramsche
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I never understood the UK ISPs preoccupation with usage policies. I can understand the line not being able to give the full bandwidth at peak times, if there is high contention and they are being stingy with the amount of backbone bandwidth they purchase, but actually having monthly caps is silly.
_________________
"Do you know what this is? Hmm? No, I can see you do not. You have that vacant look in your eyes, which says hold my head to your ear, you will hear the sea!" - Londo Molari
Executive Producer No Agenda Show 246
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| Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:20 am |
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E. F. Benson
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:42 am
Posts: 798
Location: land of the free, Bexhill-on-Sea
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When we moved in here, we signed up to BT just for convenience. The exchange is within spitting distance, Fair usage didn't really affect us, if we went over the limit there was an extra charge on the bill, so we changed the contract from £13 to £18 which increased the d/l limit to 40 Gb/month which was fine and cheaper in the long run. Suddenly, concurrent with this change in policy, speed is drastically reduced. The neighbours run a business from home, I will ask if theirs has deteriorated as they do have a business line.
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| Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:41 am |
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JohnSheridan
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:10 pm
Posts: 1057
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So BT have removed the download cap - great.
But does that then mean they will need to trottle their network to cope?
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| Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:45 am |
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