New usage allowances for BT Total Broadband in July
Monday 09 June 2008 16:35:16 by Andrew Ferguson
The recent switch from counting just download traffic to counting a sum of the download and upload traffic on BT Total Broadband products carried a small adjustment to allowances. The Fair Use Policy for the BT Total Broadband products reveals that further changes to allowances are due starting 1st July 2008.
Option 1 which has a standard monthly fee of £15.99 will see its usage allowance rise from 5GB to 10GB per month. Option 2 gets an extra 7GB taking its allowance up to 15GB for the £20.99 monthly fee. Option 3 remains as an unlimited product, but subject to fair use policy.
It should be pointed out that the fair use policy applies to all the BT Total products mentioned. The way the BT Total traffic management is thought to work means that even occasional peak-time users of applications such as peer to peer may see things slowing down. This is because we believe BT Total allocates allowances across its whole network for specific applications, and if a lot of people are using them, then this allowance gets split into ever smaller slices.
There is a downside to the increases in allowance, those who regularly exceed their Option 1 or 2 allowance will from 1st July be charged 60 pence per GB rather than the current 30p per GB.
With the average usage per broadband user creeping up as people start to consume more and more video and other services, seeing allowances increase is welcome. The big caveat is that an increase in allowance has to be managed carefully, e.g. backed up by adding extra capacity to the broadband network. Given the price reductions in costs from BT Wholesale that have occurred for the last couple of years, this seems feasible.
Digg this
Add to del.icio.usComments
"The way the BT Total traffic management is thought to work means that even occasional peak-time users of applications such as peer to peer may see things slowing down."
Only BT know how their traffic management policies will be applied from one day to the next.
Certainly nothing "fair" about that.
"60 pence per GB rather than the current 30p per GB"
...
Ofcom really need to crack down on profiteering on bandwidth charges. 30p perfectly reasonable for a large ISP...
I love the words "FAIR" Use and the way people like BT change your limits, caps etc etc, lets give them more usage yet charge more when you go over it anyway....... genius!
I wonder what was more "FAIR" the "FAIR" use before or the "FAIR" use now... I might even send them a dictionary in the hope a few words enter their empty heads to explain something is either "FAIR" or it isnt...... it cant be "FAIR" and then "FAIRER" lol...... good old BT and their rubbish services.
Can't blame BT Carpetburn. They wouldn't get away with these terms if we had a regulator.
Yea im pretty sure if BT are not Married to Ofcom it must be a long relationship instead
I certainly think Ofcom tread on eggshells when it comes to upsetting any ISP, not just BT.
Nah ofcom will merrily hand out fines to others, if a small ISP pulled the phorm test lark as an example without telling people they would had been punished serverly... BT though happily get away with stuff like that and so much more
"Posted by chrysalis 7 days ago
so the question is, is option 3 still 40 gig month, or have they increased the hidden limit"
If there is a hidden limit how can they sell it as unlimited? Also we exceed that occassionally and no one has hammered us yet. Unlimited appears to be exactly that.
As for the new allowences if you cant stick in it then you should get charged, and change to a higher use option.
It is unlimited...... unlimited until they decide to throttle you or implement their fair use terms upon you, something that looking in the forums seems to be happening more and more.
so the question is, is option 3 still 40 gig month, or have they increased the hidden limit.