BTo to ditch 24/7 unmetered service - sources

dahamsta

The Reg

BTopenworld is ditching its 24/7 unmetered dial-up service, according to insiders. Instead, BT's ISP plans to cap the amount of time people are allowed to use the service to 150 hours a month.

In effect users will have the amount of time they are allowed to stay online without incurring additional call charges cut by around half.

Anyone approaching their new monthly limit will receive an email to let them know. If they want to continue using the service after they have exceeded their quota, then they will have to download the Pay As You Go dialler from the BTopenworld Web site for the rest of the month.

[...]

scojones

another reason for eircom to raise prices. 15 steps forward 1step back for uk, 1 step forward 15 steps back for ireland. GRR!

stormkeeper

Originally posted by sjones
another reason for eircom to raise prices. 15 steps forward 1step back for uk, 1 step forward 15 steps back for ireland. GRR!

Is it possible for us to go that far back? Something tells me it may just be the case, sadly

Canadian

Just out of curiosity, does the new 150 hour limit allow for connection during peak hours as well?? or is it evenings/weekends only?


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bkehoe

I would assume its for on peak too.

Canadian

Interesting.... because the on-peak/off-peak rules make quite a difference.

I did a price compare to determine if I should go to the UTV 150hrs/m package for €30. My usage patterns over the last year made UTV quite a bit more expensive so I'm having to stick with eircom.... by a suprising margin.

I guess most people don't have internet addicted wives at home.....


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LoBo

Canadian: UTVip has a onpeak add-on, for something like €10 a month (check site for details)

With this your onpeak calls are charged at per minute rate of something like 1.8c (compared to 2c with eircom/IOL peak subscription thing)

Eircom currently charge €18/month for their 2c/min peak access dialup.

Do the maths

Colm

LoBo

Just checked http://www.utvip.com to make sure my details were right.

So, you can get either 30hrs or 150hrs offpeak access for the fixed price with UTVip, and then you have the option of onpeak reduced cost access for €10 per month (Eircom charge €18 per month), giving you onpeak internet for 1.8c per minute (Eircom charge 2c per minute).

I'm pretty happy I can stop giving (almost) any money to Eircom.

ProofWizard

Originally posted by Canadian
I guess most people don't have internet addicted wives at home.....

You are not alone there Canadian....!!!
I get ......."but I have to use it during the day when you are at work, cos you are always on it in the evenings".... yes dear.

Canadian

Tell me about it...

I yanked my wife out of Toronto 18 months ago - we had 3MB/sec cable internet access and three computers in the home (for two of us). Now we share a 42kb/s dial up connection.

Sad effects tho - she is an engineer and was taking a computer science degree online which she can't finish now as the course requires a heavy amount of downloads each month. The college in Toronto doesn't understand that people live without broadband.

The upside is we've become alcoholics given the lack of anything else to do.

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Dustaz

Back on topic please.



Is this not incredibly bad news for our struggle? If BT cant make 24/7 FRIACO work, then what hope for us?

Discuss.

Xian

Originally posted by Dustaz

If BT cant make 24/7 FRIACO work, then what hope for us?

Read beyond the headline...

this new tariff structure will curtail the usage of around one in ten of all BTopenworld's unmetered dial-up subscribers

"24/7 FRIACO" is a misuse of the term. FRIACO and the advertised "all-you-can-eat" retail product referred to here are incompatible: the one is wholesale, the other retail. This is just a wake up call for people who do not use the service within the terms of "acceptable use" that should have been explicit in the advertisement of the service, had BT not been so eager to get customers, leaving contention to chance until it couldn't be ignored any longer. The same goes for any retail flat rate product that gets released here - you either be up front about terms of use or pay the price down the line.

Tellox

well in fairness, this could be happening in 3 years for all we know. By the time they do stop their flat rate service, most of the UK could have good broadband coverage.

Its comical though.
Ireland get upgraded to 150hrs a month ; internet users delighted
UK get downgraded to 150hrs a month ; internet users pissed

Paddy20

Even if BTopenworld reduces the time online to 150 hours for a very reasonable Flat-Rate monthly all inclusive fixed fee.

It would still be better than anything we have here as it is a true anytime online package, which I would jump at if I could here in Monstergreedland.

paddy20:cool:

Urban Weigl

I think it should be added that unlike here, punters in the UK have a choice -- if they aren't happy with their ISP's policies, all they have to do is switch. Just to give you a few example, I know someone who uses AOL, and stays online virtually 24/7. Additionally, I just read Freeserve's acceptable use policy, and there is no mention of any limits.

By the way, I think BTo is simply introducing this (assuming it's more than a rumor) because they want people to upgrade to ADSL!

ProofWizard

Originally posted by Urban Weigl
I just read Freeserve's acceptable use policy, and there is no mention of any limits.

I was on freeserve while in UK before moving here, and even though they don't mention any limits or cut-offs, I was regularly disconnected after various lengths of time. Then it was very often very difficult to dial up and get back in.
However it was a 24/7 connection for £9.99 pm and if you used £9.99 worth of calls on their phone service then it was for nothing. Then they did realise that this was not making much dosh and moved the goalposts, I think it is now £14.99 without the phone deal.
I do miss it though.

Urban Weigl

Originally posted by ProofWizard


I was on freeserve while in UK before moving here, and even though they don't mention any limits or cut-offs, I was regularly disconnected after various lengths of time. Then it was very often very difficult to dial up and get back in.
However it was a 24/7 connection for £9.99 pm and if you used £9.99 worth of calls on their phone service then it was for nothing. Then they did realise that this was not making much dosh and moved the goalposts, I think it is now £14.99 without the phone deal.
I do miss it though.

Freeserve charge $13.99 now, and from what I have heard their quality of service has improved dramatically.

Fergus

This attempt to curtail Internet access via the PSTN (voice) network by BT may actually be a sign that the UK is starting to enter a post-FRIACO era.

There was never any intention in the UK to put long-term investment into the voice infrastructure to be able to handle ever expanding flat-rate dial-up users, as it was expected that within 3-5 years Internet traffic would be transferring to IP based broadband solutions etc., and thus averting the incumbent telco voice network overload fantasy.

In Ireland, being so far behind, we have yet to embark on the 3-5 year FRIACO phase of market expansion, so this latest UK development doesn't really apply here.

Dustaz

AOL, Freeserve, Tiscali stick with unmetered Net access

Representatives of AOL UK, Freeserve and Tiscali all said their outfits had no plans to introduce such strict limits. And doubts were expressed over the ability of BTopenworld improve its financial standing through the introduction of user caps

crawler

BT did this because their ADSL product is far more profitable based on penetration and user volumes...really they are just trying to encourage dialup users to switch to Broadband....their longer term objective is to go VOIP and broadband is the lad for this...

dahamsta

BTo emails service cap sob story

BTopenworld has begun sending out bleeding heart emails to its punters informing them that its is capping its flat-fee AnyTime package.

It seems some naughty people use the service too much and this isn't "fair", says BTo. "We're making some changes to your service in order to maintain the quality and reliability of Internet connection for all our users," it says.

"We're changing our Terms & Conditions and introducing a monthly usage quota of 150 hours' Internet access. This works out at an average of five hours a day, every day. Based on your recent usage this is a lot more than you're likely to need," it reasons.

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BTo to cap ADSL?

The Register has received a number of emails from worried customers of BTopenworld asking if the ISP's decision to cap its unmetered dial-up service could have an impact on its broadband service.

It seems they're concerned that if BTopenworld caps its dial-up service, what is stopping it from capping its broadband service? The answer, of course, is nothing.

Let's look at the state of play.

BT Broadband - the new no-frills service launched by BT Retail - has a daily download limit of 1GB and the monster telco says it may introduce "further charges in the future for customers whose use exceeds this figure".

[...]

Funny that everyone missed my initial point. I posted it to show how BT UK seems to be developing strategies for the UK on the back of the Irish situation. I can understand their logic, but I'm deeply disappointed that there isn't a transfer in the opposite direction. I can't decide if it's stupidity or greed that keeps BT from rolling Eircom over here. It's not as if they're not wide open for an ass-whuppin.

adam