BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

I was just reading that from another forum, heres the ASA link http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudi...DJ_213114.aspx

On one hand i hope it prompts them to go unlimited again like 50mb was once but on the other i dread to think the problems it will cause.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

They can cut my speeds by 50% if they want, after all they did cut my bill by 50% :D:D:D

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

"Our customers receive unlimited, superfast broadband and, even if they're one of the tiny minority traffic managed for a short period of time, Virgin Media customers can download more than other 'unlimited' services, including BT Infinity," the spokeswoman said."

From my experience I seemed to be one of the tiny minority almost every night.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

About time too that ISPs are getting reined in by the ASA over their misleading use of unlimited as a headline word to describe their overall package.

The use of "Unlimited" was originally misused by ISPs to mean "always on" way back in the days when broadband was first becoming a new thing, and replacing dial up. Even back then it was misleading as there were use caps applied. The consumer simply sees the word, and applies the dictionary definition, and won't expect the small print that says all is not what it seems.

As time moves on the potential speeds of services have increased. But restrictions from some providers remain. Virgin Media may have a potentially fast network, but ultimately people want to be able to make use of it. You subscribe to the higher speed services, because you want that speed, and you want to be able to use it when you want to use it, not when the provider says you can have it. It's one thing to be trying to download the internet, which might not be reasonable, but numerous times have I heard people state they can't download the latest set of game updates or whatever because they are frightened of then being STM'd when they wanted to be gaming or whatever.

Throttling users may be an essential part of Virgin Media's current network setup. But it really needs to be clearer that there are restrictions on speeds if you overdo things. Personally, I'd rather have a slower, but higher capacity responsive network, that paying for a high speed so that if I do get throttled I can still have an acceptable speed.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

I think Virgin need to clarify this one

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Stop stealing stuff then :angel:

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

OK, own up, which of you Sky lovers was it? :scratch:

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Only two possible candidates methinks.:naughty:;)

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

And me, i have also been subject to the letter that says i am downloading to much on my unlimited broadband:rolleyes:

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Perhaps they should complain about those customers on "unlimited" Infinity say who buy 50MB say and only get 40MB due to the distance from the FTTC cabinet (unless you do get 50MB in which case fair enough). I call that always limited not unlimited and am happy with my 60MB from VM and I get all 60MB. Never been traffic managed yet, clearly I do not download/upload enough.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

You can't buy 50MB on Infinity or anywhere else for that matter.

Personally though I "buy" 76Mb and get all 76Mb, along with no traffic management and at least 3 times faster upload.

Someone else was just complaining they were paying for 120Mb and getting 80k on VM...

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Seeing as I have BT fibre @ 74.90mb and VM @ 105mb

3 weeks I've been using BT fibre it has been very stable and true to speeds(I ve humped the connection quite alot in testing :P)

As for my VM my samknows box reports looks like a rollercoaster for speed and latency

105mb 1 day 15.50mb next day ..then 30mb etc

Only 20 days left till its gone anyway :)

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

VM gets yet another slapping off ASA. :LOL:

Nevermind VM finds a slapping to be a cheaper option than giving their subs what they pay for and saving cash is all they are interested in.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Good - perhaps they will go for consistent speeds, rather than headline.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Now the ASA echo's what many of us have said about Virgins misleading unlimited claims *shock horror!* ;)

Now can we have less of those threads with people claiming Virgin broadband is unlimited :LOL:

I hope Sky, BT and the other unlimited providers have a dig about VM's limited broadband in one of their next adverts :D

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Perhaps this will push them down the route of under promise over deliver. From what I have heard the network can deliver far higher than 120 right now, so they could for example advertise 60, deliver 120 then even if throttled you get the advertised speed at all times?

However the ban is only for the current advert and it looks like they are trying to get clarity on what can be considered moderate which is a shame

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Possibly coincidence that they posted an announcement about change of traffic management policy? When I saw today's date and title I thought it may say they were removing the limits but alas, just a 10% reduction rofl.



---------- Post added at 18:22 ---------- Previous post was at 18:18 ----------

Doesn't matter if your Core network can handle higher speeds if you have bottlenecks closer to customers, which is exactly the problem Virgin have.

Another banned/misleading advert. Up to about 40 for Virgin in the last 2 or so years?

This could potentially be a disaster for a company that relies on misleading PR to get customers connected.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Will probably be a new approach once the Liberty deal is concluded at that point they will be the largest operator in Europe, Liberty have already re built their network in Southern Ireland so could potentially do the same in the UK

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

There are rumours that VM changed the traffic management today as a way around the ruling.

VM can now say that they only slow down customers 40% instead of 50% and that may be enough to make the ASA think unlimited is ok. Seems wrong.

Upload speed is to stay restricted at 75% though. That restriction alone could possibly affect download speed too

---------- Post added at 21:07 ---------- Previous post was at 20:14 ----------

Arghh...bit of that article I didn't notice before:

Linky

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Umm that's exactly what they've been doing for a decade?

The current service is "Up to" 400Mbps throttled to 20/30/50/60/100/120 depending on how much you pay, and then further throttled to 5/15/25Mbps etc. if you use full speed for more than 15 minutes at peak times...

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

God. is this still going on with Virgin and the 'Unlimited' thing?

how many years has it been now?

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Its been going on long before my grey hairs started to appear.:)

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

It's about time that it was put to rest this Unlimited thing.
when it comes to the internet the term Unlimited means no limits. barriers or obstacles.

I have an unlimited usenet account. the alternative to the one I have is the block one where you can only download a certain amount. compared to keep going and no limits, barriers or obstacles.

Virgin know that it's misleading to many. that's why they want to use the internet term 'Unlimited' because they know that people assume that it means Unlimited without any limits, barriers, obstacles, letters saying that you're downloading too much. and traffic shaping measures.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

I think they'll get over it.

---------- Post added at 14:38 ---------- Previous post was at 14:36 ----------

UPC rebuilt their network in Ireland because a lot of it was analogue, and strung up, poorly, from house to house.

It was, in fact, NTL that started the rebuild when they owned it.

There is no need to rebuild the UK Network.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

even if it is a minority, that still doesn't give them the right to mislead customers into thinking its unlimited.

You may want that peace of mind, if one night you decide to go major crazy and download a lot of stuff, and then realize that you've been capped.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

Not arguing the wrongs and rights of the unlimited statement, but on any VM package, 30meg and above, even when capped, it's still a lot faster than most Sky/BT ADSL connections.


And the fact that I can download as much as I want, even though when capped it will download it slower, the content that I can download is unlimited. VM need to reword things, but in this sense, it is unlimited.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

I recon the 40% reduction might get them through a month or so, but BT and Sky will continue to lodge complains. In my opinion anything more than 25% can't be considered moderate.

Re: BSkyB and BT force Virgin Media to drop unlimited broadband claim
 

You lose 20% at peak time just due to congestion anyway, if it weren't for the traffic management you would lose even more.

ASA: Virgin Media's Broadband Is Not Unlimited
 

From the Daily Mail, but the comments are good.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bil..._campaign=1490