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DVS · 06-11-2004, 23:34

Sorry to return to the capping issue but this really does bug me.

I find it quite amusing how the internet connectivity business has evolved and history continues to repeat itself.

First we had standard PAYG dialup for home users. Initially this usually comprised dialing a POP on a local'ish number and larger ISP's had POP's throughout the country. Heavy users racked up serious bills (I had a number of 600 pound quarterly BT bills back in the early 90's). This continued for a number of years and slowly we moved to ISP's offering single dialup numbers to a national audience and all users could access these numbers at local call rates. Eventually along came all you can eat dialup which was a god send to heavy users. But heaven forbid some users decided to eat all they could and the telco's screamed 'ouch our profits' and started issuing cease and desist orders (not that BT ever showed a loss and made how many million per second?). This coincided with the advent of broadband and the predominant telco's simply stated heavy users need broadband which is an always on all you can eat solution. So heavy users go to broadband and now we find ourselves back at 'ouch our profits' lets return to limited/PAYG solutions.

Whilst NTL have to be commended for upping the bandwidth they are going to offer their customers I cannot commend them for introducing hard cap's into the equation. This is a real step backwards for net users and will, as more traditional services such as TV and PSTN telephones become IP bound, become an expensive option for users.

What I'd really like to see from NTL is some detail on how they are going to handle overages? What costs are users going to incur per GB over the cap. Or on hitting the cap will users simply loose connectivity or get some form of reduced/slower service? At present NTL have not explained the detail of their plans and seem to be hoping that the glory of offering the fastest home user net connects will mask the restricted nature of the new services.

On a side note is business broadband from NTL bound by the current usage guidelines and will business services become capped next year?

06-11-2004, 23:34	#401
DVS Inactive Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Lancs Services: 3Mbit STB broadband TV Base Pack 321 Phone Posts: 108	Re: [Now Official] More ntl speed changes Sorry to return to the capping issue but this really does bug me. I find it quite amusing how the internet connectivity business has evolved and history continues to repeat itself. First we had standard PAYG dialup for home users. Initially this usually comprised dialing a POP on a local'ish number and larger ISP's had POP's throughout the country. Heavy users racked up serious bills (I had a number of 600 pound quarterly BT bills back in the early 90's). This continued for a number of years and slowly we moved to ISP's offering single dialup numbers to a national audience and all users could access these numbers at local call rates. Eventually along came all you can eat dialup which was a god send to heavy users. But heaven forbid some users decided to eat all they could and the telco's screamed 'ouch our profits' and started issuing cease and desist orders (not that BT ever showed a loss and made how many million per second?). This coincided with the advent of broadband and the predominant telco's simply stated heavy users need broadband which is an always on all you can eat solution. So heavy users go to broadband and now we find ourselves back at 'ouch our profits' lets return to limited/PAYG solutions. Whilst NTL have to be commended for upping the bandwidth they are going to offer their customers I cannot commend them for introducing hard cap's into the equation. This is a real step backwards for net users and will, as more traditional services such as TV and PSTN telephones become IP bound, become an expensive option for users. What I'd really like to see from NTL is some detail on how they are going to handle overages? What costs are users going to incur per GB over the cap. Or on hitting the cap will users simply loose connectivity or get some form of reduced/slower service? At present NTL have not explained the detail of their plans and seem to be hoping that the glory of offering the fastest home user net connects will mask the restricted nature of the new services. On a side note is business broadband from NTL bound by the current usage guidelines and will business services become capped next year?