[cook1984]

75% is not accurate. Your download speed drops by 75%, but your upload speed drops too. The total loss is more like 85-90%.

Here is my complaint to the ASA:

Virgin Media claims that this service is "unlimited". If you read the fine print at http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html...t/traffic.html , it turns out that it is not unlimited.

For example, 1 hour of BBC iPlayer HD requires approximately 1200MB of data to be transferred. According to the above web page, an L size user would only be able to watch 1 hour of HD TV in the evening and an M size user about 40 minutes. Even for standard definition programmes which require about 600MB per hour, an M user could only watch for about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Of course, BBC iPlayer is not the only application affected, all internet applications and web sites are similarly limited. The decrease in speed is states as 75%, however they also decrease the upload speed (the 75% refers only to download speed) so in fact the real amount is well over 80%. When speed is reduced that far, it is no longer possible to watch HD or standard definition programmes on iPlayer or any other service.

These limits are clear, measurable and affect all users. Virgin claim that they only affect 5% of customers, but the iPlayer alone is extremely popular with millions of users (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcintern...k_preview.html , five million page views a day).

In the past, Virgin Media has claimed that it's throttling of broadband speeds was "normal network management", however many ISPs now offer truly unlimited service without throttling, notably Sky, Be Unlimited O2.

Virgin Media also claims that it's broadband is "fibre optic". This is not the case. Similar to BT running fibre to their local exchanges, they run fibre optic cable to their green boxes but the cable from there to the customer's house is copper. Fibre optic broadband is usually taken to mean fibre optic all the way to the home. It is not clear how Virgin's system is that different from BT's. Furthermore, Virgin use an analogue transmission system where as fibre optic broadband is always digital.

Fibre optic broadband is characterised by it's ability to provide a symmetrical connection, i.e. one where the download and upload speeds are the same and usually in the order of 100Mb or more. Virgin's fastest product only manages 50Mb download an 1.5Mb upload, so is neither symmetrical nor fast enough for the common definition of the technology.