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Originally Posted by kwikbreaks
If they can then fine but I doubt that there are many that can support downloads and uploads at full headline speed by all their customers 24x7 which is what "unlimited" implies.
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Bandwidth isn't the only thing that is sold in "unlimited" quantities and yet I can't think of a single thing sold in this country as "unlimited" that is as unlimited as you describe.
When I go into Subway and get a drink with Unlimited refills, I'm well aware that if I and every other customer in the place drank to excess, they would run out.
If I go to a buffet where I can eat an unlimited amount of food, I'm well aware that occasionally some items may run out before I've had my fill.
If I pay British Gas for boiler cover, then every single customer has an issue and demands an engineer right away, they may have to wait - despite the unlimited call outs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwikbreaks
Every utility that supplies a measurable product (such as gas electricity and water) does so at standing charge + price per unit volume. If ISPs did the same it would get rid of the "unlimited" nonsense and all the sniping between high volume users and low.
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This "unlimited" nonsense has less to do with excessive usage and more to do with knowing what your bill is going to be every month. It's incredibly easy to accidentally download a lot of data without realising it - all it takes is a rogue program (For example, there's a bug in Windows 8 with Outlook 2013 whereby IMAP sometimes gorges on bandwidth - happened in my work and we lost 30-40GB a day of our 100GB Monthly quota). When it comes to gas or electricity, how likely is the same thing to happen? You might leave a light on or forget to switch off the oven one evening but you'll notice before it starts costing you hundreds and hundreds of pounds.
Perhaps Virgin could do with being clearer on their STM policies, or being more proactive when warning customers of congestion before they sign up - I have no quarrel with this, but to blame them selling "unlimited" bandwidth is the wrong argument. Nothing is truly unlimited, but we all understand that unlimited really means no bill shock.