[Mattitude]

Don't know if this has already been posted but...
From http://www.ntlworld.com/service_update.html

Your Questions


1. What does the 1 Giga Byte limit mean in practical terms?

As a rough guide, 1 gigabyte of data per day is approximately:
- 100 large software programs
- 200 music tracks
- 650 short videos
- 10,000 pictures
- 20,000 web pages
- And should not impact gaming applications at all

For a more specific guide, there are a number of freeware applications that approximately monitor data download. We will be looking to distribute and ntl-approved monitor shortly. In the meantime, however, customers need not be too concerned: NTL will be in touch and able to provide advice if you regularly exceed the limit for your speed of service.

2. Can higher speed broadband customers have a higher daily download limit?

In response to the strong customer enquiry we got on this point, we will be investigating whether we can provide variable limits based on service speed. We expect to have an answer soon.

It should be noted, however, that some customers confused our 1 Giga Byte limit with their kilo Bit speeds. 1 Giga Byte is equivalent to 8 Giga Bits.

Also, in practical terms the slower speeds of the overall Internet often cause average speeds to be lower than the maximum speed allowed. Thus users could have several more actual hours of downloads than would be indicated by strictly dividing the limit by the speed.

3. How flexible will ntl be about these new limits?

We will be very flexible. Our objective is only to limit very frequent or persistent heavy network use that can impact other customers. Therefore we will ONLY contact customers who exceed the daily data limit for three or more days in any consecutive 14-day period.

If you occasionally exceed your data limit, it will not be a problem. Remember our goal is to give freedom and easy usage to our customers. This rule ensures that you have peace of mind and that we are able to reduce the unfair prolonged usage by a small number.

4. When and how will the limits be applied?

For the next 60 days, NTL will monitor network usage and only contact customers who exceed the limit as described above. Our aim is not to disturb customers; rather, our goal is to make customers aware so that they may change their usage patterns if possible. If we successfully alter the usage patterns, there would be no further need for any other adjustments.

5. Will customers be disconnected if they use more than the given limit?

No. Our customers are important to us. We will simply advise customers how to moderate their bandwidth usage. Our research has shown that consumers will be happy with this approach.

6. Is there a plan for very 'power users' who exceed the given limits?

We are considering a range of new services especially for customers who want or need to download large amounts of data - but which will avoid impacting other, ordinary customers.


Other questions

Q. Why was there no announcement of this change of policy?

A. Only a few of our customers will be affected by this change, and we plan to communicate with each of them individually.

Q. Why do you advertise an 'unlimited' service, and yet now seek to limit its use?

A. Our unmetered dial-up Internet service has the trade name 'Unlimited', because you can use it whenever you like for a single flat fee. There is no daily download limit on our dial-up Internet products. Our broadband service is no longer called unlimited.

Our broadband service has always carried an Acceptable Use Policy.

Q. Does a daily download limit constrain the amount of time I spend online?

A. No, not necessarily. You could surf the web all day and download very little data. The average broadband internet customer downloads less than 100 megabytes (0.1 gigabyte) of data per day.

Q. What activities could result in exceeding the daily download limit?

A. Downloading very large video files or audio files continuously from newsgroups or file-sharing services like Kazaa, is the most common cause of very high data usage.

Q. How can I tell how much data I've downloaded in any given day?

A. As a rough guide, 1 gigabyte of data is approximately 200 music tracks, 650 short videos, 10,000 pictures or around 100 large software programmes. For a more specific guide, there are a number of freeware applications that approximately monitor data download. However, customers need not be too concerned: NTL will be in touch and able to provide advice if you regularly exceed the limit for your speed of service.