is price everything?

[Chrysalis]

Hi as many have probably noticed, recently the broadband market seems to be booming at sub 512kbit speeds, the main drive for this is the desire to get the internet for cheap, even tho the services been sold are either not true broadband or they have very strict traffic limits (exception metronet price is capped), another market that seems to draw interest is bulldog, although their forum on adslguide is full of user's problems the addiction to low price still draw's people in.

The isp's offering 512kbit with 1 or 2 gig a month traffic are probably building up their customer base and will get 1 of 2 scenarious, customer uses the net lightly and isp makes small profit of them but has customer so possible more turnover if they upgrade in future, or customer uses net but starts using broadband content and hits their 2 gig limit giving them a bigger bill and will probably upgrade their package.

The 150/250/300 kbit packages on offer, are bad for broadband they are been marketed as broadband and any user signing up will get a false impression of what broadband is, eg. streaming designed for broadband users wont work, webpages will be faster but not at true broadband speed, downloads will not be that much faster, upload will be barely changed. Why is there no worldwide guideline on what broadband is?

So what do users want, do they want as cheap price as possible nothing else matters?

Do they want a quality service for more money?

Do they want good speed broadband with none or little restrictions on content for more money?

Do they want extras such as email, webspace and news servers.

I tell you what I want, I want a static ip address, higher speed and no email,webspace or newsservers. I also want to access webpages directly. How much would I be willing to pay for this?

Well lets say 6pm to midnight weekdays 512/256 rest of day 2048/256 45 gig a month, with no restrictions on traffic between midnight and 6am. static ip, no transperent proxy,email and webspace I would pay 44.99 a month for.

But for 37.99 I get 1500/256 (soon) all day with 1 gig a day limit, transperent proxy is forced on me, non working email and news servers i dont use. I also have a dynamic ip.

What do you want, what is most important to you when picking a isp, features, performance,reliavility, cost?

[ian@huth]

Most internet users are not concerned with what their service is called as long as it allows them to do what they want when then want. They are satisfied if they have an email service, the ability to browse web sites and to be able to download the odd file. The 150 / 256 / 300 services are ideal for this type of customer and ideal for the ISP. Why would an ISP concentrate on providing faster and faster services for the comparitive few users who will probably cause them the most problems. So, yes, price is everything for most users.

This scenario will change in the future when much faster speeds are available with TV like streaming media and at a price that is right.

[kronas]

i think ISP's should offer variable speeds of service, its clearly evident that most want a working connection and are not realy bothered about high speed services.........but i think in order to improve the scalability of broadband networks, speed, reliability, the envelope needs to be pushed interms of providing variable speed services to cater for all, this would be dependant on the revenues generated.

i would also like to see no further restrictions or no restrictions at all on any service, this to me is limiting the emphasis on what broadband is about......

[Neil]

I personally want a good/reliable service (product), coupled with good customer service when I ring up with a query.

I expect that from any company that I deal with.

[Edit]-I don't expect the product to be 100% reliable-technology & human error will always see to that!, but I do expect a decent level of help/support when I ring up-it really isn't that hard.

My bank (First Direct) is IMHO the standard by which customer service should be measured. When I ring them, I speak to polite, friendly, knowledgeable staff, who know what I'm talking about, & if they have to pass me through to another dept-when I am then connected to the next person they know exactly why I'm ringing so I don't have to go through the story again.

They are not perfect-they have let me down on a couple of occaisions But.... there is always a swift apology when I ring, & an offer of "What can we do for you to resolve this Mr C?"

If there are any other FD customers here, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

[Alanmelon]

I have to agree with a lot of the comments that Chrysalis makes as a mildly experienced user, and as someone who can appreciate the different aspects making up a 'broadband' service. I also agree that to offer customisable plans would be great too (just wondering if they would be technologically or commercially viable.)

However, I think that a lot of services (especially ntl) are aimed at the lowest common denominator, ie Joe Public. Thats why we get different, affordable, lower speed tiers, access to e-mail and news servers, and dare I say (controversially) a cap intended to provide a fair service for all.

As long as everyone else (AOL, Wanadoo etc) keep offering these same services, ntl would be making a mistake by cutting them.

There, a hastily written and ill thought out comment, with some giant holes, but I have to go to work now....on a bank holiday

Originally Posted by Neil

If there are any other FD customers here, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

Agree 100% Neil - if only a few IPS's could learn from this ....

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Pem

Agree 100% Neil - if only a few IPS's could learn from this ....

A few more companies in general m8 could learn lessons from FD, not just ISPs.

[Chrysalis]

yeah sorry support wasn't mentioned, another thing that is commonly cut to keep prices down, I think saying the lower speed's is all people need is an unfair argument in this because what isp's are doing is in fact marketing 250kbit and the like as broadband and selling it on the basis that users can browse faster, when they can't even view broadband streams. But I guess the answer to my question seems to be price is more important then content and quality of service to most people, which dissapoints me.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Neil

A few more companies in general m8 could learn lessons from FD, not just ISPs.

and of course they are part of one of the most successful and profitable banks in the world.

Proof that customer service is profitable?

[Neil]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

and of course they are part of one of the most successful and profitable banks in the world.

Proof that customer service is profitable?

Without question.

[Stuartbe]

Personaly I want a fast internet connection with a static IP, no email or news servers and no poxy proxy servers. I believe that you get what you pay for. I will be paying nearly £100 a month from my 20:1 2mb business connection but for me its worth every penny since I use the broadband for business.