VM, BT and KCom write to Ofcom over broadband regulation

[jb66]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Hardly Sky Fibre has been advertised on TV , Online and mailings for ages now , its also been discounted for 6 months and at one point 12 months.

18month contract though, where the adsl was free for 12months* and a 12 month contract

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by jb66

18month contract though, where the adsl was free for 12months* and a 12 month contract

Agreed but that's pretty much the same with many other providers certainly is with BT and Talk Talk.

Sky wrote to me numerous times offering me deals to upgrade to fibre when I had their BB.

In my opinion the fibre market needs some changes not sure what exactly though , its currently not working in favour of the customer.

[jb66]

I wouldnt want to sign up to fibre cheap for 6 months then get shafted for another 12

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by jb66

I wouldnt want to sign up to fibre cheap for 6 months then get shafted for another 12

Thats the same with every provider VM , Sky , Talk Talk and Plusnet all offer these kind of discounts. Loyalty doesn't pay anymore.

Generally the loyal ones pay the discounts for those who are sensible enough to swap and change whether we like it or not.

[Ignitionnet]

I said 'relatively' recently.

Delivering LLU broadband costs Sky and TalkTalk very little. They pay BT the same amount for the MPF line rental regardless of whether a customer is on FTTC or ADSL and connect the customer to the same equipment on their side. The only incremental cost supplying a customer ADSL over just a phone line for them is bandwidth and their charging way more for line rental than Openreach charge them covers that.

Sky and TalkTalk have both really wanted to be able to logically unbundle ports in BT's cabinets. They have now gotten their heads around that that isn't going to happen and the best they'll get is a VULA solution.

Sky's 80Mb product is still not available to order online, you have to call them.

http://www.sky.com/shop/broadband-talk/fibre-optic/

It's also £30 a month and requires line rental of £16.40. More expensive than either BT brand.

Their 38Mb unlimited product costs as much as Plusnet's 76Mb.

TalkTalk's customer base is largely people who want to spend as little as possible, so it's no great surprise their fibre take up so far hasn't been amazing.

---------- Post added at 19:23 ---------- Previous post was at 19:21 ----------

Originally Posted by muppetman11

In my opinion the fibre market needs some changes not sure what exactly though , its currently not working in favour of the customer.

What in your opinion is wrong with it?

In my opinion things are too cheap, operators too addicted to copper, and it deters investment in genuinely next generation solutions.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

The last figures I saw put BT Group's market share at more than 2/3rds of the FTTC customer base.

This is, to be fair, in no small part due to the lackadaisical efforts of TalkTalk and Sky, both of whom were until very recently far more concerned with milking the copper to the exchange than trying to sell FTTC.

Interesting that you fail to mention that BT are offering standard BB from £4.75 a month with free BT Sport and Plusnet are offering free standard unlimited BB for 12 months.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Interesting that you fail to mention that BT are offering standard BB from £4.75 a month with free BT Sport and Plusnet are offering free standard unlimited BB for 12 months.

Both of whom also advertise their fibre products far more aggressively than their standard ADSL.

In addition neither of them buy from Openreach, the people who build and manage the fibre network so there're more regulations around what they are paying their providers.

I don't mention either of those two as the most direct comparison to Sky and TalkTalk, if we're talking about impact on infrastructure investment, is BT Wholesale who have to run on regulated pricing.

[muppetman11]

The Plusnet website is plastered with its free standard BB offer for 12 months , they are promoting fibre no more or no less than Sky and Talk Talk.

I guess this is something we'll just have to agree to disagree on.

[Ignitionnet]

It's also plastered with references to cut-price fibre broadband and BT Sport.

Highlight their Packages list fibre is on the top - not surprising given their pretty unique offering of a 40Mb/20Mb deal.



They're evidently doing something given they've more fibre subscribers than either TalkTalk or Sky despite those having a massively higher customer base as a whole.

[jb66]

The free plusnet broadband offer is for 18 months, again after 6 months your shafted with full price

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by jb66

The free plusnet broadband offer is for 18 months, again after 6 months your shafted with full price

Its free for 12 months then £9.99 a month for the remaining 6 months.

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

It's also plastered with references to cut-price fibre broadband and BT Sport.

Highlight their Packages list fibre is on the top - not surprising given their pretty unique offering of a 40Mb/20Mb deal.



They're evidently doing something given they've more fibre subscribers than either TalkTalk or Sky despite those having a massively higher customer base as a whole.

And yet visiting the Plusnet homepage the first image your presented with is for free 12 months unlimited standard BB , its hidden behind that drop down menu in your screen grab.

They are even giving you £50 cash back.

I'm in agreement that Sky and Talk Talk are still advertising ADSL but so are its main competitors (VM being the exception.)