Rumour from The Bloke in the Pub

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Croker

I heard "in the pub" that they are introducing a kind of turbo/boost facility - so you can be on a lower band and have this boost thing (paid for with use) to download stuff - movies etc

As jtwn said that was trialed a long time ago when the basic BB package was 128kb and the boost would get you 1Mb.

Now, though the basic pack is already 1Mb and ISPs have realised that it makes more sense charging for download capacity rather than speed. So I do not think we will see the turbo feature ever becoming standard.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by Croker

I heard "in the pub" that they are introducing a kind of turbo/boost facility - so you can be on a lower band and have this boost thing (paid for with use) to download stuff - movies etc

Could have just been read on the pdfs that have alluded to flexing of bandwidth and pay per GB. These are in the public domain.
__________________

Originally Posted by bob_builder

As jtwn said that was trialed a long time ago when the basic BB package was 128kb and the boost would get you 1Mb.

Now, though the basic pack is already 1Mb and ISPs have realised that it makes more sense charging for download capacity rather than speed. So I do not think we will see the turbo feature ever becoming standard.

That's not the case, there were flexing options for all custs, including 1.5Mbit.

You refer to download capacity, there's plenty of options there for higher rate charging for the higher speeds, this is already being done by satellite operators, pay more per GB for higher speeds.

[aspdd watsrr]

Originally Posted by bob_builder

As jtwn said that was trialed a long time ago when the basic BB package was 128kb and the boost would get you 1Mb.

at the time of the Guilford trial the entry level was 150K more detail on the trial is here http://www.chetnet.co.uk/portal/foru...ead.php?t=2140 it was great at the time, first uk 3Meg service

[jtwn]

Originally Posted by slowcoach

"The Bloke in the Pub" said:
Capped tariff will be metered, buy more bandwidth as you need.
Unlimited will be, well, unlimited (subject to T&C).
Prices under consideration are current price less 25% for capped tariffs and 10% more than current price for unlimited tariffs, but this will depend on market prices nearer the time.

Was just thinking about this, raising the prices for an uncapped tier, surely this will cause outrage in some and with the ever increasing BT exchanges being enabled they are going to have to hold fast the customers they have with an extra incentive....speed upgrade?

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by jtwn

Was just thinking about this, raising the prices for an uncapped tier, surely this will cause outrage in some and with the ever increasing BT exchanges being enabled they are going to have to hold fast the customers they have with an extra incentive....speed upgrade?

I think a uncapped/high capped 3mbit is worth more then say a low capped 8mbit. If you keep increasing speeds without raising caps with it then there is next to no advantage. Also judging from feedback on these forums quite a few people have already stated they would pay more.

[slowcoach]

Being one of those people who live less than 2km (as the crow..) from the BT exchange and still only be able to get max 512Kb/s with ADSL my NTL 3MB connection suits me just fine. Downloading a Linux ISO in 30 mins is good enough for the foreseeable future, it's not as if I can't get on with something else during the download.
Personally I would be quite happy to pay a little more for a 3MB service with the caps ambiguity removed.
What I don't want to see is NTL following some other ISP's offering high speed unlimited for peanuts as that is only going to eventually result in degraded speed and reliability.

[Juan]

Is it safe to assume that the next speed/cap upgrades will take place before hard-capping is introduced? I'm still on the 300k and would like to upgrade to 1Meg but don't want to be hit by the 3GB limit later in the year.

[Croker]

Originally Posted by Juan

Is it safe to assume that the next speed/cap upgrades will take place before hard-capping is introduced? I'm still on the 300k and would like to upgrade to 1Meg but don't want to be hit by the 3GB limit later in the year.

I don't think they have the resources or wherewithall to police it. In fact I am sure they don't

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Croker

I don't think they have the resources or wherewithall to police it. In fact I am sure they don't

As I understand it, the UBRs already log how much data goes through them, and which MAC address is downloading that data.

I have it on good authority that NTL already do this to monitor how much each area is utilised.

They could use this data to enforce caps (and indeed, may already be able to).

Even if they don't have the software to collate this data, it would take a couple of hours to knock up a Perl script that could do it.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by Croker

I don't think they have the resources or wherewithall to police it. In fact I am sure they don't

*snicker*

Originally Posted by Ignition

*snicker*

who to believe

[Chrysalis]

I would find it hard to believe NTL dont know who uses what bandwidth, any major isp will make sure they know whats been used and where. The fact we not been hard capped yet I think is a decision based on whats going on elsewhere not what they can do.

[Croker]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

I would find it hard to believe NTL dont know who uses what bandwidth, any major isp will make sure they know whats been used and where. The fact we not been hard capped yet I think is a decision based on whats going on elsewhere not what they can do.

there used to be a department (the one that got all "bent out of shape" about the old ntlhellworld.com site) that would look into those things - but it got the chop - there were about a dozen or so people in it - but now only 3 or 4 and they are snowed under dealing with petty and numerous complaints about spam and so on. They simply don't have the resources and all this talk of caps is akin to the wizard of oz bloke issuing decrees behind that curtain if you see what I mean. As for the "any major ISP will know" aspect of it - remember this is ntl we are talking about and all that is cared about or counts is a snappy excel spreadsheet repoting profits arriving, by way of attatchment, in some lawyers office in new york. There, I've said it!

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by Croker

I don't think they have the resources or wherewithall to police it. In fact I am sure they don't

Wonderful things are computers, aren't they? Computer programs make them very useful as they can be made to monitor certain events and take action based on the results without any human interaction. I was programming them to get usage statistics over 40 years ago and boy, have they moved on since then.

[Ignition]

Looking back through some old threads about people receiving letters asking them to calm down their usage ages ago I see no mention of said department.
You may want to take a look at http://www.broadbandreports.com and the ISPs who cap there. Various things being used from a simple automatic email right the way through to 'walled garden' solutions where users are redirected to a web page indicating that they have broken their allowance and are required to click a button indicating that they will take it easy for the rest of the month.
If you think that ntl lack the resources or wherewithall to implement either of these you're kidding yourself sir.

Ooo, edit, the personal kicker for me is OptimumOnline's solution, if you upload too much in one hit they send a new config file to your modem dropping the upload from 1Mbps to 150kbps until you either wait for it to be removed automagically or phone them up and promise to behave.