*ALL* ntl Cap Discussion (Part 3)

[mcmanic]

Originally Posted by jrhnewark

At the moment of course, the £37.99 tier would be fine as they're not monitoring usage - and you should get 10Mbps down/512kbps up straight away, assuming your area is ready.

Who says there not monitoring? , enlighten please, who's to say they not actually monitoring even more due to the higher amount you can download at a faster speed.

Please don't assume

[Andy C]

Does anyone know a definate answer as to what period the 75gig cap on the 10Mb service is calculated over?

Is it on a monthly calender basis (1st through till the 31st or whatever) or by billing period, e.g. 13th November through until the 12th December.

Many thanks!

[jrhnewark]

Originally Posted by mcmanic

Who says there not monitoring? , enlighten please, who's to say they not actually monitoring even more due to the higher amount you can download at a faster speed.

Please don't assume

They can monitor in person - but they haven't got the manpower to chase up every cap-breaker.

When they implement an automated system with associated usage monitor (user side), we'll know about it. I wasn't assuming; although my post wasn't worded as well as it should've been.

[mcmanic]

Originally Posted by Andy C

Does anyone know a definate answer as to what period the 75gig cap on the 10Mb service is calculated over?

Is it on a monthly calender basis (1st through till the 31st or whatever) or by billing period, e.g. 13th November through until the 12th December.

Many thanks!

i would say monthly calander, as the warning letters that was sent out awhile back specificly said monitoring during the month of September

[PaWs]

Well if anyone wants the info on 10mbit and caps then this is the official NTL release statement

http://www.ntl.com/mediacentre/press/display.asp?id=797

I don't exactly know how true this is but i heard (from an NTL employee) the unlimited services NTL are releasing in the near future involve being able to download a fixed amount of gb/month (dependent on the package you subscribe to) and then paying for any excess over the quota allowance.The more you download the more you pay for so to speak.

[Scopeuk]

then that whouldent be unlimited i could see the none unlimited products working like that though
it whould be like a car hire firm saying you had unlimited milage but if you went over 200 miles you pay per mile it whould make no sense and probably be illegal under the trade descriptions act

[BBDL]

Still no mention of what the caps will be though

[PaWs]

Well technically it is an unlimited download service.The idea is that the heavier the user you are,the more you pay for the privilege of downloading your content.Instead of a downgrade in service when you reach your quota you continue downloading but have to pay an excess.Your only limit is the size of your bank balance :p
This method is used in certain parts of Scandanavia and Germany (as i have been reliably informed by some of my online racing friends).The only difference being that their initial broadband subscription cost is rock bottom with a nominal figure charged for every gigabyte over the allowed quota.Works in the same way as pay-per-view TV in the respects that you only pay for the content you want as opposed to a $50 connection you're not necesarily going to gain maximum benefit from.

One thing that strikes me as being blatantly obvious is NTL's continued misleading use of the phrase 'unlimited useage' - mentioned regarding the proposed new services for 2006 and of course still mentioned when current packages are advertised.

Like ourselves,NTL are well aware of the fact that nowadays 'unmetered' and 'unlimited' are apparantly 2 seperate words,yet nowhere within the proposals for 2006 is the word unmetered mentioned.That very fact alone should cast a shadow of doubt regarding the dawning of these new horizons.

I personally believe that paying per gigabyte is a good move (probably the best move) but unfortunately 'nominal charges' in the UK are considerably more expensive than anywhere else in the world,so any such proposal would probably end up as just another means of exploiting the masses for the sakes of corporate profits.

iTunes at 60p-£1 a throw sort of springs to mind !

[Scopeuk]

i can see your point but you have to wonder at what point ofcom should/will (dream on scope) step in and stop ntl mis marketing its products

[Griffin]

Looks like sky with the aquisition of easynet will be rapidly unbundling exchanges for the rollout of hdtv, this will no dobt enable them to offer broadband nationwide too. Heres hopeing that when all this comes about over the next 2 years, ntl has a rethink on the size of their caps as the ukonline service/sky has a 500gb cap. This coupled with an up to 24mb speed should make quite a few people think, heres hoping its the ones in the right places at ntl

[Rone]

"heres hoping its the ones in the right places at ntl"

You mean the ones with the calculators?

Originally Posted by jrhnewark

They can monitor in person - but they haven't got the manpower to chase up every cap-breaker.

I assure you they can, and do, monitor all usage, and have systems to spot the heavy users. Why do you think they are moving the worse offenders to the 512K service ? What they cannot do is provide the customer with usage figures ....yet. (This final part of the puzzle will be trialed in early 2006).

Originally Posted by PaWs

I don't exactly know how true this is but i heard (from an NTL employee) the unlimited services NTL are releasing in the near future involve being able to download a fixed amount of gb/month (dependent on the package you subscribe to) and then paying for any excess over the quota allowance.The more you download the more you pay for so to speak.

Incorrect

[PaWs]

Originally Posted by Bill C

Incorrect

An interesting archive:
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/news.php?id=98

''There are also two other new services called "HomeWorker" and "1Mb Xtreme" on trial. The HomeWorker service is available to all ntl:home connections at 150Kbps and 600Kbps, and allows the connection to run at 1Mbit during the hours of 8am to 6pm. The 1Mb Xtreme package allows up to 3Mbit during certain hours of the day, although these hours are currently unknown.''

Well that half sounds sorta familiar
---------------------
''Ahead of the full roll out of 10Mb services, for those customers who want a taste of the higher speeds, ntl is set to commence a commercial pilot of its innovative flexible bandwidth technology. This new service uses a ‘Turbo Button’ to provide customers with the added flexibility to boost their speed, making a particular task quicker and easier. For example, when downloading a video and image rich presentation.''
http://www.ntl.com/mediacentre/press/display.asp?id=797

Striking similarities of comments made 18 months apart wouldn't you say?

''Incorrect?''
Well all i can say is ''beware of the turbo button'' LoL

[fahys71]

If I download at

10mb Service
- 10240 a second for 1 hour each day for a month I will use 134GB
- 10240 a second for 12 hour each day for a month I will use 1608GB
- 10240 a second for 24 hour each day for a month I will use 3216GB
(Cap at 75gb)

3mb Service
- 3072 a second for 1 hour each day for a month I will use 40GB
- 3072 a second for 12 hour each day for a month I will use 482GB
- 3072 a second for 24 hour each day for a month I will use 965GB
(cap at 30gb)

2mb Service
- 2048 a second for 1 hour each day for a month I will use 26GB
- 2048 a second for 12 hour each day for a month I will use 321GB
- 2048 a second for 24 hour each day for a month I will use 643GB
(cap at 30gb)

1mb Service
- 1024 a second for 1 hour each day for a month I will use 13GB
- 1024 a second for 12 hour each day for a month I will use 160GB
- 1024 a second for 24 hour each day for a month I will use 321GB
(Cap is at 3gb)

In order to match (be slightly under and use constantly) you would have to download at
10mb Service
- 239 a second for 24 hour each day for a month I will use 75GB

3mb Service
- 96 a second for 24 hour each day for a month I will use 30GB

2mb Service
- 96 a second for 24 hour each day for a month I will use 30GB
1mb Service
- 9.55 a second for 24 hour each day for a month I will use 3GB

very interesting....