[Merged] NTL Increasing BB Speeds Late Summer 2004

[MovedGoalPosts]

Originally Posted by towny

Now that would be interesting. Was it Mr Hussein who suggested that most people on his precious 1mb service are leechers and warez monkeys? (a paraphrase, of course ) If so, giving them an extra 512k with which to engage in their antisocial and possibly illegal activities is an odd step to take.

Get's my calculator out. 1meg service cap threshold reached after around 2.5 hours flat out downloading (rarely achievable on ntl I know), 1.5 meg service you can use it for what 1.45 hours?

And everyone is jumping for joy at faster downloads, but I don't think the upload is changing (it isn't for Telewest), so the service gets more disproportionately assymetric.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by towny

Hey mods! Somebody merge this thread before the board gets over-run with ntl speed increase threads!

OK, OK, OK please remember it's Monday morning

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by Lone Star

Doesn't seem like a particularly good deal for 600k customers - 150k gets a 100% boost, 1meg gets 50% and 600k gets a relatively measly 25% increase!

It's still free.....

Originally Posted by Lone Star

Doesn't seem like a particularly good deal for 600k customers - 150k gets a 100% boost, 1meg gets 50% and 600k gets a relatively measly 25% increase!

As a 600k customer I should be the first to agree with you, however: 150k was a little slow even as an entry-level product, so needed a big boost to remain competitive; 1mb was looking positively awful after that big price hike, so needed a big shot in the arm to make it attractive again (I still think ntl have pulled a fast one on this by incresing price and then speed, in order to be able to claim it is a 'free' upgrade); whereas 600k was already faster than the most common mid-tier speed which has always been 512k. At 750k, ntl's mid-tier is now quite significantly faster than the comparably-priced packages you get on ADSL, which is their potential competitor.

edit ... OB, it's 'sort-of' free. As I said above, I think ntl has effectively increased the cost of 1mb by £3 a month to pay for this and has used dishonourable (but sadly quite legal) means to hide the fact.

[Lone Star]

Originally Posted by towny

As a 600k customer I should be the first to agree with you, however: 150k was a little slow even as an entry-level product, so needed a big boost to remain competitive; 1mb was looking positively awful after that big price hike, so needed a big shot in the arm to make it attractive again (I still think ntl have pulled a fast one on this by incresing price and then speed, in order to be able to claim it is a 'free' upgrade); whereas 600k was already faster than the most common mid-tier speed which has always been 512k. At 750k, ntl's mid-tier is now quite significantly faster than the comparably-priced packages you get on ADSL, which is their potential competitor.

I don't actually disagree with anything you've said (I'm on 600k too). But given the choice I would have opted to remain on 600k and have a 25% price reduction

Originally Posted by Lone Star

I don't actually disagree with anything you've said (I'm on 600k too). But given the choice I would have opted to remain on 600k and have a 25% price reduction

I hadn't thought of that ... actually, I would probably do the same!

[Enterian]

Towny - you're assuming that this speed increase was planned by NTL. I suspect it may have been forced upon them by the need to be seen to be keeping pace with Telewest.

Originally Posted by Enterian

Towny - you're assuming that this speed increase was planned by NTL. I suspect it may have been forced upon them by the need to be seen to be keeping pace with Telewest.

I wasn't consciously thinking one way or the other, really. However if Telewest is their concern, it would likely be streamlining of services in the event of a takeover that would be the order of the day, rather than 'keeping pace' with them, as they are not a competitor.

That said, if they truly want to keep pace, they will have to introduce a new top tier offering at the very least a 2mb download.

[mcmanic]

still no news for STB owners?,

will they get the free upgrade or are they gonna be let down.....and just out of interest will they be paying same price as those who get the free speed increase,cos if they have to pay the same i think there is gonna be alot of disgruntled ntl STB owners!

[MovedGoalPosts]

Originally Posted by Enterian

Towny - you're assuming that this speed increase was planned by NTL. I suspect it may have been forced upon them by the need to be seen to be keeping pace with Telewest.

Yep I'm convince Telewest are very much the cable market leader brand, and ntl are just desperately trying to hang on in there. After all this forum had rumours last week of the Telewest increases, but ntl absolutely zip.

I dunno with the cap in place, the 1.5meg offering doesnt seem that useful to me. Ntl need now to review that policy and at least apply some realistic guidance tiers related to the service speed. If the cap remains then ntl would have been better off cutting prices, yet I suspect the flicking of the switch option for faster speeds is in fact cheaper for them in the short to medium term.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Originally Posted by towny

I wasn't consciously thinking one way or the other, really. However if Telewest is their concern, it would likely be streamlining of services in the event of a takeover that would be the order of the day, rather than 'keeping pace' with them, as they are not a competitor.

That said, if they truly want to keep pace, they will have to introduce a new top tier offering at the very least a 2mb download.

Telewest' top tier is now 3meg as that went up from 2 meg @ £50.00.

[Enterian]

Originally Posted by towny

I wasn't consciously thinking one way or the other, really. However if Telewest is their concern, it would likely be streamlining of services in the event of a takeover that would be the order of the day, rather than 'keeping pace' with them, as they are not a competitor.

That said, if they truly want to keep pace, they will have to introduce a new top tier offering at the very least a 2mb download.

Agreed that TW are not a competitor but the "NTL are increasing prices whilst TW are increasing speeds" scenario was not going to get them any good publicity, and was likely to put Aizad under some pressure!

Can the NTL infrastructure provide 3 meg?

[scoobydoo[uk]]

Whats the difference for STB owners?, ive read a few posts on here, people asking if the speed increase is going to be implemented for STB owners.

I would of thought so, I cant see any difference for us STB peeps..

Can anyone confirm this?.

[Enterian]

Originally Posted by scoobydoo[uk]

Whats the difference for STB owners?, ive read a few posts on here, people asking if the speed increase is going to be implemented for STB owners.

I would of thought so, I cant see any difference for us STB peeps..

Can anyone confirm this?.

a.f.a.i.k. the Telewest speed increases specifically exclude STB customers on the 1 Mb service (something to do with the STB being unable to cope with higher speeds) I, like you, would like to know if similar issues apply to NTL.

[macstevejb]

Originally Posted by mcmanic

still no news for STB owners?,

will they get the free upgrade or are they gonna be let down.....and just out of interest will they be paying same price as those who get the free speed increase,cos if they have to pay the same i think there is gonna be alot of disgruntled ntl STB owners!

What difference does it make whether you take your broadband via SACM or STB?

Surely these new speeds will be applied across the board and there will be no
discrimination!

I cant understand where you are coming from here?