NTL worse than BT

[ackees]

I think a campaign should be started to open up the NTL network to competition.
I use a dial in internet connection and currently you get much better choice and cheaper prices if you are on a BT phone line than NTL (as little as £4.99 week days, with some services offering no maximum connection time).
The NTL service has got more and more expensive but there has NOT been a subsequent improvement in services, the current price hike is a whopping 25%+ up from £10 to £12+ per month, how many people will be receiving a 25% pay rise this year. And with inflation at less than 2%.
In effect NTL can charge what they like and say things like †œwe are still 1p less than BT", but this is not true because BT lines are open to competition, if you have a BT line you can get internet services for £4.99 per month. Thatâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s why people switch back its not because BT is any better it is because there is competition on the BT lines and none on NTL.
NTL like to argue that they are more focused on broadband and that no one matches their broadband services. Well if you have an NTL broadband be warned from their record on dial in connection, once they have a critical mass of customers their prices are going to leap up dramatically, yes they may end up £1 or so below BT but with no competition you will end up paying more then the more open BT system where competitors can offer cheaper and more varied services.
The NTL trick seems to be to trap customers with initial hard to refuse offers (remember when you got free internet connections and NTL were winning awards for it), then hike the prices and talk about it being still good value when it cllearly is not. I will not be surprised when NTL suddenly hike broadband prices like they have done to the dial in prices.
Perhaps the government can force NTL to open up their non competitive services to competition the way they opened up the BT service.

[Mr_Burns]

Not likely as the BT network was paid for (or the vast majority of it, anyway) while the company was publicly owned. ntl's/Telewest's network has been paid for by private funding and as such they shouldn't be forced to open up the network.

Originally Posted by ackees

I think a campaign should be started to open up the NTL network to competition.

BT is the competition to NTL ....

[ackees]

W are led to believe that BT is the competition to NTL but this is misleading because there are several companies that offer competitive services on the BT line (and donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t get me wrong I am not Pro BT †“ I just do not want to see NTL going down the road of the old BT), and some of these services are better than NTL, in effect NTL is becoming what BT was many years ago.
If companies behave in a non competitive manor without having a competitor to pull them into line the government can bring in laws to streamline the service to British customers. Why companies think the UK is the wild west and they can treat customers as they like I do not know. Even in the USA companies are broken up if it is believed they are behaving in a non competitive manor. I think NTL are beginning to behave like this.
If other companies had access to the NTL cable network we may see better services.

[paulyoung666]

hi and to the site ackees , sorry but i cant see it happening somehow , even if ntl and telewest do join up together i cant see anything untoward

[ackees]

We are being hoodwinked by NTL and I think some of their announcements are misleading.
Best consumer ISP
How many do you see on NTL network and how many on the BT line network?
http://www.ispaawards.org.uk/categor...t_consumer.htm
Best metered ISPââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s
How many do you see on NTL network and how many on the BT line network?
http://www.ispaawards.org.uk/categories/metered.htm
and so on, and so on
http://www.ispaawards.org.uk/
NTL keeps talking about BT because it suits them.
What about the real competition?
When NTL increaser the broadband by 25% a lot of people will be caught out.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by ackees

We are being hoodwinked by NTL and I think some of their announcements are misleading.
Best consumer ISP
How many do you see on NTL network and how many on the BT line network?
http://www.ispaawards.org.uk/categor...t_consumer.htm
Best metered ISPââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s
How many do you see on NTL network and how many on the BT line network?
http://www.ispaawards.org.uk/categories/metered.htm
and so on, and so on
http://www.ispaawards.org.uk/
NTL keeps talking about BT because it suits them.
What about the real competition?
When NTL increaser the broadband by 25% a lot of people will be caught out.

sorry but i dont get this , what are you trying to prove , i for one would like to know what you are going on about

[ackees]

Itâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s very simple. NTL send out letters saying they are going to raise prices by 25%+ and that we still have a good deal because BT is even more expensive. I do some research and find that it is not quite so simple, there are other services on the BT network that are cheaper of offer better options for dial in like no max time cut off, so I feel I am being hoodwinked by NTL. I also believe that if you raise prices you should offer a better service. The 2 hour cut out has been there for many years in fact. While prices have increased there has been no improvement of this facility.
And I am not interested in broadband, I also believe that NTL will eventually treat the broadband customers the same as the dial in customers in the end. Since NTL took over services have become steadily worse over the years.

Originally Posted by ackees

Itâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s very simple. NTL send out letters saying they are going to raise prices by 25%+ and that we still have a good deal because BT is even more expensive.

Um, what NTL price has risen by 25%

[etccarmageddon]

if NTL are so crap then why dont you just cancel your line with them and move back to BT?

[Nikko]

Originally Posted by Pem

Um, what NTL price has risen by 25%

I think he is referring to the £10 pm dial-up unlimited increasing to £12.49 pm from 1st June

Originally Posted by Nikko

I think he is referring to the £10 pm dial-up unlimited increasing to £12.49 pm from 1st June

Doh, nevermind, for some reason it didn't register as 25%

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by ackees

Itâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s very simple. NTL send out letters saying they are going to raise prices by 25%+ and that we still have a good deal because BT is even more expensive. I do some research and find that it is not quite so simple, there are other services on the BT network that are cheaper of offer better options for dial in like no max time cut off, so I feel I am being hoodwinked by NTL. I also believe that if you raise prices you should offer a better service. The 2 hour cut out has been there for many years in fact. While prices have increased there has been no improvement of this facility.
And I am not interested in broadband, I also believe that NTL will eventually treat the broadband customers the same as the dial in customers in the end. Since NTL took over services have become steadily worse over the years.

so if the price of bread goes up you expect it to be better quality
by the by , arent ntl increasing the dl speed on cable , uhhhhhh yes they are , etccarmageddon nailed it spot on , if you are not happy then sack ntl , go back to bt and hopefully you will be happy until it starts working the other way around

[etccarmageddon]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

so if the price of bread goes up you expect it to be better quality
by the by , arent ntl increasing the dl speed on cable , uhhhhhh yes they are , etccarmageddon nailed it spot on , if you are not happy then sack ntl , go back to bt and hopefully you will be happy until it starts working the other way around

at £12.50 a month I think he should ditch it and get cable modem if possible.

alternatively get a BT line and see what you can get with your £10 a month budget - I suspect you will find alternatives to NTL are just as pricey or more expensive.

http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/time/anytim...nternet_access

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by etccarmageddon

at £12.50 a month I think he should ditch it and get cable modem if possible.

alternatively get a BT line and see what you can get with your £10 a month budget - I suspect you will find alternatives to NTL are just as pricey or more expensive.

http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/time/anytim...nternet_access

good point