Force9 unlimited broadband- announced tonight

Because no download limits or fair usage levels are applicable, some high
bandwidth activities (such as p2p) will be speed restricted during busy
times. This is great news for customers who simply surf and email, as these
activities are to be given the highest priority on Broadband Plus.

Customers will pay for the speed setting they choose, which could be
anything up to 8Mb as those speeds become available later in the year. 1Mb
for under £20 per month, with no fair usage limit, will be a real bargain
for average family users.

Speed | Price
-----------------------------
512Kb - £14.99 (Inc Vat)
1Mb - £19.99 (Inc Vat)
2Mb - £24.99 (Inc Vat)
Up to 8Mb - TBC

In article <4238ae28$0$576$(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed)lid says...

> Because no download limits or fair usage levels are applicable ...

....Plusnet will deny this is an "unlimited" ADSL package.

"Rolyat" <newsaccount@-removethis-hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In article <4238ae28$0$576$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> (E-Mail Removed)lid says...
>
> > Because no download limits or fair usage levels are applicable ...
>
> ...Plusnet will deny this is an "unlimited" ADSL package.

Plusnet are the very spawn of Satan.

"Nat Stott" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4238ae28$0$576$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Because no download limits or fair usage levels are applicable, some high
> bandwidth activities (such as p2p) will be speed restricted during busy
> times. This is great news for customers who simply surf and email, as
> these
> activities are to be given the highest priority on Broadband Plus.
>
> Customers will pay for the speed setting they choose, which could be
> anything up to 8Mb as those speeds become available later in the year. 1Mb
> for under £20 per month, with no fair usage limit, will be a real bargain
> for average family users.
>
> Speed | Price
> -----------------------------
> 512Kb - £14.99 (Inc Vat)
> 1Mb - £19.99 (Inc Vat)
> 2Mb - £24.99 (Inc Vat)
> Up to 8Mb - TBC

PlusNet's / Force9's charging structure intrigues me: if you opt for a 1GB
capped tariff ("Lite") you pay the same price for 512K, 1M and 2M; but if
you opt for the "unlimited" tariff you pay extra for a faster connection.
I'd expect either the same price (higher than for 1GB) for all three speeds
of "unlimited" or else I'd expect the prices of Lite to vary with speed.

How are ISPs charged by BT for their customers' connections? These days, do
they have to pay according to speed, bandwidth or a combination of the two?

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 13:09:04 -0000, Martin Underwood <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> "Nat Stott" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:4238ae28$0$576$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Because no download limits or fair usage levels are applicable, some
>> high
>> bandwidth activities (such as p2p) will be speed restricted during busy
>> times. This is great news for customers who simply surf and email, as
>> these
>> activities are to be given the highest priority on Broadband Plus.
>>
>> Customers will pay for the speed setting they choose, which could be
>> anything up to 8Mb as those speeds become available later in the year.
>> 1Mb
>> for under £20 per month, with no fair usage limit, will be a real
>> bargain
>> for average family users.
>>
>> Speed | Price
>> -----------------------------
>> 512Kb - £14.99 (Inc Vat)
>> 1Mb - £19.99 (Inc Vat)
>> 2Mb - £24.99 (Inc Vat)
>> Up to 8Mb - TBC
>
> PlusNet's / Force9's charging structure intrigues me: if you opt for a
> 1GB
> capped tariff ("Lite") you pay the same price for 512K, 1M and 2M; but if
> you opt for the "unlimited" tariff you pay extra for a faster connection.
> I'd expect either the same price (higher than for 1GB) for all three
> speeds
> of "unlimited" or else I'd expect the prices of Lite to vary with speed.
>
> How are ISPs charged by BT for their customers' connections? These days,
> do
> they have to pay according to speed, bandwidth or a combination of the
> two?
>
>
>

Hi,

Under CBC we pay BT the same cost for the port of the exchange regardless
of what speed the customer chooses. The wholesale cost is £8.40 whether
it's 512kbps, 1Mbps or 2Mbps (on IPStream Home).

The big cost comes from the central pipes (about £1.5 million per year for
a 622Mbps pipe), meaning that the more bandwidth your customers use the
more pipes you need and hence the higher the costs per customer.

This means for us on the Lite account where you pay per GB it doesn't
really matter what speed you are on, because the cost to us is exactly the
same. The signup to the Lite product will shortly be changed so that all
customers get 2Mbps by default and only get lower than that if their line
can't support it. Those Lite customers currently on 512 and 1Mbps will be
regraded for free to 2Mbps per possible from April, completing for all by
the end of June.

Similarly the signup to Premier will change again so that you sign up for
2Mbps by default and again, only get 512 and 1Mbps if your line can't
support it. Instead you'll get the choice of the different fair usage
thresholds. As with Lite those customers where possible will be regraded
to 2Mbps from April.

Broadband Plus sits in the middle of these, we provision the line as fast
as possible, but limit the speed depending on which package you choose. A
change in speed on Broadband Plus can then be done without a BT regrade.
The key thing to remember is that Broadband Plus won't be marketed as
"unlimited", instead the product is designed with the vast majority of
today's Internet users in mind and isn't product that will be suitable for
the customers that want to download large amounts.


With Regards,

Dave,
--
| Dave Tomlinson Broadband Solutions For
| Customer Support for Home & Business
| PlusNet plc @ http://www.plus.net
+ ----- My Referrals - It pays to recommend PlusNet -----

"PlusNet Support Team" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 13:09:04 -0000, Martin Underwood <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>> Speed | Price
>>> -----------------------------
>>> 512Kb - £14.99 (Inc Vat)
>>> 1Mb - £19.99 (Inc Vat)
>>> 2Mb - £24.99 (Inc Vat)
>>> Up to 8Mb - TBC
>>
>> PlusNet's / Force9's charging structure intrigues me: if you opt for a
>> 1GB
>> capped tariff ("Lite") you pay the same price for 512K, 1M and 2M; but if
>> you opt for the "unlimited" tariff you pay extra for a faster connection.
>> I'd expect either the same price (higher than for 1GB) for all three
>> speeds
>> of "unlimited" or else I'd expect the prices of Lite to vary with speed.
>>
>> How are ISPs charged by BT for their customers' connections? These days,
>> do
>> they have to pay according to speed, bandwidth or a combination of the
>> two?
>
> Hi,
>
> Under CBC we pay BT the same cost for the port of the exchange regardless
> of what speed the customer chooses. The wholesale cost is £8.40 whether
> it's 512kbps, 1Mbps or 2Mbps (on IPStream Home).
>
> The big cost comes from the central pipes (about £1.5 million per year for
> a 622Mbps pipe), meaning that the more bandwidth your customers use the
> more pipes you need and hence the higher the costs per customer.
>
> This means for us on the Lite account where you pay per GB it doesn't
> really matter what speed you are on, because the cost to us is exactly the
> same. The signup to the Lite product will shortly be changed so that all
> customers get 2Mbps by default and only get lower than that if their line
> can't support it. Those Lite customers currently on 512 and 1Mbps will be
> regraded for free to 2Mbps per possible from April, completing for all by
> the end of June.
>
> Similarly the signup to Premier will change again so that you sign up for
> 2Mbps by default and again, only get 512 and 1Mbps if your line can't
> support it. Instead you'll get the choice of the different fair usage
> thresholds. As with Lite those customers where possible will be regraded
> to 2Mbps from April.
>
> Broadband Plus sits in the middle of these, we provision the line as fast
> as possible, but limit the speed depending on which package you choose. A
> change in speed on Broadband Plus can then be done without a BT regrade.
> The key thing to remember is that Broadband Plus won't be marketed as
> "unlimited", instead the product is designed with the vast majority of
> today's Internet users in mind and isn't product that will be suitable for
> the customers that want to download large amounts.

Thanks for that excellent explanation.

One other question: if I submit a request today to upgrade my Force9 account
from dial-up to broadband and the exchange is due to be enabled in the
middle of April (the date that BT quote for the exchange), will my request
sit in the queue until mid-April and then get actioned on the appropriate
date, or will I need to re-submit the upgrade request nearer the time? I
presume my access to the freephone 0808 number will only be withdrawn when
the line has actually been enabled for broadband.

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 13:56:09 -0000, Martin Underwood <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> "PlusNet Support Team" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 13:09:04 -0000, Martin Underwood <(E-Mail Removed)>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>> Speed | Price
>>>> -----------------------------
>>>> 512Kb - £14.99 (Inc Vat)
>>>> 1Mb - £19.99 (Inc Vat)
>>>> 2Mb - £24.99 (Inc Vat)
>>>> Up to 8Mb - TBC
>>>
>>> PlusNet's / Force9's charging structure intrigues me: if you opt for a
>>> 1GB
>>> capped tariff ("Lite") you pay the same price for 512K, 1M and 2M; but
>>> if
>>> you opt for the "unlimited" tariff you pay extra for a faster
>>> connection.
>>> I'd expect either the same price (higher than for 1GB) for all three
>>> speeds
>>> of "unlimited" or else I'd expect the prices of Lite to vary with
>>> speed.
>>>
>>> How are ISPs charged by BT for their customers' connections? These
>>> days,
>>> do
>>> they have to pay according to speed, bandwidth or a combination of the
>>> two?
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Under CBC we pay BT the same cost for the port of the exchange
>> regardless
>> of what speed the customer chooses. The wholesale cost is £8.40 whether
>> it's 512kbps, 1Mbps or 2Mbps (on IPStream Home).
>>
>> The big cost comes from the central pipes (about £1.5 million per year
>> for
>> a 622Mbps pipe), meaning that the more bandwidth your customers use the
>> more pipes you need and hence the higher the costs per customer.
>>
>> This means for us on the Lite account where you pay per GB it doesn't
>> really matter what speed you are on, because the cost to us is exactly
>> the
>> same. The signup to the Lite product will shortly be changed so that all
>> customers get 2Mbps by default and only get lower than that if their
>> line
>> can't support it. Those Lite customers currently on 512 and 1Mbps will
>> be
>> regraded for free to 2Mbps per possible from April, completing for all
>> by
>> the end of June.
>>
>> Similarly the signup to Premier will change again so that you sign up
>> for
>> 2Mbps by default and again, only get 512 and 1Mbps if your line can't
>> support it. Instead you'll get the choice of the different fair usage
>> thresholds. As with Lite those customers where possible will be regraded
>> to 2Mbps from April.
>>
>> Broadband Plus sits in the middle of these, we provision the line as
>> fast
>> as possible, but limit the speed depending on which package you choose.
>> A
>> change in speed on Broadband Plus can then be done without a BT regrade.
>> The key thing to remember is that Broadband Plus won't be marketed as
>> "unlimited", instead the product is designed with the vast majority of
>> today's Internet users in mind and isn't product that will be suitable
>> for
>> the customers that want to download large amounts.
>
> Thanks for that excellent explanation.
>
> One other question: if I submit a request today to upgrade my Force9
> account
> from dial-up to broadband and the exchange is due to be enabled in the
> middle of April (the date that BT quote for the exchange), will my
> request
> sit in the queue until mid-April and then get actioned on the appropriate
> date, or will I need to re-submit the upgrade request nearer the time? I
> presume my access to the freephone 0808 number will only be withdrawn
> when
> the line has actually been enabled for broadband.
>
>

If you put the request in now it just sits there until the exchange ready
date. We'll place the order ourselves on this date.

You'd keep the 0808 access until the broadband is activated.

If you're interested in Broadband Plus then I would suggest waiting until
nearer the exchange ready date because it isn't available to signup up to
yet.


With Regards,

Dave,
--
| Dave Tomlinson Broadband Solutions For
| Customer Support for Home & Business
| PlusNet plc @ http://www.plus.net
+ ----- My Referrals - It pays to recommend PlusNet -----

> Broadband Plus sits in the middle of these, we provision the line as fast
> as possible, but limit the speed depending on which package you choose. A
> change in speed on Broadband Plus can then be done without a BT regrade.
> The key thing to remember is that Broadband Plus won't be marketed as
> "unlimited", instead the product is designed with the vast majority of
> today's Internet users in mind and isn't product that will be suitable for
> the customers that want to download large amounts.
>

So which product would be better for customers who download large amounts?

BB Plus- No dl limit:
512Kb - £14.99 (Inc Vat)
1Mb - £19.99 (Inc Vat)
2Mb - £24.99 (Inc Vat)
Up to 8Mb - TBC

or broadband premier, with limits:

£21.99 30GB
£29.99 50GB
£39.99 75GB
£49.99 100GB
£59.99 125GB

Given that most of us will only be able to get 2Mb/s, we can pay 29.99 for
50GB or 24.99 for unlimited GB.

As I only download a few Gig a month myself, I'm not really bothered, but
the pricing structure is strange.

As I currently pay 21.99/month for 512K, shouldn't I have the choice to stay
on same speed, for 14.99, without paying an upgrade fee?

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed)
says...


> The key thing to remember is that Broadband Plus won't be marketed as
> "unlimited", instead the product is designed with the vast majority of
> today's Internet users in mind and isn't product that will be suitable for
> the customers that want to download large amounts.

Marketed as such or not, it is undoubtedly unlimited.
"No download limits" means as much as you want.

On the Thu, 17 Mar 2005 20:50:27 -0000, Rolyat
<newsaccount@-removethis-hotmail.com> wrote:

>Marketed as such or not, it is undoubtedly unlimited.
>"No download limits" means as much as you want.

What about Farce9's fair usage policy?