BT to ditch 24/7 unmetered service

[marcode]

BTopenworld is ditching its 24/7 unmetered dial-up service, according to insiders. Instead, BT's ISP plans to cap the amount of time people are allowed to use the service to 150 hours a month.

In effect users will have the amount of time they are allowed to stay online without incurring additional call charges cut by around half.

Anyone approaching their new monthly limit will receive an email to let them know. If they want to continue using the service after they have exceeded their quota, then they will have to download the Pay As You Go dialler from the BTopenworld Web site for the rest of the month.

If all the hours aren't used up then they can be carried over for the next month, but only up to a maximum of 50 hours.

This new tariff will replace its "all-you-can-eat" service, which effectively allowed people to stay online 12 hours in every 24 without having to pay for the cost of the Internet call.

According to sources most of BTopenworld's punters will be unaffected by the change, which is due to be introduced from November 1. However, this new tariff structure will curtail the usage of around one in ten of all BTopenworld's unmetered dial-up subscribers.

No one at BTopenworld was available for comment at the time of writing. ®


glad i left bt when i did then... on to freeserve without any bitching about ur usage time

[tef89]

That's about the only benefit of my dialup - no maximum usage policy - get 7hrs at a time and leave it on 24/hrs a day.

[Cam]

they w@nkers nxt they woll be askin to come in to your homes and stand over u and say which sites u can go on

[Gel]

Get ADSL and you wont have the problem methinks

[Bez625]

some ppl cnt get broadband yet because guess wat? BT wont update their exchanges im lucky enuff to be able to get broadband but i feel sorry for those on bt an that dont have much option, its f*cked wat BT are doin they shudnt have offered an anytime package if they didnt want ppl to use the service at any time.

If they offer it free all month for a charge were they too stupid to realise that ppl wud want their moneys worth an use the service ALL month.

-Bez

[MajorFU]

Originally posted by Cam
they w@nkers nxt they woll be askin to come in to your homes and stand over u and say which sites u can go on

cam did you play one of the english air pilots in "allo allo"???

good moaning

[tef89]

[Cam]

lol i got bb n e way so dont care oh and aol at work

good moaning ue self

[marcode]

Originally posted by Gel
Get ADSL and you wont have the problem methinks

well i dunno bout that skippy

BTo to cap ADSL?

The Register has received a number of emails from worried customers of BTopenworld asking if the ISP's decision to cap its unmetered dial-up service could have an impact on its broadband service.

It seems they're concerned that if BTopenworld caps its dial-up service, what is stopping it from capping its broadband service? The answer, of course, is nothing.

Let's look at the state of play.

BT Broadband - the new no-frills service launched by BT Retail - has a daily download limit of 1GB and the monster telco says it may introduce "further charges in the future for customers whose use exceeds this figure".

Earlier this month BTopenworld set out letters to its broadband satellite users warning them that it would impose restrictions if people used the service too much.

And now BTopenworld has capped the use of its supposedly unmetered dial-up service.

Insiders have already told The Register that BTopenworld intends to start restricting its ADSL service for its heaviest users.

Anyone spot a pattern developing here? ®

well thank god for good ol' freeserve (and the others) then:

AOL, Freeserve, Tiscali stick with unmetered Net access

The UK's leading ISPs all say they have no plans to follow BTopenworld's lead and cap their 24/7 flat-rate dial-up services.

Yesterday's move by BTopenworld to introduce a 150-hour a month cap on its unmetered AnyTime service is a major change for ISPs to consider.

No doubt the industry will watch with interest to see if there is any fall-out from BTopenworld's decision to introduce an ever-decreasing limit for Net users. But right now the UK's major ISPs are happy to stand by and watch.

Representatives of AOL UK, Freeserve and Tiscali all said their outfits had no plans to introduce such strict limits. And doubts were expressed over the ability of BTopenworld improve its financial standing through the introduction of user caps.

After all, that is one of the major reasons why the ISP - affectionately called BTopenwound because it leaks so much money - introduced this cash-saving initiative.

The early response from BTopenworld customers is that they feel they've been ripped off. One told The Register: "It's only a matter of time before they introduce more restrictions." ®