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BT ditches 2GB Digital Vault

BT ditches 2GB Digital Vault

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Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Broadband behemoth BT has announced that it will close its free 2GB Digital Vault service at the end of next month (01-09-08).

BT's (www.BT.com) Digital Vault service allows customers to store their photos, documents and family videos online in BT’s virtual backup system and now comes in three sizes - 1GB, 5GB and 50GB - the older 2GB service has not been available to new customers since last year.

"Despite the closure of the product data will continue to be stored safely"

The UK’s biggest broadband provider recently sent out a rash of emails to customers warning them of the closure of the Basic service: “We wanted to let you know we will be withdrawing the BT Digital Vault Basic (2GB) product shortly. This means you’ll need to upgrade to BT Digital Vault Plus within the next 60 days to access, upload or share your stored files.”

The free 2GB service that many customers signed up to will be shut down on 30 October.

The initial emails were somewhat confusing and BT has since stressed that customers’ data will not be at risk: “We would like to assure customers that despite the closure of the product their data will continue to be stored safely. However customers who currently have more than 1GB of data stored will not be able to add any further data to their vault unless they upgrade,” a spokesperson clarified.

BT is unclear about what happens to any data over the new 1GB allowance after the 30 October deadline.

BT claims that “the majority of users are BT Total Broadband customers who qualify for the larger 5GB product for free” but any customers who do not qualify for the free service will have to pay an additional £4.99 a month for the 50GB backup.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “BT advertised its Digital Vault service heavily and any customers with a 2GB Basic account will be understandably upset if they no longer qualify for the free service and are forced to either fork out £4.99 a month for the 50GB storage or ditch it altogether.

“Back up all your data to discs or a memory stick - at a one-off cost of about £5 - and store them safely at home so that you’re not relying solely on BT’s Digital Vault,” he advised.

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Comments

The reason we are shutting down the 2GB service is because the BT Digital Vault Basic 2GB has not been available to new customers since June 2007 and the majority of 2GB users are BT Total Broadband customers who qualify for the larger 5GB product for free and who will be upgraded, and this is why we are now withdrawing the product. Other customers will be downgraded to our current free 1GB product, although none of their files will be lost and still will be fully accessible if they are using more than 1GB of storage.
Jon Carter, UK
Sep 2 2008 11:29AM