Broadband News

Customers still confused about ‘unlimited’ broadband

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

By Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

A million “unlimited” broadband users have exceeded their limit or come close to doing so in the past year alone, according to new research (15-10-08).

Despite coverage and heavy criticism in the press, “unlimited” broadband packages - which still carry limits in the form of a fair usage policy - are still baffling consumers.

The study revealed that more than six million broadband users wrongly believed that they had a truly unlimited broadband package with no usage cap.

Nine out of 10 users still don’t understand the limit on their service and the consequences can be severe, with 53 per cent of broadband providers admitting that they were prepared to disconnect customers who excessively used their broadband connection.

Just 22 per cent of major ISPs clearly advertise the true limits of their broadband service, noted the researchers, calling on Ofcom and the ASA to take “firm action and actually set strict guidelines on the advertising of broadband packages”.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “Despite today’s statistics, overall usage is still relatively low. Earlier this year TalkTalk Broadband (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) revealed that half of its customers downloaded less than 1GB a month - nowhere near the 40GB fair usage limit.

“However, as download services such as the BBC iPlayer, Channel 4’s 4oD and Sky Broadband's (www.Sky.com) Sky Player become ever more popular, the amount we all download is going to increase massively.

“I urge all broadband providers to make clear both the limits of their packages and the penalties that customers will face if they exceed their ‘limit’,” he concluded.

Last month Sky removed the fair usage policy from its Sky Max up to 16Mb product, making it the only truly unlimited broadband package in the UK.

Source: uSwitch.com

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