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More data for your money
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BT ups its download allowances
Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk
The monthly download allowances on BT’s Total Options 1 and 2 will be increased from next month the UK’s biggest ISP has announced (11-06-08).
From 1 July, Option 1 customers will see their usage allowance double from 5GB a month to 10GB while Option 2 customers will get an additional 7GB a month bringing their allowance from 8GB to 15GB. Option 3 customers will continue to enjoy “unlimited” downloads with a fair usage policy.
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"Option 1 customers will see their allowance double while Option 2 customers will go up to 15GB a month"
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However, BT (www.BT.com) recently switched from counting only downloads against its users’ monthly allowances to a combined sum of both uploads and downloads, and although it has now increased data allowances, it has also increased the amount that customers will be charged if they exceed their limit.
From 1 July excess usage charges will double from 30p to 60p per GB for any customers who exceed their allowance two months in a row.
BT’s vague fair usage policy applies to all packages - including Options 1 and 2 with set download limits and BT will restrict the speed of any heavy users during peak times regardless of the package they’re on. Peer-to-peer access will also be restricted at both peak and non-peak times depending on network traffic, the provider said.
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “As applications such as the BBC iPlayer - which uses peer-to-peer technology - become increasingly popular, more ISPs will need to increase their network capabilities to cope with demand.
“Although it’s great that BT has increased its usage allowances, it still risks upsetting a few customers over its decision to throttle speeds even outside of peak hours - a move recently taken by the UK’s second biggest provider, Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com).”
BT has had a busy week, announcing that it would begin charging its BT Vision customers £3 a month to watch on-demand BBC content as part of its TV Replay package - footage that it free to watch using the BBC iPlayer.
And yesterday it launched its BT Broadband Accelerator scheme - a £90 home visit service by a Home IT technician to fine tune PCs and speed up broadband connections. The rather high fee will be refunded if customers don’t see at least a 0.5Mb improvement.
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