Broadband News
O2 cracks down on excessive downloaders
Tuesday 6 October 2009
By Seamour Rathore seamour@consumerchoices.co.uk
Customers of O2’s Home broadband access package will find their speed throttled during peak hours if they use peer-to-peer sites.
O2 (www.O2.co.uk), best overall provider in the Broadbandchoices.co.uk 2009 awards, has introduced traffic management on one of its four home broadband packages.
The traffic management will only affect O2’s home broadband access package – which runs off BT’s network. The move means that people using peer-to-peer programs and newsgroups on this package will find their speed compromised during peak hours.
Meanwhile, other customers using the package to web surf, email or watch the BBC’s iPlayer, for example, will find their experience improved as a result of O2’s move.
On its website, O2 said: “This should speed things up for most people…Your actual connection speed won’t change, it’ll just take longer for peer-to-peer programs to download – but only at busy times.”
Peer-to-peer programs include BitTorrent sites and newsgroups like NetNews and Giganews.
The new traffic management is only in place between 8pm and 11pm, but the exact times may be tweaked to ensure the desired effect is being achieved.
The move does not affect O2’s standard, premium or pro packages which have no traffic management.
A spokesman for 02 said: “We have no plans at the moment to introduce traffic management on the standard, premium or pro packages.”
Michael Phillips, product director at Broadbandchoices.co.uk, said: “This has shaken things up a bit. O2 has long held-off introducing traffic management on its home broadband packages. But all three of its own network (local loop unbundled) packages are not affected.
“This move could upset some home broadband access customers, but as O2 points out, the net effect will only be to slow down – although we don’t know by how much – their connection if they are using P2P networks.”
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