90 percent of Brits are baffled by broadband

Davey Winder
Thursday, 23 October 2008 21:43

Business IT - Networking

A million Brits have hit their 'unlimited' limits, and nine out of ten admit to being baffled by broadband. Not surprising when only 22 percent of the major UK broadband providers are transparent about true service caps...

There are over 16 million broadband connections in the UK, yet new research revealed today by service comparison specialists uSwitch suggests that 13.2 million of them are in state of confusion.

A staggering 6.2 million British broadband customers think they have an unlimited service when in fact they do not. A statistic I cannot say fills me with any measure of surprise. Nor, for that matter, does the fact that some 7.5 million have no idea what the limit on their unlimited account might actually be.

Given that you therefore have at least 13.7 million British broadband users in a state of confusion, the only real surprise is that only a million have found themselves confronted by their provider for reaching or exceeding the unlimited limit. Something that can only get worse as UK broadband speeds increase to 100Mbps.

While I try hard not to suffer from 'All Coppers Are Bastards' syndrome, it really does get me wound up that so many Internet Service Providers are happy to screw customers around like this. After all, it only takes a little bit of honesty, a hint of transparency, and the problem would be solved.

Yet this report confirms ACAB status on 56 percent of major broadband providers which are, apparently, quite happy to disconnect paying customers on unlimited tariffs who use that connection excessively.

Most will, of course, scream like little girls given a spider sandwich when approached about such things and respond with a mantra of 'Fair Use Policy' yet the report confirms that only 1 in 4 people ever actually read that policy.

Personal experience would suggest because it is either buried within the terms and conditions that nobody with a life bothers to read, or is written in some ancient language only understood by lawyers and the certifiably insane. Only two of the major providers actually publicise official limits.

In fact, as far as the UK is concerned, uSwitch says that Sky is the first and only provider to have a truly unlimited broadband service with its Sky Broadband Max package, launched last month. Sky removed the fair use policy altogether, and has thrown down the gauntlet to other providers to do the same.

Tim Wolfenden, Head of Communications at uSwitch says "The solution is easy, broadband companies should not be allowed to class their packages as unlimited if they are not. As providers aren’t choosing to be fully transparent about this issue, people need to be savvy when choosing their broadband packages and pay close attention to the small print."