Re: [LUG] Fwd: UK 'misled' on broadband speeds

On 27 July 2010 09:13, Gordon Henderson <gordon+dcglug@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Tue, 27 Jul 2010, tom wrote:

On 27/07/10 07:49, Gordon Henderson wrote:

On Tue, 27 Jul 2010, Terry Hill wrote:

People shouldn't be tied down to long contracts. It's a ridiculous system
with no benefit whatsoever for the consumer. People should stay because
they like the service, not because they have to.

We're not tied to long contracts. You always have a choice - well, for-now, anyway.
You can get a phone line installed on a monthly contract and you can get broadband installed on a monthly contract too. You just need to pick companies that are not BT or TalkTalk (or their subsiduaries)

Gordon

Last time I looked you had to pay a large fee to change over and/or a large monthly amount

Last time YOU looked, YOU had to pay a large fee. I don't.

I don't because I never allowed myself to be signed-up for a long-term contract in the first place. Actually not quite true - when I got my BT line 8.5 years ago there was very little choice at the time, so I had to put up with a 1-year contract on it, however that's long-gone. I pay them quarterly and I'm on a quarterly contract, which I could get down to a monthly one by migrating the line to another provider.

Braodband too - everyone has a choice of over 100 ISPs to choose from, regardless of LLU in their exchange. Some, like BTretail will insist on a 12 month or longer contract, but others (most others) are monthly.

Obviously you have the experience, understanding and confidence to pick through the minefield that is choosing an ISP Gordon. Not so for many millions of users in the UK, who do the best they can - and are looking for a bargain as they are making another little monthly hole in the bottom of thier money tanks.

As far as marketing/connectivity goes:

"Always on, truly unlimited (unless you file share), service may become busy at peak times" (or something similar) and then provide a range of connection speeds for a range of prices. Meter the system, so if you get less than you sign up for you drop down and pay for what you got.

Of course, the suits that run the world would never put up with such a straightforward system - not enough profit in it.