BT accused of iPlayer throttling

[BenMcr]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8077839.stm

Britain's biggest broadband supplier has been accused of limiting download speeds on its cheapest package without giving users a clear warning

A customer who has signed up for an up to 8 megabit per second package can have their speed cut to below 1Mbps.

[NotaVMFan]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8077839.stm

Britain's biggest broadband supplier has been accused of limiting download speeds on its cheapest package without giving users a clear warning

A customer who has signed up for an up to 8 megabit per second package can have their speed cut to below 1Mbps.

"He said: "Companies operating a traffic management policy usually hide their terms deep in the terms and conditions, making it difficult for customers wanting to get out of a contract." "

"Mr Weller, from uSwitch.com, said BT was not the only internet service provider trying to cope with growing demand by throttling back speeds."

He`s Right!!

Amazing how a bit more editing can reflect "Other" ISP`s

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by NotaVMFan

"He said: "Companies operating a traffic management policy usually hide their terms deep in the terms and conditions, making it difficult for customers wanting to get out of a contract." "

Which is why Virgin have a clear policy on both the Sales website: http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html...t/traffic.html

And the existing customer website http://www.virginmedia.com/help/traffic-management.php

They also let people know when they order services and upgrade than a traffic managment policy applies - all in compliance with OFCOM guidance

In addition the Traffic Managment for Cable is not application based - unlike what BT seem to be doing

[moaningmags]

VM's traffic management policy has to be the most well known and certainly not hidden.

[Welshchris]

and one of the most hated lol.

[Pushkar]

He he he, You thought Virgin was bad, think again.

[darren.b]

VM bury the STM policy. Only the curious or bored would find it.

When shopping online I wish to purchase a service, not read the entire website for secretive policies they may or may not have. If they have such policies they should be made clear and bright on the shopping pages just like their marketing propaganda. By behaving the way they do - they come across as deceptive and misleading. A poor show given the Virgin brand are a recognised and trusted brand.

You only need to look at various online forums to know many people found out about STM from other posts and news articles - not from VM themselves.

For the record STM doesn't bother me - I am just annoyed by their need to mislead and deceive people.

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by solcuerda

VM bury the STM policy. Only the curious or bored would find it..

How can it be hidden when it's 2 clicks away from the BB information screens

It's under NEED TO KNOW which I thought was an obvious read for everyone thinking of signing up and then linked under would you believe TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT.. Both links aren't small or hidden...

I know where it is and it doesn't even effect me

[darren.b]

I know where it is, we know where it is. It's not surprising given it's posted enough on this board. However do you think the average shopper new to cable services will know where it is? I don't think the average shopper will know to even look for such pages, given they have been fed words like "fibre-optic" and "unlimited".

Average shopper remember, not careful, conscientious, wary shopper who are aware of how misleading VM are.

Oh, and a buried link isn't the same as a hidden link

[Kymmy]

Actually I didn't know where it was as I've only ever gone directly to it via a google search...

It though took me 30 seconds to look at thier website to find it...

Sorry but really do think that if people don't look at the small print (or even non-hidden NEED TO KNOW links) before they sign upto a service then that's thier own stupidity

[darren.b]

Indeed...however VM (and others) shouldn't play on that stupidity or laziness. But they will.

If it were me in charge, I'd be honest and upfront about any restrictions on the service so the lazy/stupid can't possibly miss it. ie alongside all the "unlimited/fibre-optic" bumph would be something about restricting heavy users at peak times. The loss of the 5% of potential signups such restrictions might affect far outweigh a damaged reputation over misleading marketing.

Perhaps that's why I'm not a CEO...I'd be rubbish at it

I should add that VM do publish limits which is a step in the right direction whereas BT do not. VM are closer to openness and transparency than BT. I personally couldn't care less what restrictions they place on their networks at peak times - as long as they are 100% upfront and open about it. And by "upfront" I mean by saying so on the same pages they say "unlimited" etc and at the point of sale - not sticking it on another page elsewhere.

[Chris]

This is a discussion about BT throttling the iPlayer. Can we please not turn it into yet another rant about VM's STM. There are dozens of threads already where you can do that.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8077839.stm

Britain's biggest broadband supplier has been accused of limiting download speeds on its cheapest package without giving users a clear warning

A customer who has signed up for an up to 8 megabit per second package can have their speed cut to below 1Mbps.

Somewhat misleading thread title Ben, BT accused of limiting iPlayer speeds on the bottom package without giving users a clear warning.

[Chris]

Indeed ... Thread title updated

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Which is why Virgin have a clear policy on both the Sales website: http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html...t/traffic.html

And the existing customer website http://www.virginmedia.com/help/traffic-management.php

They also let people know when they order services and upgrade than a traffic managment policy applies - all in compliance with OFCOM guidance

In addition the Traffic Managment for Cable is not application based - unlike what BT seem to be doing

Oddly the BT policy seems quite clear as well.

I go to the BT Broadbandings website

Then I click for Option 1, the one in question and I see a link to a Fair Use Policy

And what do we have here?

6. What is BT's policy on video streaming?

We do not impose any restrictions that affect the viewing quality of services such as BBC iPlayer or Catch Up on Channel4.com or ITV.com, as these stream at up to 800Kbps. However, we do limit the speed of all video streaming to 896Kbps on our Option 1 product, during peak times only, which is between 5pm - midnight every day.

That seems reasonably clear to me? Is it just me?

Either way Virgin Media or their staff who comment on this and use their service as a demonstration of how to do it strike me as throwing stones in glass houses. Only reason Virgin don't throttle based on application is that they're too cheap to buy the equipment

The one criticism I would level against BT on this is that they need to increase that video streaming cap as it evidently isn't enough for some iPlayer streams now.

The BBC are naturally going to be upset and take this somewhat personally though, iPlayer is their baby and can potentially be degraded by these restrictions... kinda like someone STM'd on Virgin's 2Mbit product won't be able to stream their 1Mbit, 1.5Mbit and HD streams either actually, to refer back to stones and glass houses.

The alternative for both is quite simple, take a more expensive product to avoid these issues. Total non-issue anyway, BBC throwing toys from pram at iPlayer throttling, BT aren't the only ones who do it just they are more transparent, which is amusingly the charge the BBC are laying on them, a lack of clarity and transparency. If they want to pick on people they should be having a chat with Talk Talk and Tiscali.