View Full Version : 1Mbit price reduction
Richard M
02-07-2004, 11:42
Cable Forum brings you yet another exclusive! We have obtained information from a reliable source which states that the price of NTLââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s 1mbps service is under review in a reaction to BTââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s reduction (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/30/bt_broadband_price/) earlier this week to £24.99 for the BT Broadband 512k product and £29.99 for the BT Yahoo 1mbps service, down from £40.99.
There will be no reduction to NTLââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s 150K and 600K services.
Just over three months ago, it was revealed (http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=6268&page=11&pp=15) that NTL were increasing the price of their top-tier product by £3.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/article/65/ntl-reviews-1mbps-service-price
Note, BT/Yahoo have a 15 gig a month downstream cap.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/article/65/ntl-reviews-1mbps-service-price
Welcome news if its true, but sad that Ntl has traded its place as a broadband trailblazer in the UK for one of having to play catch-up with other, more dynamic service providers. Cable Broadband is an inherently superior product. I don't know what they're so scared of.
whats worse is they are playing second fiddle to BT - can it get any worse :)
orangebird
02-07-2004, 11:55
WHAT IS IT WITH SOME PEOPLE???????????
You bleat on about wanting price reductions - when you get a sniff of it, you come out with crappy comments such as Sosages has above. :rolleyes: Some of you really do want the moon on a stick. And I have a feeling that if you got it, you'd still not be bloody happy.....
WHAT IS IT WITH SOME PEOPLE???????????
You bleat on about wanting price reductions - when you get a sniff of it, you come out with crappy comments such as Sosages has above. :rolleyes: Some of you really do want the moon on a stick. And I have a feeling that if you got it, you'd still not be bloody happy.....
It's just frustrating to watch a company like NTL, which is not hobbled by the same raft of regulatory restrictions as BT, having to keep up with BT instead of it being the other way round. It was not always the case. BT's 'Another Broadband Briton' Press ad campaign was an outright joke because BB has taken off in the UK in spite of them, not because of them. When I signed up for my NTL broadband the majority of non cable customers in the UK didn't have any broadband choices at all.
A healthy market needs NTL, and it needs NTL to do what it did at the outset - lead the market and drive the agenda, not be forced into knee-jerk reactions to the announcements of its competitors. A price reduction will be very welcome but the circumstances which brought it about are worrying.
andygrif
02-07-2004, 12:13
Isn't this a bit of egg-on-face for ntl? Having already put the price of the 1MB service up, to now muse about lowering the price makes them look rather amateurish.
I don't think it takes an expert in the industry to predict that speeds will increase and costs will decrease over time.
orangebird
02-07-2004, 12:15
It's just frustrating to watch a company like NTL, which is not hobbled by the same raft of regulatory restrictions as BT, having to keep up with BT instead of it being the other way round. It was not always the case. BT's 'Another Broadband Briton' Press ad campaign was an outright joke because BB has taken off in the UK in spite of them, not because of them. When I signed up for my NTL broadband the majority of non cable customers in the UK didn't have any broadband choices at all.
A healthy market needs NTL, and it needs NTL to do what it did at the outset - lead the market and drive the agenda, not be forced into knee-jerk reactions to the announcements of its competitors. A price reduction will be very welcome but the circumstances which brought it about are worrying.
Well, hindsight is 20:20...In the same breath, ntl CANNOT forsee other companies UNDERCUTTING them... :shrug:
etccarmageddon
02-07-2004, 12:26
Isn't this a bit of egg-on-face for ntl? Having already put the price of the 1MB service up, to now muse about lowering the price makes them look rather amateurish.
I don't think it takes an expert in the industry to predict that speeds will increase and costs will decrease over time.
not as big as the egg on BTs face due to their cap and their £25 service having a lower speed than NTL's £25 service.
I see this as a little egg on NTLs face but mostly healthy competition.
Let's cross our fingers that NTL will drop 'em blossom to around £30 a month and still have the speed at 1.5mb.
seaneeboy
02-07-2004, 12:29
As far as BT taking the credit for the UK becoming broadbanded-up, and any talk of "Egg on face" for NTL, it's all just marketing (blimey, I'm starting to spot a running theme in my posts!)...
... For the avarage non-user they're as likely to believe BTs ads for supplying the UK with broadband as anything else. Well done on BTs part for spinning it to their advantage...
... As for NTL's egg on face, I very much doubt they'll get much of a backlash - if any. Those who are more Au fait with NTL like the members of cableforum will naturally smell a rat, however the general ntl using public won't give two hoots - they're getting a lower bill!
Combine that with a speed increase (lets hope they keep to that now prices are ocming down) and they're laughing - IF they can market it and sell it right.
etccarmageddon
02-07-2004, 12:32
the real competition will be when they start loosing market share - that's what made BT drop 'em.
Well I don't care about egg on anyones face - I'm looking forward to my 1.5Mb and if it's at a cheaper price then even better. :D
Well I don't care about egg on anyones face - I'm looking forward to my 1.5Mb and if it's at a cheaper price then even better. :D
/Echo on
etccarmageddon
02-07-2004, 12:44
so if the price does come down to £30 a month - will there be a mass take up of the 1mb service now?
Too right. I only dropped my 1Mbit service because of the price hike.
So are ntl finally are waking up to the fact that the product was overpriced?
scrotnig
02-07-2004, 13:19
So are ntl finally are waking up to the fact that the product was overpriced?
It was not overpriced.
It potentially could be seen as that after the BT 1mb change, but even then remember that ntl's will be 1.5mb.
BT dropped the price, ntl upped the speed.
seaneeboy
02-07-2004, 13:20
I wouldn't say "Woken up to the fact" - more like "Realised they can't get away with it anymore"
so if the price does come down to £30 a month - will there be a mass take up of the 1mb service now?
Then Ntl better get a batch of Samsung boxes sorted!!!
seaneeboy
02-07-2004, 13:22
I imagine if they run out of samsungs it will work out easier for them to install SACMs :)
scrotnig
02-07-2004, 13:24
I always put new 1mb customers that already have TV, onto a SACM anyway. It's less hassle.
If the 1mb service dropped back to £34.99 I think they will have a great product, though this may happen it's not likely to soon as they have only just put the price up to £37.99. I really can't see the price being reduced again until well after the 1mb service has been upgraded to 1.5mb and most customers with broadband through their STB being upgraded to a Samsung box.
Has anyone actually thought about how much the new samsung boxes are costing NTL? Maybe the £3 increase per month is to help pay for all of the box replacements, once they have gained profit again maybe then they will think of reducing price?
Thats my 2p anyway.
Hmmm-I still don't see the point in paying £38.00 for a 1MB/1.5MB 'service' that is capped......
Just my opinion, but whatever the price is, isn't worth a bandwidth cap IMO.
It can only be a matter of time before ntl start enforcing the cap, & start penalising people-how chuffed will those peeps be then with their 1.5MB service?
The other thing is that the (Offnet) DSL package they now offer, does not appear to come with any caps at all (unless they have hidden them again ;) )
I think the 'cap' on NTL's services aren't really a problem, it's 1gb a day which never gets enforced anyway. Whereas with BT, downloading 30gb in a month will cause you to get your speed reduced for the following month or extra bandwidth charged to your account.
It potentially could be seen as that after the BT 1mb change, but even then remember that ntl's will be 1.5mb
Even after the 1Mb to 1.5Mb update, its worth remembering that this was a FREE upgrade, so essentially you should still only be paying for 1Mb worth, not 1.5Mb. And when you value its worth, it should still be considered a 1Mb package in that respect.
[Edit] (Neil)-Quote fixed.
Sadly I think only the 150k and 600k customers will be really getting a 'free' upgrade. It costs NTL to upgrade the 1mb service as the new samsung boxes have to be installed, it really would be much cheaper and easier to move everyone to a SACM and keep the pace boxes, unless later in business they will need the samsung boxes for some high speed activity on their tv service which I really can't see happening until about 2010 when all analogue services are stopped.
orangebird
02-07-2004, 13:58
<snip>It can only be a matter of time before ntl start enforcing the cap, & start penalising people-how chuffed will those peeps be then with their 1.5MB service?<snip>
They haven't bothered in 18 months - why do think it's only a matter of time?
scrotnig
02-07-2004, 14:06
Notification of the price rise was issued well in advance. At this point no mention was made of any speed increase. This then allowed customers the opportunity to cancel their service. Even those inside the minimum 12 months would have been allowed to cancel without penalty as long as they told us in writing within 30 days.
Since then the speed increase has been announced. So those customers who elected to stay on the 1mb service are now going to get a 1.5mb service for the same money. Yet *still* all I am hearing is how ntl are ripping people off.
I hate to say this, since it goes against everything I stand for, but if people really think it's THAT much of a rip off, then they should consider migrating to ADSL and giving that a try.
I'm sorry to have to say that, but as has been pointed out above, some people seem to want the moon on a stick!
Just because a service is one price from one company and a different price from another, that doesn't mean that one of those companies is ripping people off. ntl do not seek to be the cheapest on the market, they seek to be the best value. I genuinely believe in most areas they achieve that.
Also, we don't know whether ntl will respond to these changes in the market. All this sort of activity is reviewed and monitored daily, some on here give the impression that ntl are stupid and don't notice, of course they do, their own position is then reviewed, the result of that review can be that no change is deemed necessary. Give them chance to review this and see what transpires, remember ages ago 1mb suddenly dropped from £49.99 to £34.99 due to changes in the market, people forget that.
They haven't bothered in 18 months - why do think it's only a matter of time?
Because BT (for example) have openly stated that they will penalise/charge those that go over, & I think ntl would be silly not to do the same, now that they have a lead to follow ("BT do it, so do we now Sir" type of thing)
Whereas before, they were the only UK ISP in the UK with a cap (I believe), they can now fairly comfortably cap their users stringently.
scrotnig
02-07-2004, 14:11
It can only be a matter of time before ntl start enforcing the cap, & start penalising people
If you mean in the sense of routinely cutting people off for hitting a 1gb daily limit, no chance. Absolutely NO chance. You'd need to look at the refinacing deal and the emphasis the bondholders now place on growing customer numbers and revenues by RETAINING existing customers, then you'd need to understand the impact on 'churn rates' that would have, to realise it's not going to happen in the current climate.
Yes there are legitimate residential users who hit the 'cap', some get letters asking them to moderate their useage, NOBODY to my knowledge has had service terminated.
ntl do not seek to be the cheapest on the market, they seek to be the best value. I genuinely believe in most areas they achieve that.
Can you explain why you believe that to be the case Mark?
etccarmageddon
02-07-2004, 14:19
ntl do not seek to be the cheapest on the market, they seek to be the best value. I genuinely believe in most areas they achieve that.
I dont understand your point here - they dont seek to be the cheapest but offer better value. surely the best value is where a comparable product is the cheapest.
I dont understand your point here - they dont seek to be the cheapest but offer better value. surely the best value is where a comparable product is the cheapest.
No, best value is the best overall service. And good service is more than bandwidth and cap levels - it includes other things such as quality of customer support, level of uptime, absolutely everything. I'm not making any statement about whether NTL achieves on these points, just that they should be considered if you want to get a good idea of who is best value for money overall.
scrotnig
02-07-2004, 14:27
Can you explain why you believe that to be the case Mark?In which area of the service?
For cable TV the packs are cheaper than Sky with a lot less hassle.
For telephone call charges are still generally cheaper than BT, and so are many of the call charges.
For broadband, I've seen too many problems with ADSL companies to even go near it. Too many people involved in the relationship...BT Networks, BT wholesale, and then the actual retailer. Strict caps now coming in...look at Wanadoo for instance. Poor customer service...look at Tiscali for instance. I work heavily with ntl broadband, and certainly in my region there's no better product, either for quality or support. Just ask Bill C!
Now, I'm not an ntl evangelist. The above is based on my own experience. Some people do not get that experience, they get something much poorer. Part of my job involves sorting out such things...ask Bill C again!:D. Then again, some other regions have poorer networks and there seem to be problems.
So, based on my own experience...and I've been an ntl (and its predecessors) customer for many years longer than I've worked for them....I consider it to be good value overall. Others will differ, based on their own personal experience, and their view is equally valid.
I love my NTL BB and I've had it a long time, on the whole its very reliable much more so than I remember my old dial-up days being. 38 quid for 1.5Mb is I feel fair if the price does drop even better, plus I get a nice new Samsung box too :)
I really wouldn't move to ADSL, this is due mainly due to NTL being quite easy to come in to contact with and alot of people use them. I think that NTL are not stupid and will realise as they have done that recently speeds have gone up and some prices have dropped. Once the speed increases are done I think they won't have to really change any prices further. 1.5mb for £38 a month really isn't that bad, remember £50 for 1mb? That's what I call overpriced. Not many people use the 1mb service, the increase in speed and cost then backs up NTL's point of the 1mb service, to be used by people who love their net connection, otherwise what's wrong with 600k/750k for £24.99? That i think is the best value on the net along with 150k when it is 300k for 17.99. Just think of all those sad people on tiscali etc who haven't heard anything of changes of service. They offer a 256k service for £17.99 but is it really reliable? I don't think so, exchanges seem very overloaded and you just never get true 256k.
I just wish people would leave NTL alone sometimes, they know they are overpriced, and they will do what they think is right to compete with ADSL, note it is ADSL they are competing with! Not telewest! So stop saying that telewest have completed the speed increases etc... there are still people on telewest using 1mb when others have been upgraded due to telewest not changing the STBs! NTL is making sure EVERYONE gets the benefit of the changes and is trying it's best.
I just wish people would leave NTL alone sometimes, they know they are overpriced, and they will do what they think is right to compete with ADSL, note it is ADSL they are competing with! Not telewest! So stop saying that telewest have completed the speed increases etc... there are still people on telewest using 1mb when others have been upgraded due to telewest not changing the STBs! NTL is making sure EVERYONE gets the benefit of the changes and is trying it's best.
Repped accordingly :D :tu:
city-boy
02-07-2004, 15:33
Almost reminds me of the stupid days when I got my NTL(ex C&W) phone line disconnected to move to BT to get unmetered NTL dial-up on my BT line. I couldn't have it on my NTL one despite the companies C&W and NTL being merged for ages.
LOL
city-boy
02-07-2004, 15:34
Or the time I downgraded my 1MB broaadband for a month to upgrade it the next one to get it for £34.99 instead of £49.99 LOL
Chrysalis
02-07-2004, 15:35
I welcome the reduction but quite frankly it just shows ntl messed up in the first place with the price rise, and anyone using the argument its a free upgrade so superb value for money isn't 100% right. We pay for the traffic and when the speed is raised the cap will remain the same meaning we still get the same traffic allotment. That is why when it was raised to 37.99 I decided to pay 24.99 for 1 gig/day traffic instead of 37.99 for 1 gig/day traffic. I also fail to see the arguments where ntl tv is cheaper then sky. ntl maybe catering for all broadband users but they not for tv subscribers (years on i still have no digital service).
If it drops back to 34.99 or lower I will pay for it, or if they keep at 37.99 and raise cap I will reupgrade, either will do.
city-boy
02-07-2004, 15:45
NTL have no competative advantage in any area any more. They used to, and be cheaper too. Watch the churn go though the roof!
All I'm saying is 6p connection charge on phone calls.
£ 15 for a second set-top box
1MB broadband which is now the most expensive one I can find.
Less channels than sky.
Poor Interactive content compared to Sky
No Dolby Digtial
No PVR Sky+ style box
Non-DD charge becuase they can't sort out my DD
Considering NTL always had the potential to wipe the floor with Sky, they never did it! Video On Demand! Ability to have faster broadband speeds than ADSL. Wifi built on top of their broadband network. High Definition! Broadband utilisation in Interactive content such as Big Brother.
All I'm saying is 6p connection charge on phone calls. 5p connection charge
1MB broadband which is now the most expensive one I can find.Does this take into account all the other ADSL broadband charges are +£10.50 BT line rental?
Non-DD charge becuase they can't sort out my DDSky / BT etc also have non-DD charges.
5p connection charge.
Woohoo, I pay 0.5p for my calls, with 1p connection, Ntl just can't compete.
Does this take into account all the other ADSL broadband charges are +£10.50 BT line rental?.
What? 99% of people have a phone, whether they take it from Ntl or BT it'll cost them £10.50+ :confused
Sky / BT etc also have non-DD charges.
Granted, but they don't seem to mess up DD as often, leading to customers not trusting them to get it right.
arcamalpha2004
02-07-2004, 16:38
so if the price does come down to £30 a month - will there be a mass take up of the 1mb service now?
Not for me, they can pi34 off! they had their chance and they blew it.
As normal, good old NTL being reactive instead of proactive.
As for the speed increase, someone send me a pm when it comes about, the way things are going everyone else will be on 5 meg !
arcamalpha2004
02-07-2004, 16:40
It was not overpriced.
It potentially could be seen as that after the BT 1mb change, but even then remember that ntl's will be 1.5mb.
BT dropped the price, ntl upped the speed.
And this was done in response to telewest, reactive again !
Not for me, they can pi34 off! they had their chance and they blew it.
As normal, good old NTL being reactive instead of proactive.
As for the speed increase, someone send me a pm when it comes about, the way things are going everyone else will be on 5 meg !
I do not think I need to send you a PM because we all know when the speed increase is going to happen and guess what?!?! It's not late summer yet. Looking outside its not even started! :angel:
What? 99% of people have a phone, whether they take it from Ntl or BT it'll cost them £10.50+ :confused
Well with Ntl it would cost them £9.50 but a suprisingly large number of people have broadband only and a mobile for all phonecalls.
Granted, but they don't seem to mess up DD as often, leading to customers not trusting them to get it right.
I don't know about the experiences you or others have had but I've not had any problems with wrong DD amounts being taken from my Ntl account. Thats also what the DD guarantee is there for.
arcamalpha2004
02-07-2004, 16:53
I do not think I need to send you a PM because we all know when the speed increase is going to happen and guess what?!?! It's not late summer yet. Looking outside its not even started! :angel:
I know that mick, but I get so pi45ed off sometimes when I see the repetetive," When are we getting the speed increase ?" it seems a lot of people are either not informed by NTL, which does'nt surprise me, or they do not know when late summer is, and the weather is no guideline, not in this country anyway!
orangebird
02-07-2004, 16:54
Woohoo, I pay 0.5p for my calls, with 1p connection, Ntl just can't compete.
Who is that with?
arcamalpha2004
02-07-2004, 16:55
Well with Ntl it would cost them £9.50 but a suprisingly large number of people have broadband only and a mobile for all phonecalls.
I don't know about the experiences you or others have had but I've not had any problems with wrong DD amounts being taken from my Ntl account. Thats also what the DD guarantee is there for.
Dezzo, there may well be a guideline for DD, but it doesnt stop people being blacklisted because NTL **** up!
No company should surcharge for none DD payments, it's rip off of the highest order imo.
Who is that with?aye, c'mon Dell, spill the good news, I'm going to be looking for a new telco soon. :)
arcamalpha2004
02-07-2004, 16:56
Who is that with?
Obviously not NTL.
Small wee request here, this thread has drifted from the main topic, any chance we can get back to the topic? Thanks. :)
arcamalpha2004
02-07-2004, 17:06
Wonder if any of the marketing department got the bullet? they're the ones the cs member blamed over the price increase for 1 mb when I called to downgrade.
Or maybe there was a reprieve when one of them put their pinky up and said, " I have an absolutely brilliant idea, let's put the price down, and why not offer a full refund for all our customers who downgraded because of our c78k up "
Small wee request here, this thread has drifted from the main topic, any chance we can get back to the topic? Thanks. :)
oooops ... sorry :dunce:
Chrysalis
02-07-2004, 20:32
Will be very interesting to see what price level ntl set, if they are to compete then considering the cap level in place and transperent proxies(big factor to some) and if the speed upgrades are done or not. I would say somewhere between 30 and 35 a month.
Ignition
03-07-2004, 10:18
I know that mick, but I get so pi45ed off sometimes when I see the repetetive," When are we getting the speed increase ?" it seems a lot of people are either not informed by NTL, which does'nt surprise me, or they do not know when late summer is, and the weather is no guideline, not in this country anyway!
When it's ready, which depends on a hell of a lot of things and a hell of a lot of people. Until all the STBs can successfully perform at the 1.5Mbit speed and the network has enough overhead to cope comfortably with it not gonna happen. While there are absolute deadlines for this to be completed if it's all done earlier then upgrade will happen earlier.
No I'm not giving you the deadline, sorry *points at NDA* :angel:
Ignition
03-07-2004, 10:20
Will be very interesting to see what price level ntl set, if they are to compete then considering the cap level in place and transperent proxies(big factor to some) and if the speed upgrades are done or not. I would say somewhere between 30 and 35 a month.
Transparent caches work really well when there's enough capacity there and the hardware and software are behaving themselves. How often do you hear of browsing probs in Winnersh for example? :)
Along with an upgrade of network hardware it makes sense to get some extra proxy power in there. Can't see them going anywhere the investment in them has just been too large, and when they work they do their job really well - notice how many less complaints of slow browsing there have been since the last round of webcache upgrades?
When it's ready, which depends on a hell of a lot of things and a hell of a lot of people. Until all the STBs can successfully perform at the 1.5Mbit speed and the network has enough overhead to cope comfortably with it not gonna happen. While there are absolute deadlines for this to be completed if it's all done earlier then upgrade will happen earlier.
No I'm not giving you the deadline, sorry *points at NDA* :angel:
I Have to admit, least ntl are doing something telewest arent, and thats upgrading all Set Top users so they can have the upgrade too, although im not one of them, its good to see they are valued, even if it delays the upgrade by god knows how long, :P
Besides, Im not interested in raw speed, reliability and service is much more important to me, im sure NTL could have chucked the speed up on a whim, and then caused more probems than it would be worth.
Im just concerned that the only infomation, little as it is is coming from here, and not any offical NTL site, I'm sure they could at least state they are upgrading thier speed on the mains sites, and state thier basic plan of action, so people know the magnitude of the project, then people cant moan about how long its taking, because they know its not that simple. :-)
Chrysalis
03-07-2004, 11:34
I wont deny the proxies seem to have improved somewhat recently you are not wrong there, but I would expect the users on 150kbit upgrading to 300kbit will hit ntl harder then the top tier upgrade as they have so much more user's on the bottom package, maybe thats what it really is causing the delay.
I dont want to sound nasty to everyone but why do people constantly moan when things change in thier favour.
If people are not ahppy why do they stick with the comapny. We have a choice of BB Providers, TV providers and Phone providers. Find one that you like and go with it.
'
People always moan about big companies and how thay are always having problems with them. If I had as many problems as alot of you seem yo have with ntl I would be rid of them im a flash - Same with my mobile o2 - they ****ed me about loads of time - forgot to send bills, cut me off etc.. so I left them and let them know why.
I like ntl, they have everything I want from TV, Phone and BB at a price I dont mind paying.
I have had a few problems, but they have been sorted quickly and efficiently.
I know people on here are passionate about these things and if people are having problems thats fine to tell the forum but remember its your persoanl experance.
Im not a big contrubitor to the forum I ike reading the forms as I like to hear things before alot of other people, but bitching for bitching sake is painfull to read. again this is my personal opinion and I have the option not to read and go somewere else.
I wont deny the proxies seem to have improved somewhat recently you are not wrong there, but I would expect the users on 150kbit upgrading to 300kbit will hit ntl harder then the top tier upgrade as they have so much more user's on the bottom package, maybe thats what it really is causing the delay.
Indeed, there are a lot of upgrades to get things ready - and I'm sure Leicester will benefit from these upgrades. ;)
I wont deny the proxies seem to have improved somewhat recently you are not wrong there, but I would expect the users on 150kbit upgrading to 300kbit will hit ntl harder then the top tier upgrade as they have so much more user's on the bottom package, maybe thats what it really is causing the delay.
That is an interesting point, we know new UBRs etc are being made due to 300k expected to be very popular. But I still think the 1mb to 1.5mb upgrade is the main problem here, it's taking NTL time and money to replace boxes.
arcamalpha2004
03-07-2004, 14:27
I dont want to sound nasty to everyone but why do people constantly moan when things change in thier favour.
If people are not ahppy why do they stick with the comapny. We have a choice of BB Providers, TV providers and Phone providers. Find one that you like and go with it.
'
People always moan about big companies and how thay are always having problems with them. If I had as many problems as alot of you seem yo have with ntl I would be rid of them im a flash - Same with my mobile o2 - they ****ed me about loads of time - forgot to send bills, cut me off etc.. so I left them and let them know why.
I like ntl, they have everything I want from TV, Phone and BB at a price I dont mind paying.
I have had a few problems, but they have been sorted quickly and efficiently.
I know people on here are passionate about these things and if people are having problems thats fine to tell the forum but remember its your persoanl experance.
Im not a big contrubitor to the forum I ike reading the forms as I like to hear things before alot of other people, but bitching for bitching sake is painfull to read. again this is my personal opinion and I have the option not to read and go somewere else.
Who is bitching Dave? tell me?
Why do we not have a forum then where every thread is about how brilliant NTL are? will that please you?
A forum is for a mixture of opinion, I don't call it " BITCHING" because NTL have boll67ed my phone line, I call it incompetent, and if I want to moan about it, given that I furnish their bloody bankrupt coffers with money each month I think I am entitled.
What I would like, is for the top brass of NTL to get their act together and sort out the gross incompetence that goes on in their company at times.
If a time comes that I find another provider I will leave NTL, but it does'nt mean that I and others are not allowed to " Bitch" as you put it.
Somebody mentioned earlier about transparent proxies being important to some?? Can somebody please explain to me what these are?
I belong to a torrent site that has a ratio system ...IE: you give back what you share.
Last night there seemed to be a problem with NTL users in that there were other users all on the same I.P and I think it was mentioned soemthing about NTL using these "Transparent Proxies" I could be wrong though.
The problem is that we all have individual accounts but alot are using the same I.P (I have 16 People on mine for example) This means that people can download things which may get stuck onto my account even though I have nothing to do with it.
This is the first time it has happened so must have been somehting that happend friday evening sometime??
Some people have had 4-5 FULL DVD-R downloaded on their accounts and with a pathetic 30KB/s upload this is alot to "Share" back....especially when you haven't even downloaded the damn things!!
The site coders are desparatly trying to sort the problem and have a couple of quick fixes at the moment but I was just wondering why now and what the hell it is all about?
P.S sorry to go off topic but I saw it mentioned and thought I would ask.
Tnx in advance
paulyoung666
03-07-2004, 16:21
sorry for coming into this thread late , i upgraded over the phone to 1mb the other day and i was quoted £34.99 / month for it , a mistake on their part or what :confused: :( :erm:
Well with Ntl it would cost them £9.50 but a suprisingly large number of people have broadband only and a mobile for all phonecalls.
I don't know about the experiences you or others have had but I've not had any problems with wrong DD amounts being taken from my Ntl account. Thats also what the DD guarantee is there for.
Its not the fact that you cant get your money back, I know all about the DD guarantee (I used to work for a bank) and I've had to use it on several occasions with Ntl, but its still a hassle to have to go down to the branch and show them that they have taken the wrong amount. :rolleyes:
As for people having mobile for calls then thats their prerogative, but I'd bet they are in the minority, most people I know have a home phone, therefore they will have to pay for it whether they are with NTL or BT!
Who is that with?
www.call18866.co.uk
:)
Edit - call 18866 is also available to Ntl customers now too ;)
Sorry to take this off topic again, but I find it really strange that I can now call a mobile in the USA for 1p per min but a weekday call to one here is 10p :disturbd:
Somebody mentioned earlier about transparent proxies being important to some?? Can somebody please explain to me what these are?
I belong to a torrent site that has a ratio system ...IE: you give back what you share.
Last night there seemed to be a problem with NTL users in that there were other users all on the same I.P and I think it was mentioned soemthing about NTL using these "Transparent Proxies" I could be wrong though.
The problem is that we all have individual accounts but alot are using the same I.P (I have 16 People on mine for example) This means that people can download things which may get stuck onto my account even though I have nothing to do with it.
This is the first time it has happened so must have been somehting that happend friday evening sometime??
Some people have had 4-5 FULL DVD-R downloaded on their accounts and with a pathetic 30KB/s upload this is alot to "Share" back....especially when you haven't even downloaded the damn things!!
The site coders are desparatly trying to sort the problem and have a couple of quick fixes at the moment but I was just wondering why now and what the hell it is all about?
P.S sorry to go off topic but I saw it mentioned and thought I would ask.
Tnx in advance
These sites can easily discover the TRUE ip of the user that is visiting, but they are lazy and cant be bothered... you pirate stuff (sorry if I assume wrong) but you get your just desserts.
If they coded a decent proxy/true ip detector then it wouldnt matter... unless it was a anonymous proxy which NTLs arent...
any1 have any idea when NTL will apply the price cut???
These sites can easily discover the TRUE ip of the user that is visiting, but they are lazy and cant be bothered... you pirate stuff (sorry if I assume wrong) but you get your just desserts.
If they coded a decent proxy/true ip detector then it wouldnt matter... unless it was a anonymous proxy which NTLs arent...
In other words you have no idea about an answer to my question??
And they are not lazy, they are the best there is. It is the most sought after torrent site anywhere and have the best coders there are. Already they have fixed the problem temporarily, within 1 day. It is only effectin NTL users which cannot account for many of the 80,000 capped userbase so how can you call them lazy when they put themselves out for maybe 2% of peeps??
Chrysalis
04-07-2004, 10:18
Earwig hjf288 is right the ntl proxies are not anonymous and its possible to get the user's real ip from the info sent to the server.
badnbusy
04-07-2004, 10:55
It is a few lines of PHP code to get your REAL IP, regardless of a transparent proxy.
<?php
if ($HTTP_SERVER_VARS["HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR"] != ""){ // is the user on a proxy?
$IP = $HTTP_SERVER_VARS["HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR"]; // grab his IP
$proxy = $HTTP_SERVER_VARS["REMOTE_ADDR"]; // grab his proxy
$proxyhost = @gethostbyaddr($HTTP_SERVER_VARS["REMOTE_ADDR"]); // grab the proxy host
$host = @gethostbyaddr($HTTP_SERVER_VARS["HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR"]); // grab the hostname
}
else
{
$IP = $HTTP_SERVER_VARS["REMOTE_ADDR"]; // user isn't on a proxy, grab his IP
$host = @gethostbyaddr($HTTP_SERVER_VARS["REMOTE_ADDR"]); // grab hostname
}
?>
Example: www.dslzoneuk.net/ip_checker.php
:)
Any chance we could keep this thread ON topic?
In other words you have no idea about an answer to my question??
And they are not lazy, they are the best there is. It is the most sought after torrent site anywhere and have the best coders there are. Already they have fixed the problem temporarily, within 1 day. It is only effectin NTL users which cannot account for many of the 80,000 capped userbase so how can you call them lazy when they put themselves out for maybe 2% of peeps??
Hang on, torrent sites Use Bit Torrent clients (or Clients based on it) to download files, these all can find your IP, i honestly dont see how/why you have a problem, unless if its not actually a Torrent site.... And anyway, finding your IP after a transparant cache is literally a few lines of code, similar to finding your IP through a normal cache, yet again, dont see how this can be so difficult to sort.
EDIT For Russ D : Ok I'll send us back on topic as well then, It's good to see that NTL are thinking of reducing price, before anyone gets thier hopes up, they still might not, But yet again, if a price cut is going to have a detrimental effect on serviices, Im not for it, if they can handle a price cut without a problem, then It raises the question of why they increased it in the first place....
Hang on, torrent sites Use Bit Torrent clients (or Clients based on it) to download files, these all can find your IP, i honestly dont see how/why you have a problem, unless if its not actually a Torrent site.... And anyway, finding your IP after a transparant cache is literally a few lines of code, similar to finding your IP through a normal cache, yet again, dont see how this can be so difficult to sort.
*ahem*
Any chance we could keep this thread ON topic?
:dunce: Check my edit, Sorry, I didnt read that far :P :dunce:
well at the moment NTL aint really strict with their 1gig cap
but if/when BT start their capping
NTL might be stricter with cap as their main competitor BT have a cap aswell
will NTL review their cap????
as with BTs 1mb line they get a average of 1gig/day limit
and by the time all these takes affect NTL 1mb should be running at 1.5mb
shouldnt they have a larger cap???
i want to know when NTL will apply the price cut if this is true
NTL always tries to be cheaper then BT
so its understandable that NTL cut their price on the 1mb/1.5mb line
but how much cheaper will the 1mb/1.5mb line be???
or so i say how much cheaper can NTL price it at the currect situation???
£35???
its still more expensive then BT 1mb line
people might say the line is gonna be 1.5mb soon so its still well priced
but its not if theres still the 1gig/day cap with NTL
£30??? its only £5 more expensive then the 600k/750k
and its gonna make the 600k/750k service badly priced
i know NTL at the moment aint strict with their cap
but its still there and people are still restricted by it
cause of afraid of going over too much
ian@huth
04-07-2004, 15:43
NTL customers aren't really bothered by the cap for two reasons.
1 The vast majority of them do not know that there is any suggested limit on their usage of the service
2 Most of the ones that do know of the suggested usage limit just ignore it and continue doing what they like with their connection.
There are two possible scenarios for NTL to enforce a cap.
1 Customers usage of the service impacts heavily on other users and the integrity of the systems.
2 NTL want to make more money out of customers by providing two levels of service on each tier, one capped, the other unlimited.
It could be that NTL reduce the prices, particularly on the 1 (1.5) Mb tier and strictly apply a cap whilst at the same time offering unlimited usage on each tier at a premium price. What you have to remember is that the vast majority of customers never get anywhere close to the current suggested usage limits and NTLs thinking about caps will be influenced by how the majority of customers use their connections and how many customers would breach or be near a cap.
paulyoung666
04-07-2004, 15:45
i reckon it would be interesting to see how many ppl habitually go over the limit every day :erm:
well at the moment NTL aint really strict with their 1gig cap
but if/when BT start their capping
NTL might be stricter with cap as their main competitor BT have a cap aswell
will NTL review their cap????
as with BTs 1mb line they get a average of 1gig/day limit
and by the time all these takes affect NTL 1mb should be running at 1.5mb
shouldnt they have a larger cap???
i want to know when NTL will apply the price cut if this is true
NTL always tries to be cheaper then BT
so its understandable that NTL cut their price on the 1mb/1.5mb line
but how much cheaper will the 1mb/1.5mb line be???
or so i say how much cheaper can NTL price it at the currect situation???
£35???
its still more expensive then BT 1mb line
people might say the line is gonna be 1.5mb soon so its still well priced
but its not if theres still the 1gig/day cap with NTL
£30??? its only £5 more expensive then the 600k/750k
and its gonna make the 600k/750k service badly priced
i know NTL at the moment aint strict with their cap
but its still there and people are still restricted by it
cause of afraid of going over too much
Its a tricky one for NTL. On one hand they're offering the higher speed connections (soon) but on the other hand, your still limited to the same amount per day/month.
Given that, NTL will proberly play the "its faster then BT" card as most regular users (yes, they do exist) are blind to this "1gig a day" cap. I doubt the price will change.
It raises the question of why they increased it in the first place....But the prise rise came after a price drop about a year before.........and still didn't take the price back to it's original level anyway :shrug:
they wanted to earn more money while still staying competitive with BT
which was untill BT annonuce the price cut
they didnt know beforehand BT was gonna slash a tenner off their 1mb connection
NTL have to respond to that
but still NTL price cut isnt official yet
Anyone for Bulldog (http://www.ispreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?id=EpllAFpukEshaMzHQo)? :shocked:UK ISP Bulldog is running a SPECIAL PROMOTION on its LLU based (London) 4Mbps broadband ADSL service. The first 3 months will cost just £20 inc. VAT per month, rising to £30 thereafter on a 12 month contract. Free connection.
.....and BT are upping the ante some more: Link (http://www.uk-bug.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=384)Users of BT Broadband's ADSL service can now upgrade to the ISPs SDSL service whilst still within term on their ADSL service, without fear of penalty fees.
Introduced on the 1st July (BT seemed to want to start this business quarter off with a bit of a bang it seems), customers will be entitled to a credit equal to the number of months remaining on their ADSL contract - upto a maximum of £540 (12 months at £45 per month).
Those wishing to take advantage of this, must have ordered SDSL from BT Broadband on, or after the 1st July, and must cancel their ADSL only after their new SDSL service has been activated. BT will continue to charge the 'early termination fee', but an amount equal to this will be credited towards the new SDSL account.
SDSL from BT costs from £170+VA T per month for a 500kbps service, through to £345+VA T per month for a 2Mbit service.
dont u sometime wish u are living at a differant part of the country
or maybe a differant country while u are at it ;)
DeadKenny
04-07-2004, 23:20
Well, this would be great news and a positive step by NTL for once, if they actually drop the price (it's only "under review" after all).
I said the price rise was stupid at the time, when all other broadband providers are competing with each other to drop prices.
The problem lies with one certain boss at NTL who said something along the lines of "we should penalise 1Mbps customers as they're bandwidth hoggers" (not the exact words, but something to that effect) :rolleyes:
Reminds me of IBM who said there'd only ever be a need for 4 computers in the world.
£38 was WAY too much for 1Mbps. It's too much for 1.5Mbps, especially when it's capped (yeah, we know it's theoretical, but it's still not strictly unlimited which is what broadband should be especially at these prices).
Personally I think there should be a 1Mbps service at £30, then 1.5Mbps at £35, 2Mbps at £40, and 3Mbps at £45. All 256kbps upstream minimum (512kbps upstream at 2 or 3Mbps would be nice though ;)).
Well, this would be great news and a positive step by NTL for once, if they actually drop the price (it's only "under review" after all).
I said the price rise was stupid at the time, when all other broadband providers are competing with each other to drop prices.
The problem lies with one certain boss at NTL who said something along the lines of "we should penalise 1Mbps customers as they're bandwidth hoggers" (not the exact words, but something to that effect) :rolleyes:
Reminds me of IBM who said there'd only ever be a need for 4 computers in the world.
£38 was WAY too much for 1Mbps. It's too much for 1.5Mbps, especially when it's capped (yeah, we know it's theoretical, but it's still not strictly unlimited which is what broadband should be especially at these prices).
Personally I think there should be a 1Mbps service at £30, then 1.5Mbps at £35, 2Mbps at £40, and 3Mbps at £45. All 256kbps upstream minimum (512kbps upstream at 2 or 3Mbps would be nice though ;)).
I agree with this, and will be showing NTL the door come september. Since I joined, they increased the price within the 12 month contract to £37.99 , which is my door out of rip-off-ville.
Hell, If I was NTL with the control and power over my own network, I would do more to differentiate myself within the market along time ago - this 50% speed increase should have been the case a year ago when ADSL started to make a threat!
Instead, they shave off a few £ off BT's equivalent and get away with it.
I personally cannot wait till Bulldog with C&W's support get LLU moving across this country! So far LLU in Central London has gone down very well. That'll show them...
Isn't this a bit of egg-on-face for ntl? Having already put the price of the 1MB service up, to now muse about lowering the price makes them look rather amateurish.
I don't think it takes an expert in the industry to predict that speeds will increase and costs will decrease over time.
Indeed it is - as i said at the time when the price was first increased.. they didnt do their homework, as BT had become one of the most expensive adsl providers in the uk and as such it wasnt going to be too long before they had to review thier prices. Infact even with their new prices, they are still higher than some adsl providers.
I wonder how many people, like myelf, actually downgraded to the 600k service when the price went up. I will certainly be going back to 1mb when the price comes back down :)
If ntl are clever enough, they will keep the 37.99 for the new 1.5mbit, and price the 1mbit @ £29.99, although even them prices will be forced down in the non to distant future....
DeadKenny
10-07-2004, 17:28
This just makes me sick. I've just read that PlusNet do uncapped 1Mbps for £29.99.
I checked and it seems it's true. You can even get capped 1Mbps (2GB per month) for £23.99, and capped 2Mbps (4GB per month) for £31.99 or uncapped 2Mbps for £39.99, plus variable cap sizes between depending on what you want to pay.
NTL, capped 1Mbps... £37.99
It's just a joke. Even dropped back to £35 a month, NTL is way overpriced.
:(
paulyoung666
10-07-2004, 17:38
This just makes me sick. I've just read that PlusNet do uncapped 1Mbps for £29.99.
I checked and it seems it's true. You can even get capped 1Mbps (2GB per month) for £23.99, and capped 2Mbps (4GB per month) for £31.99 or uncapped 2Mbps for £39.99, plus variable cap sizes between depending on what you want to pay.
NTL, capped 1Mbps... £37.99
It's just a joke. Even dropped back to £35 a month, NTL is way overpriced.
:(
which is fine if you can get adsl , i cannot , so therefore i am stuck with ntl , unless i got a satellite setup :(
Indeed it is - as i said at the time when the price was first increased.. they If ntl are clever enough, they will keep the 37.99 for the new 1.5mbit, and price the 1mbit @ £29.99, although even them prices will be forced down in the non to distant future....
There isn't going to be a 1 meg and a 1.5 meg service-the 1 meg service will become 1.5 meg following the speed increase.
scrotnig
10-07-2004, 21:38
I agree with this, and will be showing NTL the door come september. Since I joined, they increased the price within the 12 month contract to £37.99 , which is my door out of rip-off-ville.
Hell, If I was NTL with the control and power over my own network, I would do more to differentiate myself within the market along time ago - this 50% speed increase should have been the case a year ago when ADSL started to make a threat!
Instead, they shave off a few £ off BT's equivalent and get away with it.
I personally cannot wait till Bulldog with C&W's support get LLU moving across this country! So far LLU in Central London has gone down very well. That'll show them...
Forgive me if I misread your post, but if you're still going to be inside the 12 months contract in September, then you won't be able to use the price rise as a get out clause.
This clause states that you muct notify ntl within 30 days of the price rise taking effect, that you don't accept it and want out of your contract. After that, you're deemed to have accepted it.
arcamalpha2004
11-07-2004, 11:52
Just looked at my copy of the t&c's.
20.Cancellation rights.
20.i; If we increase our charges you may give us one month's notice to cancel those services in respect of which the charges have increased irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of those services has expired.During that notice period those increased charges will not apply to you.
So looking at the above, if I had purchased BB in january this year, because they have increased the price of BB in june this year, although it is only 6 months into the contract, I take it I can cancel?
Correct me if wrong, just my interpretation of the t&c's.
stingray
11-07-2004, 12:19
So looking at the above, if I had purchased BB in january this year, because they have increased the price of BB in june this year, although it is only 6 months into the contract, I take it I can cancel?
Correct me if wrong, just my interpretation of the t&c's.
That's what it says.
Forgive me if I misread your post, but if you're still going to be inside the 12 months contract in September, then you won't be able to use the price rise as a get out clause.
This clause states that you muct notify ntl within 30 days of the price rise taking effect, that you don't accept it and want out of your contract. After that, you're deemed to have accepted it.
I've had no written confirmation from NTL themselves. Even thou im aware of it. That should do it.
scrotnig
11-07-2004, 13:25
I've had no written confirmation from NTL themselves. Even thou im aware of it. That should do it.I can tell you now, it won't. Without a shadow of a doubt.
There was a 'window' in which early disconnections due to price rises could take place. That's long since passed, and I can virtually guarantee they won't let you do it. Sorry.
scrotnig
11-07-2004, 13:28
Just looked at my copy of the t&c's.
20.Cancellation rights.
20.i; If we increase our charges you may give us one month's notice to cancel those services in respect of which the charges have increased irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of those services has expired.During that notice period those increased charges will not apply to you.
So looking at the above, if I had purchased BB in january this year, because they have increased the price of BB in june this year, although it is only 6 months into the contract, I take it I can cancel?
Correct me if wrong, just my interpretation of the t&c's.
You are correct, however there is also a piece which makes it clear that there is a time limit on this get-out clause, you have to notify ntl in writing within a set period of the change taking places, I *think* it is 30 days. I will check next time I am in.
In all cases, that period has now expired and the company are not obliged to allow early disconnections as per that clause.
Also bear in mind that if your TV's gone up and you have all three services, you can only be allowed out of the TV part, not the others. In other words, they'll only release you from any parts of the service that have actually increased.
arcamalpha2004
11-07-2004, 13:48
I think the piece you refer to is:
20.ii; If we significantly reduce the content of the services you may terminate this agreement by giving us one months notice in writing within 30 days of such change irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of such services has expired.
What td444 is on about is the price increase, this is dealt with in 20.i this clause does not give any time deadline the notice must be produced by the cancelling customer.
I can tell you now, it won't. Without a shadow of a doubt.
There was a 'window' in which early disconnections due to price rises could take place. That's long since passed, and I can virtually guarantee they won't let you do it. Sorry.
Oh well, ill leave it on 150k whilst im at uni then :-) Only reason it needs disconnecting tbh.
I think the piece you refer to is:
20.ii; If we significantly reduce the content of the services you may terminate this agreement by giving us one months notice in writing within 30 days of such change irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of such services has expired.
What td444 is on about is the price increase, this is dealt with in 20.i this clause does not give any time deadline the notice must be produced by the cancelling customer.
Nice :-) that'll save my household a few pennies whilst at uni.
There isn't going to be a 1 meg and a 1.5 meg service-the 1 meg service will become 1.5 meg following the speed increase.
I know that nor did i say there was going to be 2 services, i merely suggested that if would be a good way forward for NTL... suggest u re-read
I know that nor did i say there was going to be 2 services, i merely suggested that if would be a good way forward for NTL... suggest u re-read
Ok, I will!
Indeed it is - as i said at the time when the price was first increased.. they If ntl are clever enough, they will keep the 37.99 for the new 1.5mbit, and price the 1mbit @ £29.99, although even them prices will be forced down in the non to distant future....
It still seems to me that you are suggesting a price point for 2 upcoming ntl BB tiers (1 meg & 1.5 meg), but either way I was just clarifying the situation regarding the suggestion that you made re the pricing of the '2' products. :)
Charlie_Bubble
11-07-2004, 19:10
I know that nor did i say there was going to be 2 services, i merely suggested that if would be a good way forward for NTL... suggest u re-read
Your post does imply there will be a 1meg and a 1.5 meg tier.
Graham F
11-07-2004, 19:23
I think the piece you refer to is:
20.ii; If we significantly reduce the content of the services you may terminate this agreement by giving us one months notice in writing within 30 days of such change irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of such services has expired.
What td444 is on about is the price increase, this is dealt with in 20.i this clause does not give any time deadline the notice must be produced by the cancelling customer.
:erm: I think you will find it does :)
20. Cancellation Rights
You may cancel the Services without penalty in the following circumstances:-
(i) if We increase our Charges You may cancel those Services in respect of which the Charges have increased by giving Us one month's notice in writing within 30 days of the earlier of:
(a) such price increase being notified to You under Condition 6.2; or
(b) the date of your first bill following such price increase, irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of those Services has expired. If You cancel Services under this Condition, the increased Charges relating to those Services will not apply to You
Taken form ntl Terms and Conditions (http://www.ntlhome.com/legals/residentialterms.html)
:wavey: good to see you back Neil :)
arcamalpha2004
12-07-2004, 10:12
Hiya scoob, I think you misread my post, 20.i of the t&c's, does not require the user to write in or contact them within 30 days of the price increase, where the " within 30 days of such change " comes in to it's own is in 20.ii, where this is in respect of NTL significantly reducing the content of the services.
Maybe, looking at my post again, it was partly my fault the way I put it across :o
Graham F
12-07-2004, 10:20
Hiya scoob, I think you misread my post, 20.i of the t&c's, does not require the user to write in or contact them within 30 days of the price increase, where the " within 30 days of such change " comes in to it's own is in 20.ii, where this is in respect of NTL significantly reducing the content of the services.
Maybe, looking at my post again, it was partly my fault the way I put it across :o
sorry, but 20.i of ntls t&c's does require you to give ntl one months notice within 30 days of any such increase.
If not can you please explain to me what the text in bold below means :)
if We increase our Charges You may cancel those Services in respect of which the Charges have increased by giving Us one month's notice in writing within 30 days of the earlier of:
arcamalpha2004
12-07-2004, 11:20
Hi scoob, maybe the 20.i of the ones you are looking at are not the same as the 20.i that I have in front of me.
" 20.i: If we increase our charges you may give us one month's notice to cancel those services in respect of which the charges have increased irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of those services has expired.During that notice period those increased charges will not apply to you."
If I could fax them to you scoob I would, but that is what it says in my t&c's.;)
P.S.......Maybe a point of interest, maybe not.
On the reverse page of the t&c's, it states, " Correct at time of going to print 09/02, which I would take as meaning september 02?
Just looked at the link you provided scoob, totally different to the t&c's I have here.
peacedude2k4
03-08-2004, 00:39
harpin back to first few pages
NTL have a nasty virsus
more money less service
UNTIL they sort this NTL will be the known ********* off the net. There e-mail lacks tehre service lacks and most of all there costs are higher i dont think my 1.5mb was free it was paid for by a extra £3.
NTL also have this stupid 1gb cap on there bandwith as far as I am concered write me a letter
I need things for bonfire this year :D
PC_Arcade
03-08-2004, 09:58
Is a price reduction on 1mb (soon to be 1.5mb) happening or not, this basically now is the difference between staying with NTL or not.
There's a lot of tumbleweed in the NTL PR department at the moment.......
Hell's Child
03-08-2004, 16:39
Is a price reduction on 1mb (soon to be 1.5mb) happening or not, this basically now is the difference between staying with NTL or not.
Simple answer is no I'm afraid. It is not on the cards either by the looks of things.
Fact of the matter is, the price was only increased some 4 months ago so I'd expect, unless something dramatic happens, you'd be looking at either Christmas this year or Easter next year before any changes are likley to happen.
Why not take the 750k @ £24.99 (or £20.00 for 12 months on special offer at the moment)??
peacedude2k4
03-08-2004, 17:01
Tempting to go for the 700k one but i am hooked on my 185kbs 1.5mb and £37 aint bad but i notice i seem to be only one in Rochdale not having connection troubles :angel: .
As for cost cutting would be nice to match BT instead of NTL now playing 2nd Fiddle to worse providers aint gonna make NTL any more new customers or tempt them from BT :rolleyes:
They need to come up with something and not just for new users perhaps a overall cost cut in a few month for the new/current 1mb users as other costs seem ok.
Tempting to go for the 700k one but i am hooked on my 185kbs 1.5mb and £37 aint bad but i notice i seem to be only one in Rochdale not having connection troubles :angel: .
As for cost cutting would be nice to match BT instead of NTL now playing 2nd Fiddle to worse providers aint gonna make NTL any more new customers or tempt them from BT :rolleyes:
They need to come up with something and not just for new users perhaps a overall cost cut in a few month for the new/current 1mb users as other costs seem ok.
Whilst I dont play down the effort made by NTL's staff to give everyone a boost, I still think its little too late.
It was quoted that they spent £1.5 million on the upgrades. NTL currently have 1.2 million customers. All of which are paying at least £17.99 a month (bar the few % discounted , small).
Now that ADSL has finally caught up, Plus.Net is offering 2mbit ADSL lines for £39.99 a month , with no limits. Before you complain about "lack of bandwidth", plus.net openly invite people to check ADSL usage.
I know where im going next Feburary :-)
Just wondering but in adsl areas where there is cable penetration aswell, does cable usually come out on tops?
peacedude2k4
03-08-2004, 17:38
It was quoted that they spent £1.5 million on the upgrades. NTL currently have 1.2 million customers. All of which are paying at least £17.99 a month (bar the few % discounted , small).
Now that ADSL has finally caught up, Plus.Net is offering 2mbit ADSL lines for £39.99 a month , with no limits. Before you complain about "lack of bandwidth", plus.net openly invite people to check ADSL usage.
I know where im going next Feburary :-)
Well they speant alot on there customers which is good but at end of day we are paying for the upgrade so it aint like they given us it with a high price for a capped system ( and that 1gb cap is pathetic ) and with networks such as plus.net which alot of people are talking about 2mb for £40 a month with no limits it is showing the way NTL needs to move, sadly being a big corporation it has the thing make money and sod the customer.
Awaits slating on above comment but prove me wrong we have a crap e-mail on ntl which hardly works, i am hearing loads of people are getting worse bandwith on there upgrades system cant cope with it, and some are still being randomly disconnected.
These kinda problems only used to belong to people such as BT and AOL now the tables are turning NTL needs to get some new top dogs who are not interested in making money and the thing of more quantity and less quality of service towards customers.
I hate to admit but once i find another ISP which offers uncapped broadband around 2mb upwards I will be off.
paulyoung666
03-08-2004, 17:42
Well they speant alot on there customers which is good but at end of day we are paying for the upgrade so it aint like they given us it with a high price for a capped system ( and that 1gb cap is pathetic ) and with networks such as plus.net which alot of people are talking about 2mb for £40 a month with no limits it is showing the way NTL needs to move, sadly being a big corporation it has the thing make money and sod the customer.
Awaits slating on above comment but prove me wrong we have a crap e-mail on ntl which hardly works, i am hearing loads of people are getting worse bandwith on there upgrades system cant cope with it, and some are still being randomly disconnected.
These kinda problems only used to belong to people such as BT and AOL now the tables are turning NTL needs to get some new top dogs who are not interested in making money and the thing of more quantity and less quality of service towards customers.
I hate to admit but once i find another ISP which offers uncapped broadband around 2mb upwards I will be off.
sorry my mate , but instead of bitching about it then why dont you just **** off somewhere else , can it be that hard to find what you want elsewhere , maybe it can or you would be gone into the wild blueyonder that is adsl :fit: :fit: , if you aint happy then vote with your wallet or purse whichever it is ;)
sorry mods in advance :(
ian@huth
03-08-2004, 17:47
It is alright seeing adverts for ADSL offering high speeds, but how many people can actually receive these speeds? A lot live too far from the exchange to even get 512k let alone 2Mb. With cable, if they offer 1.5Mb in your area you can get it.
It is alright seeing adverts for ADSL offering high speeds, but how many people can actually receive these speeds? A lot live too far from the exchange to even get 512k let alone 2Mb. With cable, if they offer 1.5Mb in your area you can get it.
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1787 :-)
My line does fall in the 2Mbit bracket.
peacedude2k4
03-08-2004, 18:32
Reason to voice my opinion is so NTL see what the customer thinks if all of us left for Blue Yonder for example NTL would die, they are a good company just seemingly lost there way recently and the customers who have enjoyed being on there cards just wish to have there say.
Play silent but thats how we loose companys and get ones like BT and AOL..
Your choice?
lol
:cool: :p:
besides u dont like how i work hit the red x in corner of your screen :D
Toodles
Well they speant alot on there customers which is good but at end of day we are paying for the upgrade so it aint like they given us it with a high price for a capped system ( and that 1gb cap is pathetic ) and with networks such as plus.net which alot of people are talking about 2mb for £40 a month with no limits it is showing the way NTL needs to move, sadly being a big corporation it has the thing make money and sod the customer. First, the cap isnt enforced that strictly (Or at all) and most ISPS will be capped by next year, count on it.
Secondly NTL cant afford to cut prices, in reality they are only just making an operating profit, and they have to keep the networks up, unlike ADSL providers (Bar BT) who get the network maintained for them basically.
Awaits slating on above comment but prove me wrong we have a crap e-mail on ntl which hardly works, i am hearing loads of people are getting worse bandwith on there upgrades system cant cope with it, and some are still being randomly disconnected. Most peoples E-Mail works fine, the ones on here mostly come after having issues, so theres a strongly disproportiante amount of people with problems. Also with the upgrades I bet most peoples are fine, you cant expect a major operation to have no problems though, and im sure they will be sorted.
These kinda problems only used to belong to people such as BT and AOL now the tables are turning NTL needs to get some new top dogs who are not interested in making money and the thing of more quantity and less quality of service towards customers. Maybe true, but whoever comes in (Telewest maybe) need to steady a very dodgy ship, and stop the leaks before they go down, then they can concentrate on customer service improvement
I hate to admit but once i find another ISP which offers uncapped broadband around 2mb upwards I will be off. Google it? use adslguide? its not that hard, Im personally On NTL or 56k here, but its easy to find ADSL providers, Just dont expetc the grass to be much greener on the other side, a lot expect too much, and get little.
peacedude2k4
03-08-2004, 22:03
Not going to argue with you,
Just look at Japan's internet, then look at ours...
Someone please explain where "service" has gone in this country to just money spinning.
End of topic
I must say that I am surprised that NTL have not cut their price to cut their broadband price to respond to BTs cut, by now.
I know they are justifying it by saying it's a 1.5MB connection but they are nearly £9 over the BT price now with no direct competitor.
I actually would be happy with a 1MB (256 up) but NTL do not do this. So do I hang on on the grounds that NTL must soon cut the price to align themselves with the rest of Europe or cut and run.....
I just can't justify £37.99 on internet per month. But I do want the 256 upload for gaming.
KevAmiga
27-09-2004, 16:21
Yeah im kinda hoping that. I doubt it tho.
/me is in the same boat as you Salu. It is a lot of money each month, when I'd be happy with 1Mb.
The thing with my situation is that if I drop my broadband completely, then I'd have to switch naturally to BT for a phoneline, which would also mean that I would also drop my TV package because I'm currently forced to take NTL's phoneline rental as part of the Cable TV Pack, which would be surplus to requirements as I'd be using the BT phoneline instead. Argh, this is starting to do my head in :dozey:
KevAmiga
27-09-2004, 16:31
Im currently on the 60 day free trial dunno im not going to keep 1.5mb, i think ill drop to 300k, or maybe 750k.
DeadKenny
27-09-2004, 18:03
I must say that I am surprised that NTL have not cut their price to cut their broadband price to respond to BTs cut, by now.
I know they are justifying it by saying it's a 1.5MB connection but they are nearly £9 over the BT price now with no direct competitor.
Besides there are ADSL providers such as PlusNet doing 2Mbps 'uncapped' for £1 more than NTL's 1.5Mbps (and if you want capped you can get it as cheap at £20), or even AOL(god forbid) doing 1Mbps uncapped for £30 !
i reckon it would be interesting to see how many ppl habitually go over the limit every day :erm:
I do have have been since the day it was introduced... Somtimes I do as much as 5GB/day. I'd say an average was probably about 2.5GB/day.
If NTL did start enforcing the cap, I'd leave them. Cancel my broadband, TV, phone - the whole lot. It's not really about speed for me, 512k ADSL would be okay (especially with 256k up). It's about the amount per day I can download. What's the point of having 1.5Mb if only means you can download a web page 0.001 seconds faster? My comp is on all day anyway...
My thoughts on this are that 750/128 is fine for the normal downloading etc but the 128 upload is painfully slow, updating my web site with files etc regular or sending a file to someone makes me what to upgrade again to 1.5mit jyst for the Upload speed. Like many people I also cannot justity the price jump when most of the time the connection is sitting idle which is why I was considering going across to ADSL you see - even 512service comes with 256 Upload.
I wonder how many people have downgraded to 750 from the 1.5 mbit package since the price rise? Not that NTL Are bothered really - fit more people on there UBR thingy bobby.
I downloaded from 1mb to 600k when the price rise was announced. In a few months though you will be able to transfer your BT land line number to gossiptel and have a voip phone saving 10.50 BT line rental a month. Gossiptel have no monthly mnimum for calls. You can also keep your phone number when you move house.
scrotnig
29-09-2004, 21:02
I downloaded from 1mb to 600k when the price rise was announced. In a few months though you will be able to transfer your BT land line number to gossiptel and have a voip phone saving 10.50 a BT line rental a month. Gossiptel have no monthly mnimum for calls. You can also keep your phone number when you move house.
VOIP is sadly not yet at the level where it can reliably replace a landline entirely. It'll probably get there though.
bigitup_j
29-09-2004, 21:32
yeah, the Quality of service can be very patchy and you can't call 999!
but ntl do plan to introduce VOIP toward the end of 2005, by then, i'm sure it'll have improved markedly.
:)
I call my friend in Estonia, who has a Texas voip number from Vonage and it sounds fine to me.
I hope they do reduce the price I've just upgraded again!!! (never learns!) - Wife was fed up of slow PCAnywhere connection to her office PC
ian@huth
29-09-2004, 22:59
VOIP is sadly not yet at the level where it can reliably replace a landline entirely. It'll probably get there though.
Will it ever get there?
VOIP depends on your ISP giving you a decent 24/7 connection so if they have a network problem resulting in loss of your connection you will need another method of making and receiving calls. You also have to hope that your electricity supplier doesn't have an outage too.
DrAwesome
29-09-2004, 23:18
I always look at the long term cost of BB (as it doesnt seem so much when broken down into 12 months).
If you subscribe to NTL 1.5 BB
you will have paid NTL by the end of the year £455.88 (£37.99 x 12)
For NTL 750k BB you will have paid NTL by the end of the year £299.88 (£24.99 x 12)
For NTL 300k BB you will have paid NTL by the end of the year £215.88 (£17.99 x 12)
(Ofcourse the totals will change as people upgrade & downgrade & subscribe to added packages, but its still alot of money especially when you multiply it by how many BB customers NTL have).
Loadsa money i wish i had had it in my bank account each year, even after some deductions they must be a tidy sum left over.
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