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Should broadband be charged on a sliding scale?

Based on whatever the 'up to' bit of your package says?

For example, if I'm on an 'up to' 8MBit package for £10 per month but can only get 2MBits due to my distance from the exchange, should I justifiably be able to pay just £2.50 per month?

Interested to hear people's views.

Should broadband fees be on a sliding scale based on the actual speeds you can get? 33 votes

Yes
45% 15 votes
No
54% 18 votes
«134

Comments

  • Lokolo
    Lokolo Posts: 20,861 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
    No because if you silly enough to go with broadband on a BT line where that happens then you deserve it.

    IMO anyway!

    O2 use a BT line and up the speed to make it ok.
    Other than that Virgin are good.


    Although I also do believe broadband should be at a set rate, not an upto rate!
  • ComplexP
    ComplexP Posts: 328 Forumite
    edited 30 October 2009 at 2:34PM
    But some people have no choice. It's either that or nothing.

    2MBits is perfectly usable but it seems unfair to have to pay exactly the same as someone living a few miles down the road who gets 7MBits on exactly the same package.

    Some of us don't have cable.
  • duchy
    duchy Posts: 19,511 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Xmas Saver!
    edited 30 October 2009 at 2:43PM
    In that situation I'd go to a company that offered a tiered rate like Sky (I currently get around 15 meg and am more than happy to pay their higher rate of £10 a month for that-if my local exchange only gave me 2 meg it'd be free anyway on my current package)
    I Would Rather Climb A Mountain Than Crawl Into A Hole

    MSE Florida wedding .....no problem
  • Lokolo
    Lokolo Posts: 20,861 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
    ComplexP wrote: »
    But some people have no choice. It's either that or nothing.

    2MBits is perfectly usable but it seems unfair to have to pay exactly the same as someone living a few miles down the road who gets 7MBits on exactly the same package.

    Some of us don't have cable.

    Read my edited reply.

    O2 use BT lines and they up the rate to what they say it will be.
  • KingL
    KingL Posts: 1,713 Forumite
    The question is moot because ISPs just don't have the billing systems to cope with it.

    As soon as you get into any price structures other than flat-rate you have to do metering and that has to comply with strict "accuracy" requirements (akin to the Trading Standards people checking out dodgy scales down the market under the Weights and Measures Act) and it would be just too much cost and hassle for the ISPs to implement and operate.

    It would just lead to an endless flood of expensive, time-comsuming "Yes you did", "No I didn't" arguments.

    If you can only get 2Mb where you are, then buy a 2Mb service.
  • ComplexP
    ComplexP Posts: 328 Forumite
    Duchy

    That's interesting as I've never looked at Sky. So if you have Sky Talk and can only get 2MBits on your line anyway you'd be best off on the 'Base' package where it's free but capped at 2MBits.

    I would be willing to bet that the base package gets quite heavily traffic shaped though. Still, worth keeping in mind.
  • ComplexP
    ComplexP Posts: 328 Forumite
    KingL wrote: »
    The question is moot because ISPs just don't have the billing systems to cope with it.

    As soon as you get into any price structures other than flat-rate you have to do metering and that has to comply with strict "accuracy" requirements (akin to the Trading Standards people checking out dodgy scales down the market under the Weights and Measures Act) and it would be just too much cost and hassle for the ISPs to implement and operate.

    It would just lead to an endless flood of expensive, time-comsuming "Yes you did", "No I didn't" arguments.

    If you can only get 2Mb where you are, then buy a 2Mb service.

    But those 2MBit services often come with usage restrictions and suffer at peak times of the day. I know they're cheap though.

    Besides, the question wasn't whether it can be done just whether people think it should. You obviously don't so fair enough.
  • ComplexP
    ComplexP Posts: 328 Forumite
    Lokolo wrote: »
    Read my edited reply.

    O2 use BT lines and they up the rate to what they say it will be.

    Sorry, how do they do this?
  • duchy
    duchy Posts: 19,511 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Xmas Saver!
    edited 30 October 2009 at 2:52PM
    Depends on your exchange-I do have <cough> first hand experience of this on a daily basis. Provided your not on what Sky call Connect then you should see a stable signel of just over 2 meg constant. Give Sky sales a ring and they'll test your line and tell you what is available to you without obligation. There are usage restrictions so depends on your downloading habits -although some people do pay the £10 even connecting at 2 meg to take advantage of the no capping on the Unlimited package.
    So unless you're on a Connect exchange you've lost your bet :)
    I Would Rather Climb A Mountain Than Crawl Into A Hole

    MSE Florida wedding .....no problem
  • KingL
    KingL Posts: 1,713 Forumite
    ComplexP wrote: »
    Besides, the question wasn't whether it can be done just whether people think it should. You obviously don't so fair enough.
    As a Money-Saving consumer, I would like to get as much product/service as I can for as little outlay as I can and not feel that I was getting ripped off in the way that you are. I imagine that just about everybody here feels the same way.
This discussion has been closed.
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