Why is this legal?

[frispajosw]

Can someone from BT explain to me why it is lawful for BT to charge me the same for a 0.5Mbps service as people 6 miles down the road who receive 8Mbps?

Our exchange is artificially speed-restricted to 0.5Mb as part of the Scottish Government/BT's 2005 Exchange Activate scheme that was rolled out in 2005. This scheme effectively gave BT a monopoly over providing a broadband service.

There is therefore no commercial pressure payday loans no credit check on BT to provide a faster/better service.

At a recent local residents meeting, the broadband service/speed was the most voted for area of concern.

I would like to know:

1. How long does BT's monopoly last for (now 5 years+)

2. What plans are in place to upgrade the Exchange Activate exchanges?

3. Why are BT allowed to charge us the same amount for this restricted service as people who receive 16 times the bandwidth?

[frispajosw]

Can someone from BT explain to me why it is lawful for BT to charge me the same for a 0.5Mbps service as people 6 miles down the road who receive 8Mbps?

Our exchange is artificially speed-restricted to 0.5Mb as part of the Scottish Government/BT's 2005 Exchange Activate scheme that was rolled out in 2005. This scheme effectively gave BT a monopoly over providing a broadband service.

There is therefore no commercial pressure payday loans no credit check on BT to provide a faster/better service.

At a recent local residents meeting, the broadband service/speed was the most voted for area of concern.

I would like to know:

1. How long does BT's monopoly last for (now 5 years+)

2. What plans are in place to upgrade the Exchange Activate exchanges?

3. Why are BT allowed to charge us the same amount for this restricted service as people who receive 16 times the bandwidth?

[Seraphsailor]

Seems like this could be a question for your SMP?

You could research BT's Code of Practice for appropriate contact information. If this doesn't work then finding the names/emails of BT Directors and Executives on the web is straightforward

http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15307/c/ 

then

Still not working?

• To report a Broadband fault contact us

[a-hill]

(This is my own personal opinion)

All ISP's charge for DSL access this way, it's a blanket pay grade regardless of speed on your "up to 8mb" service, do you believe this will change if someone decides to install their own equipment in the exchange? Do you know of other ISP's that have a sliding charge per speed you receive? And by 'per speed', i mean on a single service. You will be on 'Up to 8mb' getting 0.5mb, and those down the road will also be on 'Up to 8mb' and getting 6mb... so effectively the same service on different speeds.

I get where you're coming from, but this isn't just a BT thing, it's a standard across all ISP's including those in other countries. The technology is what's causing your slow speed, cost of upgrade is holding back your exchange and the work required for getting a 6mb running and maintained is exactly the same as getting a 0.5mb line running and maintained.

[Plumly]

just to add to the above? 

What plans are in place to upgrade the Exchange Activate exchanges?

BT is spending Millions on upgrading the network to

ADSL2+ *Up to 20MB

FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet)

FTTP (Fibre to the Premisis)

even though with these in place there will be speed changes depending on Quality of the line and Distance from the Exchange/Cabinet

Broadband Speed has been debated across Multiple platform including the goverment, and plans are in place to try and offer better service to all of the UK, but this will take time,

[MHC]

To add to a-hill's comment.    It actually costs MORE to manage a line that is only capable of providing low speeds as te customer will spend longer on the phone when there is a problem and if a technician visists they are likely to spend longer getting service working.

You pay line rental for the voice side at the same rate as someone next to teh exchange - as you might have an extra 5 miles of copper cable to provide that, are you prepared to pay a premium at the start of service for the extra capital cost?   Or the cost of digging te trenches and laying ducts?  Or the extra costs for all teh extra visits to repair the line?

As for the monopoly question ... there is nothing to stop "frispajosw telecoms"   from applying for a licence and installing their own poles, ducts, cables, exchanges and if you want a Technical Director let me know!     

[mithcd]

Hi frisp. I believe ISPs have their logical reason on why they charge customers. We might not know on how your area is situated from the CO. There are also costs used in calculation and probably the reason why you were charged this way.