By: MarkJ - 14 April, 2009 (8:55 AM) - Score: 1969 - Fixed Line Broadband

The results from last month’s survey reveal that the vast majority of readers (74.8%) have never been warned by a broadband ISP about their usage (bandwidth / data) consumption. It also found that nearly half (45.4%) would switch ISP if they received such a warning from their provider and a further 41.1% would at least consider switching.


Broadband has allowed people to do a lot more with their online time than ever before. However consumers need to remain mindful of any limits imposed by their ISP, especially where specific usage allowances or a vague Fair Usage Policy (FUP) has been applied. Failing to do so could land you in hot water with your provider and potentially result in a service restriction or added costs.

ISPs are at least partly to blame for such situations, with some of the largest providers - Tiscali and Virgin Media - continuing to promote their broadband products with wording like 'unlimited downloads'. Broadband is a best efforts (shared) service that rarely plays well when an 'all you can eat' mentality is encouraged. Some will also employ traffic management policies in the small print, which aside from sometimes being hard to find, can also confuse unfamiliar users.

This month’s survey asks for opinions on your current ISPs customer support quality, specifically its email, telephone and webpage help services.