ISP Review takes a look at the diminishing trust in unmetered ISPs

Under the newer systems such as BTs SurfPort24 and WebPort24, a single 64Kbps bandwidth (not shared - one per connection) port would cost at least £200 per month. Typically the first ISPs were quick to adopt a £14.99 per month pricing policy based on the use of a 12-16:1 (users:modem) ratio.

On the other hand Oftels final FRIACO determination was more flexible and not devised around any particularly set structure. For reasons of competition most ISPs using it kept within a similar price range as those based on BTs technology.

Ultimately both systems were quickly lapped up by a starved industry, firstly by AOL UK, later Freeserve, BTInternet, Clara.net and many others.

Competition & Demand Crushes The Service

Unfortunately and especially so in recent months; ISPs have once again started to become victims of their own competitive nature. While the new systems should've heralded a new era in service stability, a fair portion of ISPs remain unable to get their services in proportion and we're partly to blame.

In an effort to corner the market many ISPs have been tempting fate by dropping below the £14.99 per month threshold, which many had already agreed to be cheap enough. Unfortunately we, the customers, are still far too quick off the mark when it comes to adopting these new found cut-price ISPs and that's no surprise given an overall human nature to find the cheapest deal.

When BigBlueSky first launched proclaiming to offer an economically viable £25 LIFETIME registration we flat out believed it impossible and said as much, yet people still subscribed and later complained when it changed prices and finally closed. So despite the obvious warnings, the majority of customers will ALWAYS go for the cheapest deal, which in the case of ISPs is a very bad move.

So can we be held responsible? Well no, not really, although that's certainly how service providers would prefer things to be seen.

In reality the responsibility for any service is held solely with the ISP itself and how it chooses to operate, whether that means cheating customers is irrelevant since there's no regulation in place to protect us. Quite simply, we're a commodity to be exploited at leisure.

The Damaged Industry Image

Unfortunately the previously mentioned problems are only just the start, providers such as 08002Go (suspended), BigBlueSky (dead) and Nutshell (suspended) and several others are causing a new kind of damage due to the way they communicate with customers.

[Print Page | Next Page (4)]>>