As the UK swiftly envelops itself in a sea of Unmetered and FreeCall campaigns, the versatility of those systems quickly comes into question. With the notable exception of 'SurfUnlimited', the majority of systems in existence now and due for the near future have cut off periods. This is the limit to which you are allowed to connect on any one FreeCall service before you are automatically kicked. For example, BT Internet has a 2hour kick, where after the allotted time has passed you quickly find yourself disconnected.

Such systems are growing in popularity and could be established on any ISP whatsoever no matter what system (SurfUnlimited / BTSurftime etc.) they might be using. Telewest recently came near taking such action when their 'SurfUnlimited' system almost buckled under the strain of so many users. However there are much wider implications for cut off times than you might think and it's these that you need to consider.

Surely limiting connection times helps?

The theory goes that if you kick a user off every two hours from an ISP that has a large database, then that will free up a line, which can be used by another customer. The realisation comes when you see just how small the effect cut off times actually have, sure you can get the users on-line but it's not likely to improve the service itself because somebody else will just end up logging in right after them.

So realistically you're only likely to use a cut off times if you're worried about engaged tones and aren't willing to spend the money on customers by adding more terminals. The USA had to deal with this a long time ago, these days you will find they have a near 1:1 ratio on most ISPs and that's the way it has to be. If you're going to add a 24/7 or lengthy FreeCall system to an already BIG ISP then you're also going to end up spending a lot of money adding and upgrading your system.

Cut off times are unlikely to affect the service itself and upgrading it should be the first priority. However once the service is upgraded then you might as well add more modems to make use of the added bandwidth or there's really not much point to improving things. So you suddenly see why cut off times make so little difference, only useful if you haven't yet upgraded your network, so what does that tell us?

How it affects people

Since most cut off periods are two hours or just less, do we really care since it's already a fair amount of time? The answer is quite simply, yes. Multiplayer games often exceed two hours and with modern day software it isn't uncommon to find files so large that you might need as much as a day to get them. True you could use software to help, but isn't that just tedious and unnecessary?

We believe that a well-planned and designed ISP shouldn't need to impose these restrictions upon their users. If they are planning to offer an Unmetered style system then they should be prepared with a service that can easily stand a near 1:1 ratio of use on at least a 12 out of 24 hour basis. However the reality is that an ISP is just another form of business and one that must try to find the best way to save money while providing a good quality service.

You tend to find that ISPs will upgrade their networks but a lot of them won't add extra terminals due to the cost imposed by such an action. After all, what's the point in spending loads on a network if it's only stretched in the late evenings and not the rest of the day while we are all at work? It's just another one of this nasty 'vicious circles', they that bite you no matter what you try to do.

One things for sure, it will likely be some while longer before ISPs realise just what the full cost of 24/7 Unmetered access can be all round be to their services. ISPreview hangs a serious shade of grey over the performance of ISPs based on limited commercial income by all but advertising, namely FREE ISPs or those that simply ask for a small one-of payment to cover the access. Commercial ISPs offering Unmetered access will end up winning in the long run, you'll see =)