UK ISP BT has today surprised many observers by announcing the removal of its Fair Usage Policy (FUP) controls from their Total Broadband (DSL) and Infinity (FTTC) internet access services. The move, which will allow "heavy user customers to download/stream as much as they wish", will start to take effect from April 2011.

To be clear, BT will remove the FUP controls currently applied to customers with "atypical" usage. Today 'atypical' users are restricted at 300GB usage and account for less than 0.5% of the BT customer base. BT claims that it will not target any individuals with restrictions based on usage levels.


However, it's important to stress that BT still has Traffic Management policies that will restrict certain applications or protocols, such as P2P, when the network is busy. That sounds like a bit of a contradiction.

It's further noted that charges will still apply for going over limits on BT Total Broadband Options 1 and Option 2 and BT Infinity Option 1 (fixed usage allowances), yet this traffic will apparently "not be managed".

BT clearly wants to head-off criticism from any future Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rules, which is currently completing its consultation on whether or not to ban "unlimited" promotions when used alongside an FUP.