To reduce confusion...
The pricing is not meant to confuse, but agree that is a little strange in comparison to the majority of competitors. Our packages have been designed so that you purchase the plan based on the data transfer cap, not the speed. Increasing ISP’s are orientating their packages towards ADSL Max, which may not always be suited to everyone’s lines.
We didn't want to see the death of traditional ADSL products from our portfolio as they seem to be just as popular as ever, and for some the only way they can guarantee a stable connection suited to their usage. You can pick any of our packages either on a 512k, 1mb, 2mb or upto 8mb at no additional cost. This is no different to BT Wholesale tail pricing afterall.
Any existing customers who were seen to be adversely affected by the changes in our policy were emailed with 1 months notice, explaining our reasons and options available to them. No additional charges were brought against users who couldn’t find a new home in time. This brought an end to the fair usage cap of 100Gb introduced in February this year. Much like the situation Zen faced earlier this year, it reached a point whereby such policies simply couldn’t continue. We allowed it to continue to honor our promises to long-term customers, but ultimately we had to make changes.
I should clarify ICUK's position with ADSL. We wish to position ourselves as a high quality broadband provider, and separate ourselves from the ever increasing number of resellers filling up the top 10 lists. We now operate the same philosophies with our hosting, Internet and telecommunication operations. All of which are sustainable and developed in-house.
We prefer to shy away from competing on price and the ever increasing number of catches and clauses. This is simply unsustainable, and ultimately leads to ISP’s disappearing or customers unhappy because a support team isn’t available due to the tiny margins not able to maintain one. We now wish to concentrate our efforts on low-bandwidth users who simply want an ISP to do want it says on the tin in terms of offering an always on, fast, and reliable connection with no hidden catches or clauses… backed up by a friendly team on the phone and email. We still cater for high bandwidth users, but on the the understanding there is no such thing as “unmetered” or a free lunch where ADSL is concerned.
In addition to changes for individual users we have also made substantial changes to our wholesale platform, designed for like minded resellers who wish to stand out from the plateau of Enta resellers that now seem to fill the top 10. We have changed the package in-line with our own, and have merged our sister company Red Telecom to feature under the ICUK umbrella. This now makes for a formidable portfolio.
Any existing customer who would like to know more details, please contact us in the normal way via email or phone.
We did have a press released planned for this, and our new reseller control panel, but have been pre-occupied with other developments. I guess this will have to do
Paul Barnett
ICUK
www.icukhosting.co.uk