The Register - 0870 Rip Off Realised

BT cuts 0870 charges

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'Rip-off' numbers go free

By Chris Williams • Get more from this author

Posted in Telecoms, 8th January 2009 13:07 GMT

Free whitepaper: calculating the costs of Internet downtime

BT has today cut the cost of calling 0845 and 0870 to zero for many of its customers, following a consumer campaign against companies profiting from premium rate lines.

Subscribers to BT's Anytime package will get free 0845 and 0870 calls at all times, while Evening and Weekend customers' calls will be free after 6pm Monday-Friday, and all weekend.

BT said the changes would cost it "tens of millions" of pounds, but had decided "to give customers what they want".

The perceived unfairness of premium rate 0845 and 0870 numbers has been a target for consumer groups. The campaigning website Saynoto0870.com has led opposition by publishing lists of cheaper geographical numbers for organisations that use 0845 and 0870.

BT consumer MD John Petter said: "All of our 14 million calls customers have free calls included in their package and now all 14 million have free calls to 0870 and 0845 at times that fit with their calling plan, which is something not offered by any of our competitors."

Virgin Media had no comment to make today.

Use of 0845 and 0870 by government bodies has attracted special criticism from campaigners. In response, the Department of Health is currently reviewing whether services such as NHS Direct should be allowed to effectively charge people to call. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/08/bt_premium_cuts/

The Register - Download Speed Scam

Deception of 'up to' broadband speeds exposed

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Ofcom reveals true download speeds

By Chris Williams • Get more from this author

Posted in Data Networking, 8th January 2009 14:45 GMT

Free whitepaper: The Next Generation Personal Compute model

The average downstream broadband speed received by consumers is just 3.6Mbit/s, according to data released today from the most accurate UK internet access survey ever published.

Ofcom's new hardware-based broadband monitoring system found that despite the fact more than 60 per cent are subscribed to "up to" 8Mbit/s packages, on average the top speed ever achieved was only 4.3Mbit/s.

One in five receives less than 2Mbit/s. It's thought that the government's forthcoming Carter review will recommend a requirement that the communications industry offers at least 2Mbit/s to all part of the country. Ofcom said today that on average, urban internet users' connections are 15 per cent faster than those of their rural counterparts.

Across the UK connections were slowest between 5pm and 6pm on Sundays, when network load is highest.

The data was produced in partnership with the ISP industry analyst house Samknows, which deployed special speed reporting kit to about 1,500 homes. Until now, virtually all measures of broadband performance available to consumers have come from flawed web-based test software.

The survey is part of a bid by Ofcom to improve consumer confidence in internet providers by encouraging transparency. A voluntary code of practice, which came into force in December, requires signatory ISPs to provide an estimate of the real top speed potential subscribers can expect to receive (based on factors such as the distance of their home from the local exchange) as well as the "up to" headline maximum.

The monitoring network showed that on average, consumers get 45 per cent of the advertised headline speed.

Speed gripes were the most common cause of dissatisfaction in market research carried out for Ofcom alongside the technical survey. Only two thirds were satisfied by how their internet connection performed while watching web video, for example.

The full survey report is here (pdf)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/08/ofcom_speed_survey/