Be - When unlimited DSL isn't

IanFogg | February 24, 2006, 06:23 PM

New entrant in the UK ISP market Be, is attempting to make waves with its LLU-based 24 Mbps ADSL2+ service.

However, despite their main home product's name, Be Unlimited Home, it isn't, or at least not entirely.

My interest was piqued by the new BT-based line max services which will offer up to 8Mbps nationally. Most of the ISP's basing service on that BT wholesale offer will opt for some form of explicit or implicit usage limits, or deploy 'traffic shaping' to manage their costs. This is a result of the underlying charging structure that BT Wholesale have put in place.

The LLU ISPs, like Be, have more flexibility should they choose to use it.

Be correctly claim there is no explicit usage limit on their 'Be Unlimited' home range, so it is unlimited usage. However, there is 'traffic shaping', according to both their home and office product sales lines. I asked both what the difference is between their two products, as described on their web site:

Be Unlimited Home Up to 24 meg ultra-fast broadband, Up to 1.3 meg upload speeds, Unlimited usage, £24 monthly (paid quarterly), £24 connection fee, 24/7 support hotline.

Be Unlimited Office (just differences)
£75 monthly (excl. VAT), Priority helpline, Included static IP (a 4ukp a month option with the Home product).

All three calls confirmed that traffic prioritisation is in place on their network that gives the office connection superior performance. So, Be Unlimited home, has no hard limits but plenty of softer less obvious ones. Worse, for potential customers trying to choose an ISP, the traffic management is not mentioned on their site (that I could see).

Be is missing a trick by not differentiating their service more greatly from the BT-based 8Mbps line max services.

For consumers and others, traffic shaping and usage limits are making choosing an ISP considerably more complex. Internet content distributors need to be aware of the evolving market and lobbying to make sure that broadband penetration provides the platform they need to distribute video, audio and so forth. ISPs risk incurring the wrath of the UK's Advertising Standards Authority.

Be should tread more carefully with their product descriptions (and equally importantly their tier design) or they may not be here, or there, for much longer.