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Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

LiamM
Grafter
Posts: 5,636
Registered: ‎12-08-2007

Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

I note with interest the quote of John Petter, BT Retail Consumer MD and also Plusnet's Chairman - over on TBB :-
Quote
"We can't give the content providers a completely free ride and continue to give customers the [service] they want at the price they expect"
    John Petter, managing director of BT Retail's consumer business

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/3984-bt-suggests-a-charge-for-video-content.html
9 REPLIES 9
James
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

We've no plans at Plusnet at this point Liam.
SteveA
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Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

I was rather surprised at the outburst from BT.
It astounds me what we actually get for our money when it comes to the internet now. I remember paying by the minute on dial up so paying a flat rate for what we get now is remarkably cheap.
If people want to use Iplayer all the time (I've got cable so I can use it on there so its not really an issue for me) then they'll need more bandwidth. Now why should I, through my BBC licence fee, subsidise Joe Bloggs who can't be bothered getting a PVR system to watch his shows and decides to use iPlayer. Surely if he wants to use iPlayer at peak times and stress the infrastructure then he should pay more to his ISP.
James
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Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

I'm personally not.
Look how much streaming traffic has increased.  It's going to increase even more as it becomes more and more mainstream.  Especially with HD content.  Bandwidth needs will go up which means costs to the ISPs will also.
Someone has to pay for it.  But like I say, we don't have a stance at the moment and we certainly currently have no plans to increase prices.
LiamM
Grafter
Posts: 5,636
Registered: ‎12-08-2007

Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

Quote from: Jameseh
Look how much streaming traffic has increased.  It's going to increase even more as it becomes more and more mainstream.  Especially with HD content.  Bandwidth needs will go up which means costs to the ISPs will also.

That's why paying for what you use is the only fair and sustainable way to buy/sell broadband.  The rate at which streaming traffic was increasing was pertinently clear before the BBYW products were scrapped and Plusnet made the choice to slim margins right down and launch Unlimited.  And because Plusnet's previous stance was so anti-Unlimited and then suddenly Unlimited became sustainable  - there is simply no credible way 'you' could start charging people for streaming.
To be honest, it's a bit worrying that this is the general view of the man at the very very top of the board.
Be3G
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Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

Problem is though that the amount of usage is only half the story - the other half being when it's used. E.g. 10k customers x 10GB spread evenly throughout a month would be much cheaper for an ISP to sustain than 10k customers x 10GB all concentrated on a few peak periods (e.g. streaming HD iPlayer events that people want to watch... the 2012 Olympics for example). I suspect the only solution - short of drastic price decreases from BTW - is going to be starting to offer some products that rate-limit streaming as well as non-interactive protocols... in fact, I seem to recall reading recently that BT already do that to an extent (people were complaining about slow peak-time YouTube speeds).
scootie
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Registered: ‎03-11-2007

Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

yeah bt's option 1 has been limited to point were i think only the 512 or 800kbps streams work.
what was the technoligy called where they was talking of placing the iplayer content closer to the end user ie the exchange or a bit further away.
i rember a PN video awhile ago where they was talking about this. the ones where kelly an co interviewed some PN staff on topics
Be3G
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Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

Multicasting? I remember the BBC were running a trial of that a year or two ago.
LiamM
Grafter
Posts: 5,636
Registered: ‎12-08-2007

Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

The extension might be then, that offering free overnight usage, paid for usage between, say mid-day and mid-night... but with a different usage allowance / cost between 6pm - 9pm or something.
All in all though this just proves Unlimited isn't sustainable.  And if you're selling Unlimited how can you penalise customers who want to use their connection in whatever way they like?  Especially after you switched to Unlimited after having such a negative stance on how unsustainable Unlimited is for years beforehand!
jelv
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Re: Might we have to pay more to access YouTube / iPlayer etc... soon?

Check out the Plusnet Unlimited is not without limits link in my signature
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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