Bandwidth Savings Bank?

[#1]

I joined Plusnet on 7th February 2008, and opted for Option 3 @ 20GB/month which was closest to (but 10GB less than) my old Pipex contract.
Having just checked my usage, I find that I have only just breached the 1.1Gb mark. This does not surprise me in the least as the last ten days have been extremely untypical. Sheer pressure of (daytime) work has made spending time online in the evening particularly unattractive.
Given that excessive usage requires users to pay for additional bandwidth, why not have a scheme whereby unused bandwidth can either be 'sold back' to Plusnet, or better still, held in reserve to be used during heavier usage periods.
Ordinarily I would expect to use around 15Gb/month on average, sometimes more sometimes less. Rather than having to buy the odd extra Gb here and there in heavy usage months it would be so much easier to be able to dip into a bandwidth reserve. Think of it as an annual bandwidth allowance, but paid for monthly.
It's just a thought.

[#2]

Interesting idea; they'd probably have to rework the pricing though, as there's a balance between a fixed price with ceiling and unused capacity.
Also, see here and the follow-ups. An allied topic. http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,61027.msg495264.html#msg495264

[#3]

Indeed, as with most companies selling a specific "maximum" amount of anything, PlusNet make certain assumptions, to a certain extent, on the fact that not all customers will use the maximum amount allowed.  This is factored in when pricing and specifying the products.

[#4]

Good points from you both.
I appreciate that certain costs and for that matter gains, are factored in to the pricing structure. It's just the same in the business that I work for. Then again, the more flexible you can appear to be, the more attractive a business model you have to attract a broader spectrum of users.

[#5]

Hi Spruance,
As has been mentioned, we do make certain assumptions based on average usage on our products when costing them out.  These assumptions will include those that people will not always use their bandwidth allowance.  This means that we offer a slightly higher bandwidth allowance each month and if we were to allow you to carry bandwidth over from one month to another, it would mean that we would need to reduce the actual bandwidth allowance given.
Hope that makes sense

[#6]

I wrote about this topic in some detail here: http://community.plus.net/blog/2007/08/17/broadband-your-way-blueprint/#BBYW_product_design
I have to say though that I agree to a degree that a roll-over of bandwidth would make for a more compelling and flexible product. It's certainly something I will be happy to put into the pot when we discuss the next product refresh later in the year.
Ian