4 on Demand, or 4oD is Channel 4′s new video on-demand service which allows viewers to catch up on the last seven days of programming on your TV or on your computer, and access archives of C4 shows such as the high-larious Peep Show, Green Wing, and Ugly Betty. Recently inked deals with third-party content providers such as the National Geographic Society and Arts Alliance Media means that an archive of additional content will also be available to viewers.
However, some ISPs have placed restrictions on the service, as it uses the same P2P software as illegal file sharing sites such as Limewire and BitTorrent. ISPs have limited user access to P2P sites in order to converse bandwidth, via traffic shaping, a procedure which severely reduces the speed of a connection – this practice is usually outlined the various fair usage policy.
The problem is that 4oD is a legal service, but as it uses the same technology as illegal file-sharing sites, service providers do not differentiate between this and an illegal P2P network, so any user trying to legally download content has their paid-for service throttled to borderline dial-up quality.
Weirdly, both BT and Virgin Media – who both broadcast 4oD’s services on their TV platforms – do not yet differentiate between 4oD’s online services and illegal sites. Users have been quick to criticise Channel 4 for using software which would be subject to restrictions, whilst others have hit out at providers who have adopted a one-size fits all approach. Video on demand is seen by many as being the future of TV, and with more ISPs providing TV alongside broadband, it seems counter-productive to restrict access to a mixed P2P/IPTV platform.
As the LLU surge shows no sign of abating in 2007, and more and more ISPs begin to offer customers cheap phone calls alongside Broadband services, BT have recently slashed the prices of their phone services and have announced plans to scrap existing pricing structures for their calls and introduce new better value for money long term contracts.
At the moment, BT’s Together Option 3, which offers unlimited phone calls, now costs £7.95 a month, down from £9.95.
When the line rental is included, this brings the total cost to £18.70 a month – bringing the price well below the unlimited phone packages offered by BT’s Broadband competitors; Virgin Media’s Size: XL package costs £20.95, whilst TalkTalk’s Talk3 plan is billed at £19.99 with line rental; only Tiscali‘s unlimited call package at £7.99 comes close in terms of price.
BT are also showing their concern for the planet/hopping on the green bandwagon/reducing the cost of internal admin (delete as appropriate) by offering to reduce their line rental by 25p for customers who choose to receive their bills via an environmentally friendly email as opposed to a planet-murdering paper bill.
However, the cost of daytime calls is set to increase by 25p a minute, and calls to certin numbers such as mobile will come with a connection charge of 6p, whereas before the charge was only 3p. Despite this, BT insist that customers will end up better off overall. Managing director of BT consumer services Gavin Patterson said the company had slashed prices by more than £1billion in the last decade:
“BT is listening to its customers. They’ve told us they want better value packages, and what could be better than getting all your calls to landlines for the price of a first class stamp each day?… [these] cuts show that we offer the best value for call packages.”
Net users in rural areas are becoming increasingly frustrated with being treated as ‘second class citizens’ by the majority of UK broadband ISPs. Many operators have begun charging extra for line rental for customers who do not live in an area covered by their LLU network.
As was mentioned in a previous blog entry, AOL and TalkTalk have introduced a two-tier pricing system, where those not living in an unbundled area having to fork out for more than the advertised asking price.
As of today, Tiscali will be adopting a similar scheme, which will see customers who sign up for the £19.99 8Mb Broadband and Phone package having to pay an additional £8.25 surcharge for monthly line rental – that’s an extra £99 a year per non-LLU customer for Tiscali. Now that the UK’s third largest broadband provider has adopted this so-called ‘LLU lottery’ policy, it seems that it may well become the standard pricing practice for unbundling ISPs.
The only ISP which continues to charge the same rate regardless of the address is BT – who have recently cut the cost of their call packages.
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