5 Hidden Truths Behind BT's Free Broadband Upgrade

(d) Data allowance and Traffic shaping will remain

BT has been caught throttling BBC's iPlayer and will still keep traffic shaping. In addition, many users have reported that it aggresively slows the speed of P2P or Bittorrent downloads. Furthermore, data caps - Option 1 has 10GB monthly usage and Option 2 20GB, will still be in place which to be fair are too low for normal usage. To put things in perspective, 3 Networks currently has £15 15GB mobile broadband dongle that may possibly be better (and cheaper) than BT's own Option 1 given that you can use it anywhere AND you don't need a BT phone line. As it stands, BT is woefully unprepared for the likes of BBC, Youtube and other bandwidth hungry applications.

(e) BT is still not the cheapest and is terribly late

BT's 12 month contract for Broadband Option 1 - which is the norm in the broadband market - will set you back a whopping £15.65 a month excluding line rental. This rises up to £24.46 for the Unlimited Option 3. ADSL2+ technology, which BT is introducing right now, was rolled out by Be Broadband five years ago which begs the question.

Why only now? Also, a quick look at BT's fiercest rivals shows that the incumbent telecommunication giant does not fare as well as it should. O2's Premium package costs only £14.68 per month with no throttling or traffic shaping. Carphone Warehouse is even cheaper and includes landline fees. Ironically, since BT will be upgrading exchanges under the WBC scheme, it is likely that BT's broadband competitors will soon be offering the same speed increases.

Other broadband providers, like BT have been upgrading customers for free. Virgin Media for one, has been moving all entry level users from their 2mbps to a more substantial 10mbps for free and as far as we can remember, without having to renew their contracts.