UK Unlimited Broadband to become a thing of the past

The BBC iPlayer has proved to be a real strain on Internet Service Provider networks and Plusnet, amongst others, has been very candid with regards to the fate of ISPs faced with growing costs and ever diminishing profit margins.

Now Neil Armstrong, marketing director of BT-owned PlusNet, is warning that the morning after the iPlayer binge could prove to be painful as many people have exceeded their download limits.

He also reckons that 2008 will be the year when ISPs selling unlimited broadband packages will have a reality check and so will their customers who will hit their "fair usage" download limit very soon.

Usage of IPTV services like Channel 4's 4OD and BBC's iPlayer are set to increase in 2008 and this could explain why bandwidth could became a scarcer resource this year.

However, others like D. Tomlinson on ZDnet point out that BT's rivals are busy upgrading their networkboth in terms of hardware and in connectivity.

Virgin Media are already preparing the launch of their 50mbps cable service, scheduled for later this year, while Sky looks set to expand its ADSL2+ offering fairly soon.

In related news, a survey by Uswitch points out that half of all broadband customers are unhappy with the service that they are currently receiving and the gap between the best and the worst service providers is widening. Tags: Digital Media, Internet, Web 2.0