Residential Refresh 2014 FAQ

[#1]

@ado16 Yes try them and you will get link:censored
adie:red avoidance of swear filter removed.]

[#2]

Quote from: Ado16

<snip> Hmmmm. Primus is looking rather attractive...... #justsaying

Ahrrr!! the company that is associated with reps that do not carry paperwork pertaining to their company
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,126669.msg1100552.html#msg1100552
The grass may look greener, however (is it artificial grass, you could be eyeing up) ?

[#3]

I thought that might be the case.    BUT "Forewarned is forearmed" as the saying goes - and maybe a monthly email with your bill reminder containing the latest news - wouldn't go amiss?  After all - who remembers the  glossy little leaflet that fell out of your BT Bill in the days before we could choose?  Telling us all the latest information? 
Thanks folks!

[#4]

Hmm, it was nothing of the kind Adie, but whatever makes you feel like your important crack on with pal

[#5]

Quote from: I

Where one leads , every one else follows , which is very true of PN these days, regarding line rental. As we all know the increase of LR is just away to subsidise broadband cost, whilst keeping the headline price artificially low.

Excellent point. With Sky literally giving it away not surprising PN and others are forced to do this.

[#6]

Plusnet - you appear to be using the supplement on 'high cost areas' to subsidise selling 40Mb/20Mb below cost elsewhere.
Before it hits your network it costs, list price, 19.20/month for the 80Mb/20Mb product you base your 40Mb/20Mb service on, however you are selling it outside of high cost areas for 17.49 and 24.99 in high cost areas.
Given the proportion of lines in 'high cost areas' relative to those outside of those areas I'm not sure how the maths works on this unless you are taking a loss across the customer cohort, not to mention that I'm not factoring in things like, well, every Plusnet cost of servicing a customer from bandwidth in and out of the network right through to support.
Running on fine margins indeed!

[#7]

On the low cost areas you have no idea what the cost actually is
You are quoting list prices.
The "low cost" areas are those where OFCOM isn't dictating the price so Plusnet can and do negotiate a much better deal with BT Openreach and/or BT Wholesale

[#8]

Actually Jim Ofcom don't regulate the FTTC price BT Wholesale charge and the price is non-geographic in any event. I also specifically mentioned 'list price'.
Plusnet don't negotiate pricing with Openreach on FTTC as they don't use GEA.
Re-read, or perhaps read, what the market classifications actually mean. It's not what you think it is given the above post.
adie:quote

[#9]

Agreed however Plusnet can still negotiate prices and the question is therefore are BT Openreach or Wholesale more flexible in Market B exchanges because there is more competition and as there is a significant difference in the effective ADSL prices between Market A and B there is clearly very little incentive for them to offer significant reductions on fibre in those exchanges
As a simple example
ADSL
"With a contract: If you live in a low cost area it costs £12.49 a month, if you live outside one of these areas it costs £19.99 a month"
Fibre 40/20
"If you live in a low cost area it costs £17.49 a month, if you live outside one of these areas it costs £24.99 a month"
So if they managed to get the same pricing from BT on Market A as Market B on fibre then it would be cheaper than ADSL
There is absolutely no way that BT would agree to that

[#10]

Jim,
If high cost areas aren't subsidising low cost that implies that low cost are coming into Plusnet towers at 7.50/month less than higher cost, this being the price difference between the two.
Take 7.50 from the cost of the FTTC product Plusnet are consuming and you end up with a lower charge than the Openreach price.
Another can of worms.
Regardless the big question is whether or not a reasonably efficient operator can match this. Given it's standalone, no line rental subsidising it, it's open to question.

[#11]

But you don't know what Plusnet have actually negotiated so you have no basis for your statement
The fact is that they can probably negotiate a discount on the listed prices for Market A as well as Market B but at a lower level

[#12]

I know the price Wholesale pay Openreach is 10GBP + VAT per customer. That's the basis for the statement. I struggle to see how a 'reasonably efficient operator' could run a fully functional, unlimited service from exchange to Internet at 40Mb for 5.50GBP/month.
I also originally queried 'high cost' subsidising 'low cost'. The only way to separate the costs between the two by the required 7.50/month to disprove this is for Wholesale to be selling to Plusnet below cost.

[#13]

I'm a bit confused - so I see here there is a new £14.99 "up to 38Mb" Fibre unlimited - but if I log in to the portal and say "change my product" all I get is the option to keep my £19.99 unlimited package?

[#14]

....presumably because your distribution cabinet has not yet been upgraded to be fibre capable
So you have not got that option.

[#15]

Quote from: Lorian

I'm a bit confused - so I see here there is a new £14.99 "up to 38Mb" Fibre unlimited - but if I log in to the portal and say "change my product" all I get is the option to keep my £19.99 unlimited package?

I saw a staff post somewhere saying you had to call in to make that change.  Mine was exactly the same so I called in and am changing to the new 40/20 unlimited from 80/20 at the end of this week.