FTTP connection. And future renewal options.

[#1]

Brief background.

I've an FTTP connection. I took out a contract with Plusnet at a certain speed (on FTTP). I now think I've overestimated my requirements. Bottom line - I'm paying for capacity I don't require.

Questions.

Will it be possible to haggle with COTs on a downgrade of grade when it comes to contract renewal? (My perception is that historically PN don't like "downgrades").

Are migrations to a new supplier based on the migration being at the same grading of line (i.e downgrade not permitted)? (Not a bridge I have crossed in the past, as FTTP and its provision is not old technology - for the average?)

[#2]

Moderator's note:
Thread moved from Everything Else to My Account/Billing

[#3 · Accepted solution]

@grumble 

Whether Plusnet or any other ISP want you to downgrade when you take out a new contract is irrelevant. Of course they will try to persuade you to go for the more expensive options, you just have to say no. The old contract is finished. This is a new start.

You are at liberty to take on a new one with any ISP, including Plusnet at any product speed that is available in their speed range at your ptoperty.

[#4]

@grumble - I`m pleased you raised this because it was something I pondered about myself having just re-contracted from FTTC to FTTP with Plusnet going from what I considered a reasonable speed of 38/40mbps up to a guaranteed speed on FTTP of 145mbps. Even though my re-contracted price is slightly lower than what I was paying for the lower speed on FTTC. 

As @Baldrick1 said though, it shouldn`t matter if we decide to downgrade to a lower speed again if current speeds are on the upper limits of what we feel we require for general browsing and everyday use. 

[#5]

@grumble 

You can do what you like at the end of your contract.

Before that however, you would likely have to pay to downgrade. You could phone PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 and ask.

Brian

[#6]

Thanks for the replies. It appears it may be something I may not have to worry about.

[#7]

@bmc - That`s interesting because if a customer see`s a new deal they are interested in due to it being that bit cheaper `mid-contract` with the same provider, but alas, the understanding is that might be at a cost for downgrading in speed, it means not being able to downgrade until your current contract is ended. 

My new contract for FF is for 145mbps. So I`m hoping my speed gets at least near that over the weeks ahead once things settle. I was happy to go for 74mbps but my OFCOM email near the end of my contract gave me the faster speed at a slightly lower price than I would have paid for the 74mbps, so I just took that. Seemed a no brainer. I wouldn`t have wanted anything faster than this anyhow, but I can see now that I will have to wait out my full contract before I need (or want) to go for a lower speed next time. That of course will depend on what offers are on the table at the time.

[#8]

@plusmouse 

While Plusnet's pricing is very variable at the lower speed end, there is generally only a few pounds between "Full Fibre 74" and "Full Fibre 145".

I got "Full Fibre 145" as an upgrade from FTTC 6 months ago and for me it's the "sweet spot" in speed terms as most devices can make reasonable use of the speed on WiFi and anything faster only really would be of benefit to the wired devices.

The pricing of different connection speeds on fibre has buckets of "marketing witchcraft" and very little science to it.

The only differential the general public see is "speed" and the understanding that a higher speed may not translate to a better Internet experience is poorly understood by most of the public.

In the real world, whatever you buy, the Openreach physical connection is the same and you share an available bandwidth of 2.4Gbits/s (down) or 1.2Gbits/s (up) with up to (perhaps) 64 reasonably close neighbours. The "speed" you buy is the cap on your peak demand and so the real impact of a different speed is when you demand large files (games, operating system upgrades and similar).

As the physical product is the same whatever speed you buy, the cost of provision is (to a first approximation), the same and so pricing between two different speed tiers doesn't change by much.

What FTTP has done is moved any cost of providing a faster service further down the chain.

Assuming (and that's what it is), that those who buy higher speed packages will consume more data, then there are higher costs for the network between a local "exchange" and the national points where Internet data is exchanged and in part that's what the higher cost of the fastest packages funds.

Hopefully that helps understanding of why pricing is as it is.

Plusnet would make no saving by downgrading your speed and that's (in part) why you can't make a saving by an in cotract downgrade.

P.S. I appreciate there are some gross simplifications in the above and I've ingnored the Openreach/Plusnet pricing element in the text but I don't think that omission alters the basic argument.