Christmas is coming early to Plusnet

[#1]

Christmas is coming early this year at Plusnet as next week we look to bring a bit of festive cheer to the party by launching a brand new portfolio of broadband products. That's not all though. The revamp will also see considerable improvements made to the overall look of our website, sales and sign-up journeys. Want to find out more? Then carry on reading ...

Truly Unlimited

On Wednesday 19th December, we'll be launching truly unlimited broadband. That's the same great value fibre and ADSL services you've come to expect without any download limits or fair usage policy. Just in time for Christmas 😉 Plusnet Unlimited will offer 'up to 16Mbps' speeds and unlimited usage with no throttling/speed limits from as little as £9.99/mnth. Prices for the 'up to 76Mbps' fibre equivalent will start from £19.99/mnth. For the less data hungry of you out there, we'll be retiring our current Value packages and replacing them with Plusnet Essentials and Essentials Fibre. With peak-time usage allowances of 10GB and 40GB respectively, prices start from just £5.99/mnth.

Award winning service

These changes ensure Plusnet remains one of the most competitive broadband providers in the market.  Not only this but Plusnet is Which? recommended and offers award winning, free phone, 24/7 UK customer support.

Hot gadgets

Highlighted by the rise of broadband enabled tech gadgets on Christmas lists this year, the demand for the internet is growing. It is predicted that UK consumers will spend up to £504 million on games consoles this Christmas all of which are broadband enabled. Smart TVs are also high on the agenda with over half (55%) of Brits connecting their TVs to their home broadband, with sales hitting £2.5 billion by Christmas.

Increased demand

Online streaming increased by 65% across our network over the past year, proving that more and more people are coming to depend on Internet-enabled devices for the consumption of rich media like catch-up TV and the latest blockbusters. Jamie Ford, our CEO said:

“We pride ourselves on offering value for money products, with a first class service. As new broadband-enabled devices continue to hit the market, we felt now was the right time to launch truly unlimited broadband products. “Customers’ internet habits have changed considerably over the last 12 months. People are using more bandwidth and services that demand faster speeds but at the same time, we know some people still want a broadband supply for limited day-to-day use at the best price point possible. We believe that our new Essentials and Unlimited products meet either demand.”

Listening to feedback

We recently surveyed a number of customers who helped trial our 76mbps Extra Fibre service prior to its launch http://community.plus.net/blog/2012/08/14/superfast-plusnet-fibre-gets-even-faster/ There were some interesting results, some of which include: o    90% said increased usage would make them recommend this product o    51% of triallists use the internet more as a result of up to 76Mb/s Fibre o    45% of triallists use their broadband connection more than five hours a day with up to 76Mb/s Fibre

Tell me more already!

Further details will be available on Wednesday morning when our new look website launches. In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions you may have over on the Community Site forums. The new products will be available from the 19th and existing customers will be able to upgrade via our website. What are you hoping to see from the new products or are you already happy with the product you're using? Let us know by leaving a comment below ...

[#2]

Hope that in the light of this change your marketing section can offer many more graphic banners for customers to use on websites. In the past you had at least 6 (various shapes, various benefits) but now seem to assume that Facebook and Twitter are more important, so only have a single banner about getting a free wireless router when you sign up for broadband at £6.49/month. You should at the very least have two for broadband and two for fibre to cover the 'Essentials' and the 'Unlimited' options at each speed. I look forward to seeing them in time for Christmas!!

[#3]

I don't think there are plans to increase the number of referral banners but I'll certainly relay your feedback to the relevant department.

[#4]

I'm upset because I just upgraded to Premium @ £15.99, I wish I had left it a couple of weeks now!

[#5]

Account changes are scheduled for the next billing date anyway so it may not have made a difference.

[#6]

Is this a price increase?

[#7]

Price increase? No, it's a new set of products that will replace the existing ones next week. Existing customers will remain on their current product unless they request a move to one of the new ones.

[#8]

What about people that has signed up to the Fibre Extra service (at the 250GB usage) and have still got their Fibre Set to come. Will I be on the 250GB usage for the 18 month contract?

[#9]

If you've an in flight upgrade then you're likely to be moved to the current 250GB product. You can request that you're shifted to the newer product when everything's up and running.

[#10]

This is really great news. I'm currently on Premium with 120GB but was struggling to stay inside this limit. Really pleased about this announcement.

[#11]

So basically I'll have the 250GB usage for a month, and then I'll have unlimited?

[#12]

@Timalay, yes that's right.

[#13]

I've been on the 250GB product since October. How much more will it cost to go unlimited? Apart from being unlimited ( I don't use anything like my allowance ) will there be any other reason or advantage in upgrading? By the way, since I joined PN back in June, I've been delighted by your product, customer service & excellent technical support. It's very important for an old geezer like myself! Thanks to you all. Nick

[#14]

Peer-to-peer and Usnenet traffic is rate limited between 8pm and 10pm each evening on your current product. It isn't on Unlimited. That and the usage allowance are the only significant differences really.

[#15]

About time Plus.Net offered unlimited broadband. Recently we've seen an increase in internet speed here in Ludlow (has our exchange been upgraded to ADSL2 or something?), but now with increased speed we can't use it 'cos we kept nearly hitting the 60Gb limit. Was actually considering switching to TalkTalk with their unlimited offer which would have been cheaper than keep paying the extra, but as your offering unlimited now might stick with Plus.net (as long as this "unlimited" isn't a fake "unlimited" as many other companies keep offering - I'm a bit dubious about the "FROM" bit in the £9.99 sentence).

[#16]

I bet you won't offer me that price Bob!

[#17]

The 'from' bit depends on what market area you're in Darren and the contractual term. This table shows you what's what - http://community.plus.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/falcon_pricing1.png @Anotherone, I'm guessing you're one of the unfortunate ones in a Market 1 area?

[#18]

Yep, very unfortunate

[#19]

Bob, if usenet and peer to peer are unrestricted, which would be the cheapest option for me? Im currently on the 250gb package with the pro addon so assuming p2p and usenet is unrestricted, the addon would be redundant? Would my current or the new one be cheaper?

[#20]

Hello Bob/Plusnet. In order to get the unlimited BB Fibre, do i need the phoneline aswell? What will the total price? Is there going to be any traffic shaping/traffic management on this package? The contracts are 12 month correct?

[#21]

Well all I can say is Thank You - I will be switching as soon as I can. Well done

[#22]

Eddie, it's going to be cheaper if you switch and drop the Pro add-on. @Very Anonymous, you need a phone line but it doesn't have to be through us. If you're new to Plusnet though then the activation/set-up fees are going to be considerably less if you move your phone service to us. Fibre accounts have 18 month contracts.

[#23]

"With peak-time usage allowances of 10GB and 40GB respectively" should that not be 10GB and 60GB ?

[#24]

No, the peak-time allowance on the new Essentials Fibre package is 40GB.

[#25]

I remember the original Plusnet Unlimited product and the (mild) furore on the forums that was caused by the fact it wasn't actually unlimited at all thanks to some strict rate limiting on various protocols. It's therefore slightly amusing, but also ultimately pleasing, to see this new one denoted as being ‘truly unlimited’. Sounds like the most exciting product shake-up for years!

[#26]

Actually, scrap that, I think I misread this announcement… re-reading it it doesn't actually say anything about onerous-or-otherwise traffic management. Hmm. I shall await further details on Wednesday with interest.

[#27]

@Be3G, you'll find most of that info over on the Community Site forums.

[#28]

I assume the dedicated IP I have would be removed if I remove the Pro-addon, I guess that's the only real benefit of the Pro-addon now the dedicated IP?

[#29]

Shouldn't be. Static IP assignment is completely separate to the Pro add-on.

[#30]

Ok Thanks, so if I remove the pro-addon - I will keep my static IP? I couldn't order the IP without the pro-addon so thought they were linked somehow.

[#31]

Odd, they should be completely independent of each other. If your IP is lost (I can't see how it would be) then I'll happily reassign another.

[#32]

Any plans to include free wifi for when we are out and about? Like BT Openzone?

[#33]

Nothing in the immediate pipeline Darren.

[#34]

When are the markets going to be refreshed? I am a little upset that my exchange has met the criteria for a Market 2 now for more than 18 months, but is still recorded and charged as a Market 1. This makes those of us getting higher prices quite frustrated! It wouldn't be so bad if the buck wasn't constantly passed on the subject!

[#35]

Is there a reason the question of mine about traffic shaping/management was not answered? This could be the deciding factor to be honest on going for the full package or not...

[#36]

I transferred from Vodafone, and got what's called Extra on ADSL with a 60GB limit. Can you please tell me whether this will change, and if the price will go up? I would also like to know whether FTTC will be available from the Edinburgh Wester Hailes exchange? If so, when? Regards, George

[#37]

@paxy, the classification of your exchange falls under Ofcom's domain. It's been a while since any were changed and if I'm honest I'm not sure when the next refresh is due. @Very anonymous, I've answered the question about traffic management elsewhere. To summarise, no rate limits will be applied on Unlimited, and excluding congestion outside of our network, internet activites will run at line speed throughout the day. Have a look at the lengthy thread on our discussion forums for more info - http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,109981.0.html @G S Gordon, your package is not changing and neither is your price increasing. You're welcome to move to one of the new products when they're launched though. Doe the BT Wholesale Availability Checker give you a date for FTTC? - http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome If it doesn't then there's nothing more I can advise you I'm afraid.

[#38]

Thanks Bob, The BT checker you mention says "Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 31st March 2013. Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed of 41.3Mbps and upstream line speed of 6.5Mbps." Will you be providing a service using the above from March 2013? How much will it cost?

[#39]

No doubt many people will be jumping for joy, but in the past it has been stated and re-stated that unrestricted unlimited is not financially viable. What's changed? For the lower users, who do not feel the need to watch YouTube 24/7 while streaming P2P to six teenagers, this is a worrying announcement. One of the things that has been in PlusNet's favour in the past has been the way we DON'T suffer the bottle-necking of the network seen at peak times on some ISP's with looser limits. Presumably we'll now all suffer from massive network congestion in the evenings? (Or will the 10GB products be like the old PAYG prioritised packages?)

[#40]

@C S Gordon, yes you'll be able to order fibre from us as soon as the Wholesale Availability Checker says it's available. The prices will be those advertised on our website at the time. @Laser, a lot's changed in the industry. You still won't suffer bottle-necking. If you subscribe to our service status feed then you'll know that we've provisioned a *lot* of extra bandwidth recently.

[#41]

Will unlimited be available to non llu exchange customers?

[#42]

I will be ordering fibre unlimited tomorrow, any idea what time the website shall be updated? Hopefully the service stays uncongested and you keep provisioning extra bandwidth over time. Switching from a very congested ISP 😉

[#43]

@Neil, we don't use LLU. It will be available on Market 1 exchanges. See the link in one of my previous posts for the pricing. @Chris, about 7.00am - http://usertools.plus.net/status/archive/1355828925.htm

[#44]

@Bob Pullen, Appreciate your reassurances, but "true" unlimited is just that. What if all your customers decide to download at line speed 24/7? That's why FUPs exist with other ISPs and why in the past PN have repeatedly stated that traffic management is essential. I'd really like to see some level of traffic prioritisation by package or at the very least by traffic type, otherwise all your bandwidth, regardless of how much you have, will be 100% consumed by P2P and video streaming. And then what differentiates you from anyone else?

[#45]

@Bob Pullen - See - you just passed the buck again! It's Plusnet pricing policy - you are the ONLY(?!) people to be using markets?? How can you justify it when they are now so far out of date? I was really hoping you would take this opportunity to ditch this outdated process and stop discriminating against rural customers - especially those who DO meet the criteria! 😉

[#46]

Laser: It is managed exactly as you described Read: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,109981.msg941886.html#msg941886 http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,109981.msg941905.html#msg941905 http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/12/isp-plusnet-to-introduce-unlimited-broadband-packages-across-the-uk.html#comment-42824

[#47]

@paxy - no, it's not that PlusNet is using an outdated process, but offers a discount on Market 2/3 because the wholesale price for those exchanges is (forced by Ofcom) a bit lower. It's really other ISPs who don't pass on the discount that are outdated, but sadly, as the majority fail to pass it on, some get annoyed with PlusNet as it has tiered pricing. Of course, where LLU (local line unbundling) applies and where ISPs put their own equipment into exchanges, they can offer whatever amount of internet traffic at whatever price they way. They usually make up for it in other ways, though, such as not spending as much by not having UK Call Centres, or overloading their network. A very low cost service promoting its deals with half price rates seems to have been top of the Ofcom list of complained-about telecom firms for five years running. Honestly, the deals we get from PlusNet are pretty good. There are lots of more expensive ISPs offering similar speeds (especially if you are on the end of a long rural line) but at much greater cost. I guess there will always be a number (approx 15% of exchanges are Market 1) who are unhappy with PlusNet prices but please don't claim it is *deliberate discrimination* - prices for lines are based on what Openreach charges and many other ISPs would just charge all customers a single price, so for 85% it would be higher than with PlusNet and for only simple pricing for the ISP (and perhaps a healthy profit margin too).

[#48]

@Bob - the people should perhaps be reminded (since this is a major product 'refresh' - that the banner says the wrong price now!! Why no banners for fibre, I cannot imagine. OK, I know that it is perhaps only the more enthusiastic customers who have switched so far, but also, please check if your marketing/sales people are going to do a deal on new line installation with simultaneous provide of FTTC, since Openreach is offering this at a 50 pound discount from 01/01/2013 to 30/06/2013 and it would be nice to know PlusNet would also be willing to pass on that discount to customers... I'm in the position of looking for a brand new (second) phone line and fibre, but not until my exchange is marked as able to accept orders (hopefully from 31/12/2012) so such a deal would be particularly good for me, and might wean customers off a certain cable competitor, too, if the charge for the new line and fibre can be dropped even lower for the next 6 months. Hopefully someone can make a decision and have an option in place sometime from mid January! (The Openreach news of the discount proposal was made early in October, and I can find links to the article on ISPreview and probably even Openreach if you need them. It took a bit of time for Ofcom to approve but is on the Openreach price list.)

[#49]

@Web Dude, we already offer installation below the Wholesale cost so the discount is kind of irrelevant. The banners (presuming you mean the referral ones?) are something we have on our 'to do' list.

[#50]

I am already a Plusnet Fibre customer who pays £19.99 a month for the 250GB package, do I still have to pay the activation fee if I want to go to the unlimited fibre package which is the same cost?

[#51]

@Theberrys, no you don't but you would start a new 18 month contract.