29/05/2015

Superfast Rip-off!


I was excited by the Welsh Government / EU proposal to give Superfast Broadband to Welsh Rural Communities.

Superfast Cymru will transform the broadband landscape in Wales and promote economic growth and sustainable jobs in Wales. It's been estimated that up to 2,500 further full times jobs could be created throughout the Welsh economy over time. The project will ensure Wales is at the forefront of the global digital economy and will help to champion Wales as a great place to live, work, invest and visit.

When I heard that Llansanffraid Glan Conwy would be connected to the superfast network this week I was overjoyed, so I asked, SKY, my internet provider, to sign me up. I was shocked to find that a service promoted as one subsidised by the EU, Westminster and the Government of Wales would cost me £2 a month more, but I bit the bullet and signed up anyway. My superfast broadband was activated at 3pm on 27th May 2015 .

On 28th May at 11:48 PM I had a message from Sky:

You've gone over your Sky broadband usage allowance
We're just letting you know that you've gone over your Sky Fibre 25GB monthly usage allowance.
The good news is that we won't do anything this time as it may be a one off. However, if you go over your allowance again in the next five months, we'll automatically switch you to Sky Fibre Unlimited, as it has an unlimited usage allowance.
Sky Fibre Unlimited is just £20 a month and gives you the same great speed, but with the added peace of mind of totally unlimited usage.

In a period of 36 hours, when I have only been online for about 4 hours, read my e-mails, looked at my Twitter and Facebook pages, watched a few "Maiden Speeches" on YouTube (in low definition) I have exceeded my monthly allowance and have to pay an extra £22 more to access the internet over a connection provided by taxpayers' money!

I feel ripped off, I can't afford the extra payment!

This is absolutely disgusting, a rip off on the back of public money by a private company. Rather than enabling internet access, SKY's abuse of the service and the fact that I can't afford a locked in contract for £22 a month means that I will probably be forced to abandon the internet for the next 18 months.

This might be the last post on this site for some time; but before I am forced to log off I hope that AM's MP's MEPs and journalists question this abuse of a public funded project and make the abusers account for their rip off.

5 comments:

  1. You are a confused old fart. The public money is used to invest in the underlying infrastructure for fibre connections, in telephone exchanges and roadside cabinets. This allow BT Openreach to install the equipment in areas where it would otherwise be uneconomical to do so.

    The various providers can then use that equipment to give you an internet connection (but it's Openreach that actually handles the physical connection). You are free to choose any provider based on your preferred criteria. The providers themselves are not subsidised.

    The reality is that most of cheaper broadband deals don't reflect the true cost of providing the service - which is why they have usage limits. Due to competition, consumers have become used to cheaper prices (just like discount supermarkets). Even unlimited services are relying on the fact that most consumers will not consume as much as they could theoretically could, otherwise the actual cost of the service would be significantly more (hundreds of pounds per month).

    Why not do a comparison on here http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/ and see which packages suit you best?

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    1. I am not confused, I am bitterly disappointed. I have had e-mails from Superfast Cymru, read reports from the Government of Wales, seen glowing articles in the Western Mail and the Daily Post about how brilliant the availability of super fast broadband would be, but I have never ever seen any report saying that access to it would be bloody expensive - so expensive that it would be beyond very many Welsh peoples means.There is something pathetic in the fact that the Welsh Government spends millions of pounds in making a service "available" but doesn't think about weather the service is affordable to most Welsh people!

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    2. The availability of Audis and VW Golfs on hire purchase along with iPhone payments and subs to Plaid take a lot of money off folks in rural Wales.

      A total rip off!

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    3. My subs to Plaid are only £2 a month and go through good old fashioned bank DD, not through an iPhone that I have never owned. Bloody bargain!

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  2. Have a look at your providers website and see if you can find a page to show your usage and how it breaks down. 25GB really isn't a large amount, it would last me a few days through browsing let alone downloading and the kids being on youtube and video messaging each other (even when they are in the same room). This month I've done over 250GB although I have had a new PC so a load of that will be updates.

    I use Plus.Net, (that fat bloke from Yorkshire) and have been with them for other a decade now. Haven't had any real issues with them, it's £16 a month (you have to have line rental too) and it is truly unlimited.

    Given how little you actually use the internet I don't think you need superfast. I can't get it where I live but I don't really need it either.
    Is there some sort of cooling off period that allows you to change your mind?

    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/phones-tv-internet-and-computers/problems-with-contracts-packages-and-offers/cancelling-your-tv-phone-or-internet-contract/

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