I pay for an 8Mbps connection each month, so that’s what I expect to get. Recently my connection speed has been terrible, and most of the time I get closer in the region of 500Kbps. After contacting my ISP, I was informed that my “…account has been restricted due to Fair Use Policy”. Here are my questions to the ISP.

My service provider is BT Total Broadband, but I’m sure the questions and issues are universal. You can find BT’s fair use policy online to compare with your ISP.

I’m on their package called Option 3, which allows me unlimited access at 8Mbps. Although I don’t do 140GB per month like some people I know, I only do about a third of that a month.
I have looked at your “Usage allowance policy and fair use guidelines” and have several concerns regarding my account:

1. I’m have an unlimited monthly allowance at 8Mbps, so there is no limit on my usage allowance. If you are throttling my speed, it must be because of the amount of traffic I generate as opposed to the amount of data I download per month?

2. With regards to point 8 in this document (What is fair usage) you claim to restrict only 1% of your customers per month for heavy usage. Am I to assume I am one of the 1% now, because I’m being throttled? If so, could you please provide me with proof of how I am part of this 1%?
3. With regards to point 9 you state that “There are no hard and fast usage limit that determines’ heavy users. Rather, it depends on the demands at that moment. Then how am I supposed to know when I ‘m crossing this imaginary, shifting line?

4. Relating to my previous question, could you please send me proof of the times that I was such a heavy user?

5. In your email reply you stated my account ‘…has been restricted by Fair Use Policy”. But in your Fair Use Policy you state “…heavy use vary with the demands placed on the network at that given time.” So do you restrict me for crossing the imaginary line once, or only when there is high demand on the network?

6. If my connection is being throttled because of heavy use sometime in the past, how long is that in place, and how do I know when it’s lifted?

7. If my connection is being throttled, why don’t you inform me of it?

8. If my connection is being throttled, how do I get the restriction lifted?

9. If my connection is being throttled, what are you restricting it to? I’m paying for 8Mbps per month, but are you now saying I’m getting 500Kbps? Would it not be better for me to downgrade my package, or move completely?

10. In point 10 you state that the Fair Use Policy still applies to Option 3 customers (the unlimited package) but it doesn’t preclude BT from restricting my speed for peak periods. “…it ensures that you do not negatively impact the majority of our customers…” Could you provide me with some kind of proof that I did in fact negatively impact the majority of your customers?

11.In point 11 you state that you restrict P2P speeds. I definitely use P2P (****iki), and would like to know if you only restrict the P2P traffic on my connection? Why is my whole connection slow? Or are you restricting any connection with P2P traffic?

12. If you restrict P2P, does that mean I can’t use the BBC iPlayer or 4OD?

13. In point 13 you state P2P is allowed but “…will just be slowed down in the evenings and during the day if a lot of customers are using it.” So you will restrict P2P all the time when a lot of customers are using it?

14. What is your definition of “a lot of customers” in point 13? And if my P2P use is being restricted because “a lot of customers” are using it, could you please provide us with a concrete number, as well as the proof to indicate where I am in that group of users?

If it says 8Mbps it should be 8Mbps. If it says “unlimited” it should be unlimited. I have a definite problem with the speed, and there also seems to be a 200GB cap on my ISP.

It’s worth noting for the South African readers that there’s a big fight brewing in the UK surrounding online television services like the BBC’s iPlayer, and Currybetdotnet has a good post about measuring the iPlayer impact on broadband – useful reading for emerging markets.