ntl 1GB Download 'cap' - The Facts

On the afternoon of Friday 7th February 2003, ntl slip a change into their online User Policy which states

"Nobody may use the Services, either directly or indirectly ... in excess of "normal use" bandwidth limits ... defined as up to 1 gigabyte downstream of data transfer daily".

A discussion thread starts on ntl's consumer site www.nthellworld.com for people to discuss the cap. To date [2003], this thread has been viewed 287235 times although it has now been locked to prevent further comment.

On the 11th February, an online petition starts at petitiononline.com. The petition has the following wording:-

To: NTL We the customers of NTL feel the imposing of a 1gig download limit on their broadband products totally unfair and we call on NTL to remove this limit.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

On the 12th February 2003, ntl hastily issue an update on the situation, quickly followed by a second update. These updates contain vastly inflated estimates of what could be downloaded within the 1GB limit and suggested that the cap is essential to reduce network congestion at peak hours. ntl say they will be monitoring customers downloads for the next 60 days before phoning 'abusers' for a 'friendly chat'. This goes against their own contractual promise that they 'do not examine how customers are using the internet services'.

Incidentally, ntl have provided no evidence of network congestion. Simple maths and online surveys also show very little evidence of network congestion. In any case, the cap in no way addresses the (claimed) problem of network congestion at peak times.

On the 18th February, Kingsley Smith, founder of dont-pay-ntl.co.uk met with Bill Goodland (ntl:home internet director) and Steve Upton (ntl's technical/network manager). In a lengthy meeting, Mr Goodland makes his infamous statement "our customers aren't tech enough to understand" to explain why users have not been informed directly about the cap. ntl have previously undertaken to inform users in writing in advance of any material changes in service but have not chosen to do so in this case. In short, they've broken their own terms and conditions.

A protest is held outside the Internet Service Provider Awards on the 20th February where the petition is handed to the Minister for E-Commerce & ntl representatives. Press and attendees are also leafleted.

Mr Geoffrey Robinson MP agrees to ask for an adjournment debate on the impact of capping of broadband services, given the governments ambitions for an online Britain.

On the 8th March, the petition approached 8000 signatures and became the most active petition worldwide hosted by petitiononline.

was registered on the 10th March 2003 with the following mission:-

Our mission is simply to get ntl to back down on any capping of their broadband services.

Specifically, the removal from the NTL Acceptable Use Policy of the paragraph headed and any reference to 'Normal Usage'.

For NTL to withdraw the threat of 're-educating' users who download more than 1 Gigabyte a day on more than 2 days in any 14 day period.

To encourage NTL to treat their customers with respect.

To discourage any other ISP from imposing similar limitations in their services in the future, rather than reinvesting in their infrastructure.