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BT Broadband Throttles Online Video

Avid Youtube fans and BBC addicts will be upset to learn that Britain’s largest ISP, BT Broadband, has started throttling online video.

The cuts are pretty substantial. One customer with a 8mbps connection says he can only stream BBC’s HD iPlayer at 500kbps, a service that requires at least 3mbps:

From about 1730 onwards something like BBC iPlayer becomes impossible. It’s fine during the day but come the evening, it’s a no go. We get nowhere near that. We’ve tried to contact [BT] numerous times to complain but without success.

The speed cuts occur during peak times- 5 PM to midnight. During this time, most users see their speeds drop below 1mbps.

BT is not the first ISP nor will it be the last to put forth this sort of limitation. As more and more computers connect to the web and file sizes get larger and larger, Internet providers either have to upgrade their infrastructure or force their customers to cut back.

Broadband companies are choosing the latter to save money. In a statement, BT defended its actions, saying that they were done “to optimise the experience for all customers, as part of its Total Broadband Fair Usage policy.”

Source: TG Daily

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