Plusnet and 24 month contract

It seems now that plusnet is going for 24 month contract even for FTTC. The price for 24 months is £25.99 and put the 18 and 12 months both to £28.99. That is the 36Mb.s FTTC, that is what they have offered me if I renew my contract

They have also offered me 36Mb/s FTTP at £26.99 and also 74Mb/s FTTP the same price. 146Mb/s is £36.99 and 300Mb/s is £32.99, so that is cheaper than the lower speed ones.

I presume they are doing this to try to get people to go to FTTP, but it is pushing me away even more, if they don't want me as a customer I can go elsewhere

They’re just doing it to keep you as a customer for longer. With no option to leave in 12 months you’ll then be hit by a price increase despite being in contract.

I don’t think PlusNet are really pushing FTTP.

I realise that the longer contracts are to keep people, certainly now people have more choice. the price increases are one of the reason why I don't want a 24-month contract. I really thought we have gone past the stage of 24 month contracts, but it seems like we have gone backwards in that respect.

It seems like you may be correct that Plusnet is not pushing FTTP, if you put in as a new customer then the first thing that will pop up is FTTP, but it is easy enough to get to the FTTC section, some providers make that almost impossible, apart from Talk Talk who still don't recognise that FTTP via Openreach is available to a lot of parts of the city.

I think the profit margins on FTTC are probably better for plusnet so there’s no need to push the higher services.

I think I read somewhere that ISPs were offered an inducement to get their customers onto FTTP, presumably to spread the load before copper is withdrawn in 2025.

Plusnet offered me FTTP at the same price as FTTC with a two year contract. The 14% price rise soon after signing was annoying but was clearly stated in the contract, but I think PN is still good value for my years of excellent service. Of course I do shop around but would rather avoid the hassle of changing except for a big price difference, which I have yet to find. We can't expect prices to stay the same or even fall as some seem to expect.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

before copper is withdrawn in 2025.

Copper is NOT being withdrawn, only the PSTN is being switch off at the end of 2025.

Sadly I don't know how many more times this need to be clarified.

Makes no difference to simple souls like me. Some 20m of cable was taken off my gable wall after 40+ years, replaced by slimmer fibre. Openreach man took it away for scrap, I suppose. As far as I and my neighbours are concerned, copper (or was it alumalloy) has gone.

In reply to a post by Kr1s69:

I think the profit margins on FTTC are probably better for plusnet so there’s no need to push the higher services.

Not if openreach is going to reduce the prices for FTTP for providers, that will be an incentive for providers to connect people to FTTP.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

I think I read somewhere that ISPs were offered an inducement to get their customers onto FTTP, presumably to spread the load before copper is withdrawn in 2025.

Plusnet offered me FTTP at the same price as FTTC with a two year contract. The 14% price rise soon after signing was annoying but was clearly stated in the contract, but I think PN is still good value for my years of excellent service. Of course I do shop around but would rather avoid the hassle of changing except for a big price difference, which I have yet to find. We can't expect prices to stay the same or even fall as some seem to expect.

Dect is correct that copper is not being withdrawn, well, not for many years anyway. they have to get everyone off FTTC and ADSL first and there will still be people who will not have FTTP available to them for a few good years. what will be vanishing will be the analogue voice system, that will be going to a digital system and the home phone will have to be connected to a router, even if the user don't have broadband. I can see the reason for doing it, but I still don't agree with it at the moment as there is no back up system for it.

Anyway, I don't expect prices to stay the same, but I also don't expect a 14% increase, maybe a couple of quid a month increase, but not a £6 a month increase, that is beyond belief.
I am lucky in that I only have until the end of June until my contract ends, sure I could recontract with Plusnet, but looking at what they are offering and with the 24-month contract I can get a better deal elsewhere. It is a shame as I have been with plusnet for a fair few years, but at the end of the day they are a big enough company to cope and there is still no news about what is happening to plusnet, will they become part of EE or not?

A 24_month contract of 36Mb.s FTTC contract is a squid cheaper than the equivalent FTTP package, that is what Plusnet have in their Offers and upgrades section when I look in it. So no real incentive to get FTTP if I wanted to stay at the same speed. 18-months FTTC as i have already said is £28.99, the same as 12 months.

What hassle is it for you to change? As you went for FTTP you had to have someone in to change you to FTTP and these days changing providers is pretty straight forward, well on the openreach network anyway.

I really don't know what to do to be honest, I don't need the speed increase of FTTP, a faster upload would be useful sometimes and maybe now and again a faster download, but the price difference between FTTC and FTTP higher speeds are getting pretty close.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I really don't know what to do to be honest, I don't need the speed increase of FTTP, a faster upload would be useful sometimes and maybe now and again a faster download, but the price difference between FTTC and FTTP higher speeds are getting pretty close.

To summarise, in descending order of price:

(1) 12 months FTTC contract @ £28.99 = £347.88. *Assuming* you could get the same deal next year (which is not guaranteed), that would be £695.76 for 2 years.

(2) 24 months FTTP @ headline price "£26.99". Let's say after 12 months it rises by 14% to £30.77; then the total price is £693.12. A few pence a month cheaper, plus you get the faster speeds (80M/20M) and higher reliability of FTTP - but no voice service.

(3) 24 months FTTC contract @ headline price "£25.99", let's say after 12 months it rises by 14% to £29.62; total price is £667.32. Total saving versus 24 months FTTP is £25.80, or £1.08 per month.

Hence I'd say the price differences are pretty insigificant, and you should concentrate on what's really important to you: ease of exiting contract? Extra speed and reliability of FTTP over FTTC? Putting off the day you have to get FTTP installed?

The FTTC options avoid having to make an appointment to get FTTP installed. But you're likely to have to do this in a couple of years' time anyway, if your area goes copper stop-sell. Hence this only matters if you're planning to move out in that timescale. If you do, remember you'll either have to transfer your Plusnet service to your new home and start a new contract there, or pay an exit fee.

I'd say these prices are as low as you're likely to find anywhere. You say that these options are "pushing me away even more, if they don't want me as a customer I can go elsewhere", but if you do, either you're going to pay quite a bit more (for a smaller provider), or you're likely to end up on a similar long contract with in-term price rises (for all the major providers).

I love the way you put that, fantastic, thanks

Now broadband still does FTTC for £23 for 12 months, which is not bad at all, also a company called Onestream does Fibre 55 for £21.95 also 12 months. They also do FTTP on 12 months contracts as well., Supreme Full Fibre 115 for £26.95.

The thing is if I am going to go through the process of having FTTP installed then I may as well go with Zzoomm.

Not planning to move for around 12 months at least, as for copper stop-sell, I think it will be more than a couple of years before that happens here, Openreach has to lay FTTP to 75% of the city and then give a 12 month warning and I doubt they will get 75% by the end of next year.

As I said, thanks for the info, it certainly will help me,