I'm speaking as a prospective (or I would have been had I not signed up for Sky) customer reading the website.

When the new products first launched my first thought was "Have they relaxed the traffic management and have I made a mistake staying with Sky?" and the obvious answer was no they haven't changed the policy. However it seems they have but neglected to update the website.

The new product launch has no doubt taken lots of planning and time to implement, the new traffic shaping has also been implemented but it seems the 2 projects could not be completed together.

As a result this could have put off a few potential customers from signing up and there would therefore have been an argument for delaying the new product launch until both projects could have been launched together.

Only, you and some others would still have joined Sky/BT/wherever in the interim. This way, at least a few may waver and find out more, or simply wait for the official announcement.

But lousy Project management not having the web pages revised and fully checked on a dummy site beforehand.

The changes to the traffic management haven't really taken place as a project as such, they've been relaxed across protocols over time depending on the impact on the network and usage trends.

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

The changes to the traffic management haven't really taken place as a project as such, they've been relaxed across protocols over time depending on the impact on the network and usage trends.

As a potential new customer, I am not feeling very comfortable with this at all. I cannot start a new 18 month contract in the hope that things "officially" change for good, and just basing it on what a few other people's experiences in a forum are. It sounds like things are still in the testing phase to me. To be blunt, the website needs to be updated before I will sign up. Without the traffic management being completely relaxed (other than for P2P) and having it in writing on your website, I feel like it is too much of a risk to take. Surely updating the website with all the new details should be an absolute priority....unless the new details are not yet set in stone.

I note with interest that the traffic management isn't part of the contract.

So you could wait for the traffic management to change as described before signing up, but then 10 months down the line it might be decided that it's best to throttle P2P to 1mbit 24/7... Unlikely that they'll take a step backwards like that, but equally there's nothing to stop you doing it as far as I can see. Please, if I'm mistaken, please let me know where I'm wrong.

In reply to a post by blueacid:

I note with interest that the traffic management isn't part of the contract.

So you could wait for the traffic management to change as described before signing up, but then 10 months down the line it might be decided that it's best to throttle P2P to 1mbit 24/7... Unlikely that they'll take a step backwards like that, but equally there's nothing to stop you doing it as far as I can see. Please, if I'm mistaken, please let me know where I'm wrong.

That is something I was planning to ask about before signing up, so thanks for answering me in advance! It's a scary thought that they could do that. I'm sure if PN can, it's the same for other companies too. Hmmm. As you said, please someone in the know let us all know how true this actually is.

I'm currently on ADSL2+ with someone else and they did in fact give everyone the option to end their contracts early when they changed their traffic management. I don't know if they were obliged to do so or not though.

In reply to a post by blueacid:

I note with interest that the traffic management isn't part of the contract.

The contract says:

10.We may also take action to manage the network's performance during periods where there is a high demand. Please refer to http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/ for more details.

It's debatable, but perhaps the content of the page which the T&C's point to at the time of sign up should be applicable for the duration of the contract.

I don't know, no copy of the details are made within the contract. There's nothing that states in the contract that they'll be held to the expected speeds on that page at the time of sign up.

Clause 10 states "We may also take action to manage the network's performance". Therefore, if taking action means (say) throttling more protocols than when you signed up, they're doing what you asked them to.

I suspect that without the advice of a Plusnet bod that this contract could be interpreted either way.

In reply to a post by blueacid:

I suspect that without the advice of a Plusnet bod that this contract could be interpreted either way.

If it went that far, it wouldn't matter what Plusnet's interpretation of their document is, it matters what the Ombudsman's interpretation is.

PN seem to let customers stay on legacy products indefinitely if they wish, when these are replaced.

As for relaxing or removing speed restrictions, as several ISPs are doing, then bringing them back again after gaining new customers, that seems rather unlikely - i.e. commercial suicide, and would in any case trigger the legal requirement for them to give 30 days notice of significant deletorious effect, and allow customers to leave without penalty.

I think a mountain is being constructed here, without even a molehill in sight to start from.