So the consensus is that there are no other capped ADSL Max tariffs available?

there are but not with such a good deal - look at the BT website

In reply to a post by LFa:

So the consensus is that there are no other capped ADSL Max tariffs available?

Some of the smaller/niche ISPs offer capped packages but the cost per month isn't cheap and they usually want you to take line rental from them as well.

For that type of exchange Plusnet and BT are where you will get the cheap BB deals for new customers, again with uptake of line rental from the ISP to get the lowest discount on BB (Plusnet).

In reply to a post by LFa:

So the consensus is that there are no other capped ADSL Max tariffs available?

Don't forget Pulse8 as well. Its capped at 8Mb download speed. They don't do the cashback and free initial months but their price with line rental is attractive and is unlimited as well.

Broadband does not seem to be dirt cheap any more. Perhaps that is a good thing ?

The high backhaul charges ISPs have to pay on BT Wholesale 20CN (ADSL Max) plus the dwindling number of potential users where 20CN is the only wholesale service available mean that these customers are not a focus for ISP competition.

Zen are in the process of putting prices up for their 20CN customers because of the backhaul charges they are incurring.

In reply to a post by David_W:

The high backhaul charges ISPs have to pay on BT Wholesale 20CN (ADSL Max) plus the dwindling number of potential users where 20CN is the only wholesale service available mean that these customers are not a focus for ISP competition.

Zen are in the process of putting prices up for their 20CN customers because of the backhaul charges they are incurring.

I thought that the prices for service from Market 1 exchanges were set artificially high to encourage ISPs to come in and offer LLU.
Now that fibre of some sort is widespread the expansion of LLU seems unlikely so perhaps there is a case (OFCOM ?) for removing the inflated Market 1 regulated price as it is effectively a BT monopoly and those on Market 1 20CN and 21CN exchanges are paying an unnecessarily inflated price.

Market 1 no longer exists - it's now Market A and Market B.

I haven't kept up with the regulatory issues surrounding end user port costs, but it may well be that the price differential for BT Wholesale end user ports on Market A exchanges has ceased to be a significant driver for unbundling the remaining 'BT Wholesale only' exchanges. The LLU providers are likely to have unbundled those exchanges they feel are commercially viable by now. Those exchanges remaining 'BT Wholesale only' are likely to be small, difficult to reach with fibre because of geographical issues, or both of these.

The future prospects for unbundling the remaining 'BT Wholesale only' exchanges have been further damaged by the understandable tendency of Openreach to connect FTTx in the footprint of a small exchange to a nearby larger exchange. This practice is why there are areas with FTTx but not 21CN ADSL2+. BT Wholesale may well struggle to justify providing 21CN ADSL2+ at a 20CN only exchange which doesn't parent its own FTTx.



20CN backhaul is an issue, as data usage continues to grow and there is only so much that can be done to expand capacity on this obsolescent network. 20CN backhaul is significantly more expensive than 21CN or wholesale LLU backhaul, which is the reason why some ISPs offer different products (or higher prices) in areas that are 20CN only.


There are others on these forums who have a far more detailed knowledge of the regulatory and commercial realities of unbundling than I do.