BT sells two-tier net to broadband providers

In reference to www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ff4c3fe8-1779-11e0-badd-00144feabdc0.html:

BT is starting to sell a new service that is likely to prove controversial because it gives broadband providers the tools to create a two-tier internet, where some video content would reach consumers in a better condition than other material.

The service devised by BT�s wholesale unit gives broadband providers the opportunity to charge content owners for high quality distribution of their video products to consumers.

Anyone silly enough to pay for these 'higher quality' services has more money than sense.

Why pay for something which can be free? If no one subscribes to the services, and many complain about the quality, suppliers will be forced to rethink their business model.

whats the point linking to a paywall site? you selling the service for them,?

What paywall?

Pick some key words from the article (there's already a quote so you can easily do that), go to Google News and search for them, Google News finds the article, click Google's link, you read it for free (for now).

e.g.
http://news.google.co.uk/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=al...

[there are doubtless geekier ways of achieving this, but this one works for me]

Anyway, it's a BTwholesale offering, so just like BT CentralPlus etc, it's probably just another attempt to make it look to the unbelievably halfawake Ofcon as though it's not developed specifically for BT Retail.

What paywall?

the one in the link, duh !

In reply to a post by yarwell:

What paywall?

the one in the link, duh !

The link works for me...

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

The link works for me...

Are you registered to the site though? Requires free registration for 10 articles per 30 days.

"FT.com articles are only available to registered users and subscribers." on a pop-up in front of it.

The Content Distribution & Delivery platform will be placed in the broadband network so that content by-passes the ISPs backhaul.

so it isn't a two tier internet, its a parallel service.

Or it's just the moving of content closer to the consumer - very sensible when distributing large amounts of video. And if people want to provide content via your (BT in this case) caching servers then they have to pay for it.

LLU suppliers (and potentially anyone else licensed to provide services in BT exchanges) could actually place their own video content servers within exchanges (assuming there is room) and deliver direct to the customer - same sort of solution. Nothing at all to do with a two tier internet.