ryuk11

I had a quick read through some of the internet packages offered by ISPs, and now all of them seem to be 'metered'; as in your are given surplus charges if you go over the limit. I'm not a heavy user but do download more than average. I was wondering when this charging policy started to be the norm?

I joined be internet in 2006 and am on uncapped 'reasonable usage' policy. So this new stuff doesn't apply to me but I'm just curious... It could become a problem to a lot of people, if streaming HD from film sites etc becomes more popular.

Sorry wrong title - I assumed i was entering a username. Can an admin give it a more appropriate title please

Some providers have always been metered - like Metronet (taken over by Plusnet) who had a low entry cost 300 MB inclusive then pay for extra MB model. Others have had limits for some years.

Standalone small ISPs generally can't sustain the unmetered model if using BT infrastructure as a handful of itinerant internet archivers will seek them out and kill the service with demand.

So "unmetered" is the territory of local loop unbundlers and (perhaps more importantly) ISPs that can attract a wide cross section of the population and not just a few download addicts with the same cumulative demand.

You'll find using these forums a lot easier and better if you do actually register that as a username. No captchas and far fewer adverts for a start .