Yes you are correct. Assuming a 3% salary increase per year from 2003 to 2016, this means that the cost of the internet+phone connection in 2016 is actually 65% of the original 2002 cost. So in approximate real terms the service is roughly 30-35%, cheaper now in 2016, for a much larger (80times the download) service.

and we still think this is "expensive"..

I started out with the ADSL trials with Demon in 2000, at 2Mbps.

The prices charged were, IIRC, rather weird - with some amount on top of their standard £10 per month (+VAT) (and line rental was on top) for the trial. Then they wanted something astronomical at the end of the trial, but had no 512K product for people to move onto. Then it went quiet for a while. When all was sorted, I think I ended up paying around £40pm, plus the £10pm, plus line rental to BT (which was likely to have been around £10pm too). Maybe £60pm all in?

We added a second line with Plusnet somewhere around 2004, when the wife's work required it for her to work from home. I imagine that pushed our total up to somewhere nearer £90pm, but at least some of it will have been covered as a work expense.

Demon were jettisoned when ADSLmax became available. Ever since then, we have been on a package where the broadband component cost around £20 - whether that was fixed-speed 2Mbps, ADSL-Max at 8Mbps, FTTC at 40/10, or FTTC at 80/20.

Nowadays, I guess we are somewhere around £37 all-in, but with a call package on top of that. A mere shadow of the peak price!

In reply to a post by iand:

Yes you are correct. Assuming a 3% salary increase per year from 2003 to 2016, this means that the cost of the internet+phone connection in 2016 is actually 65% of the original 2002 cost. So in approximate real terms the service is roughly 30-35%, cheaper now in 2016, for a much larger (80times the download) service.

I am sure the service now is better value/cheaper than it was in 2002. However, to work that out you don't compare the price to the change in wage levels but to the change in inflation over the period..

I used to pay £40 a month to BT for 256kbps I believe it was. That did not include the line rental either.

I now have 2 connections
1) BT Unlimited Infinity 1 - 52Mbps for £11 + Line rental
2) TalkTalk Fibre Large - 76Mbps for £0 + Line rental (Retentions deal)

So my price has gone down significantly.

In April 2002 I was paying Pipex £23.44/month for 512k adsl. I recall that the Frog cost about £120.

I pay Plusnet about 1/3rd that ( after discounts) for 40/2 unlimited fibre.

£39.50 in 2002 is the equivalent of £58 today

Yes, it was around then - so long ago I can't remember exactly when I first got it. And have been through a few ISPs over the years as well.

In the days of dial-up I was paying for my ISP by per min. phone charges on my phone bill whilst I was connected to my ISP on their 0844 no. In those days, pre-2002, my phone bill was between £200 to £300 per quarter for line rental + calls + these ISP charges.

When I switched to paying my ISP a monthly fee for dial-up in Jan. 2002 I was paying slightly more than I'm paying them now for BB Only (20 Meg ADSL2+) . However BT's line rental & calls have increased somewhat.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In the days of dial-up I was paying for my ISP by per min. phone charges on my phone bill whilst I was connected to my ISP on their 0844 no. In those days, pre-2002, my phone bill was between £200 to £300 per quarter for line rental + calls + these ISP charges.

2002 is pretty late. In mid-2000 I joined NTLworld, an unlimited dial-up service on BT lines which was free when you bought £15 of calls provisioned over carrier pre-selection. So if you used up the £15 of calls it was free, and even if you didn't the £15 was very reasonable.

It was obviously a heavy loss-leader to get them a CPS userbase in non-NTL cabled areas, but I wasn't going to argue.

Edited by Oliver341 (Wed 24-Aug-16 13:31:19)