BT Vision coming soon?

Mr Armstrong has dropped a heavy hint today that BT Vision (or a PlusNet equivalent) is on its way to PlusNet customers. But here's the rub: BT Vision apparently now needs 4mbps line speed in order to deliver sports action like football - and at least 2mbps for other VOD.... Which begs the obvious question: How could PlusNet possibly offer peak-time VOD with the current state of their grotesquely throttled network?

But perhaps this is why the BB+ accounts have been strangulated this year - so as to free up bandwidth which PlusNet can ring fence for the exclusive use of BT Vision customers - without any risk of dropping below the required line speed.

If so, BB+ customers have simply been sacrificial lambs -- burnt at the altar without warning or compensation, not because they have been abusing or even over-using their service but simply because PlusNet needs to steal back their bandwidth in order to offer new, more profitable services.

Simon

Neil Armstrong

"We've had several meetings and demos with the BT Vision guys. The VOD piece does work with 2Mbps line speeds, but, they don't think 2Mb will be good ebough for the Setanta TV stream as the speed of football means it often needs higher bit-rate. So they are thinking of saying 4Mb is the minimum to get football, but if you don't want football a 2Mb line is ok. Make sense? "

2+2 is not always 5.2243

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If so, BB+ customers have simply been sacrificial lambs -- burnt at the altar without warning or compensation, not because they have been abusing or even over-using their service but simply because PlusNet needs to steal back their bandwidth in order to offer new, more profitable services.
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And the evidence for this is???

incompetent or calculating - can they be both?

Edited by deleted (Tue 20-Feb-07 10:08:18)

This sort of service has been talked about for a long time. The service will come at a price and the price will include the cost of the bandwidth at a suitable priority. Revenue goes up so Plusnet can afford the extra capacity to carry it.

All a bit obvious really!

After all a lot of people have been complaining that PN has a lack of vision for some time. So PN are going to get some!

Edited by deleted (Tue 20-Feb-07 10:35:50)

Not really obvious, no. Despite Mr Wild's famous claim, new bandwidth can't be added at the flick of a switch. So even during the testing phase for BT Vision, PlusNet would have had to claw back a considerable amount of clean bandwidth from somewhere, eg BB+ users, in order to put BT Vision into Titanium or 'Gold'.

But perhaps you are suggesting that the new central will be used for BT Vision rather than to relieve the pressure on the managed network? That would disappoint a lot of folk.

Simon

Simon, you have always been at your best when dealing with fact and not assumption.
BB+ is a fiasco, which shows PN at its worst and once YSWP is stopped they will suffer a large amount of churn but even the best conspiracy theories need some fact.

And the evidence for this is???
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If you check my OP, it is clearly speculation on my part - albeit it might explain what has been going on with BB+ since none of the other explanations put forward is logical.
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incompetent or calculating - can they be both?
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I think they are both. From here, there can only be a very small number of reasons to explain their strangulation of BB+ accounts - as I wrote a little while ago - and none of them need be mutually exclusive.

Simon

I think part of the delay with the new pipe is down to BTW. In spite of the pipe being on rolling order when it came down to it, I believe they've had to do some road digging up to put in a new cable to Telehouse - somewhat of a lack of Vision by BT there - Plusnet are not the only ISP in Telehouse!

If a pipe has unused segments I believe activating them does come down almost to the level of "flicking a switch" - certainly days not weeks.

even the best conspiracy theories need some fact
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Until somebody comes up with a better explanation of what has been going on in recent weeks, I am happy to rely on the facts to date to support my speculation. It's just a discussion point after all...

Simon

Your latest conspiracy theory is unfounded.