LLU not ADSL

I hope this is the right group for this. Apologies if it's not.

Long story short: My ISP (Eclipse) shifted me to LLU a few weeks ago. I complained but got nothing. After reading here I decided to contact Ofcom.

Basically, and this is the important bit, Ofcom said LLU is not ADSL. A lot of ISPs have dropped "ADSL" in favour of "Broadband" in their blurb. If LLU is not ADSL then that makes sense (it also sounds more "friendly" so that's another possible reason). To confuse things I have seen reference to "LLU ADSL" while googling.

In a nutshell, my understanding of ADSL is that it's just a technology to allow fast Internet connections over normal phone lines. My understanding of LLU is that it's simply a process that allows other companies to put their kit into BT's exchanges so that they can offer broadband.

I've searched here and googled but can't find an answer. Can anyone tell me whether broadband provided through non-BT kit is ADSL or not ADSL? I'm quite confused now. Thanks in advance.

In reply to:

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In a nutshell, my understanding of ADSL is that it's just a technology to allow fast Internet connections over normal phone lines. My understanding of LLU is that it's simply a process that allows other companies to put their kit into BT's exchanges so that they can offer broadband.

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Thats basically it. OFCOM are also right saying LLU is not ADSL.
However many service providers use LLU to provide xDSL services, mostly ADSL but also SDSL as well as traditional voice.
ISP's probably refer `broadband' rather than ADSL because it dosnt distinguish , therefore confuse, between other forms of broadband, e.g. cable or wireless. Keeps it simple for the masses

Edited by squidgy48 (Tue 12-Sep-06 22:53:41)

Thanks for the quick reply.

So it seems that ISPs can simply switch people from BTW to LLU thus taking away our ability to migrate, at least for now, and Ofcom can't do a thing about it because, according to Ofcom, the migration CoP only refers to ADSL and LLU isn't ADSL.

That's me stuffed unless I can find another way around it. I can't afford

I guess service providers are at liberty to choose whichever wholesale provider they desire, and can chop and change end users as they see fit.

They can and I don't actually have a problem with that as long as the customer can easily change ISP if the LLU service isn't as good as the old BTW service.

It occurred to me that if an ISP's quality of service was dropping and they were losing customers too quickly they could simply move their customers to LLU and only those who can afford to pay or who really want out will be able to switch. That might be far fetched but I do tend to see the worst in companies.

LLU is ADSL in most cases, some are ADSL2+

The difference (and the reason it's harder to get a MAC) is that LLU is not managed by BT Wholesale.

As you might imagine moving someone from one provider served through BTW to another provider managed by BTW is very simple.

What does your contract say?

If it states provision of ...'ADSL'.... and OFCOM say LLU is not 'ADSL' you might have a case re: breach of contract.

?worth a try?

i doubt it.

One is a technology, the other is a process whereby that technology can be delivered.