Plusnet renewal or cheap alternative ?

Have been with Plusnet for 18 months - decent service, no complaints but it's renewal time & I'm keen to snag the best deal.
Hardly ever use landline so phone deal isn't a big issue & am on PAYG Orange mobile which I don't really want to change (don't really want a contract).

Cheap, reliable broadband connection is most important - seems renewing Plusnet might be the best option !

But wondered if anyone had any thaughts on jumping to another provider - any good deals out there, cheap is good ?

Many thanks, Tim

Hi there, if you PM me your username, I'll happily look at your account and see what's the best package I can recommend for you.

To help everyone else, they'd like to know which exchange you're on and amount of usage per month.

Thanks for sending your username. You're already on our lowest cost package and you're not on a low cost exchange so £11.99 is the best that we can do as an ongoing price.

I can offer a discount to take you to £6.49 for three months, the same as a new customer or our Customer Options Team might be able to work out something a little better for you - they have your letter but just give them a call on 0845 140 6002 to see if we can get that a little lower.

Sounds good - my phone line rental is with Primus so maybe if I switched that to Plusnet aswell that might help things - I'll give Customer Options a call next week and see if we can work a deal out.

Thanks for your help, Ben

Tim

No problem

In reply to a post by bentrimble:

Thanks for sending your username. You're already on our lowest cost package and you're not on a low cost exchange so £11.99 is the best that we can do as an ongoing price.

PlusNet does not have any LLU, so to you all exchanges ARE EXACTLY the SAME COST.
So WHY are you charging almost DOUBLE to unfortunate folk on smaller exchanges ?

Yes, I know you are now wholy owned by BT, but you undercut their prices, so WHY NOT BE FAIR ABOUT IT ?
Otherwise you may as well rebrand to BT !
Would the directors care to explain ?
Regards,
Martin

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

PlusNet does not have any LLU, so to you all exchanges ARE EXACTLY the SAME COST.
So WHY are you charging almost DOUBLE to unfortunate folk on smaller exchanges ?

Yes, I know you are now wholy owned by BT, but you undercut their prices, so WHY NOT BE FAIR ABOUT IT ?
Otherwise you may as well rebrand to BT !
Would the directors care to explain ?
Regards,
Martin

Not all exchanges are the same cost.

Nothing to do with Plusnet or in fact BT Retail, it is an Ofcom directive that allows the exchange to be deregulated and lower charges imposed by BTw to any ISP on that exchange, dependant on the amount of competition at that exchange
Ofcom PDF

It does have that element that it feeds the fattest, insomuch that those who have a lot of choice for cheap connections get even more choice, but that is the wonderful world of our system.

"to you all exchanges ARE EXACTLY the SAME COST"

Er, no that's not been correct for the last couple of years or more. Not for Plusnet and not for any other ISP getting their connectivity from BTwholesale.

Since 2008 or so [1] (and based on a review from 2005), so not exactly recent, Ofcom has allowed BTwholesale's pricing to be dependent on the "market type" where the service is delivered. If BTwholesale is the monopoly supplier, they can charge more. Where there is competition, BTw can price more aggressively.

Even before 2008, BTwholesale IPstream pricing had included a somewhat smaller discount in "low cost areas" (a pound and a bit per month off) except for regulatory-obfuscating purposes it had to be called a rebate not a discount.

Readers who want to know more about Plusnet's market-dependent pricing can read more on the Plusnet website e.g. http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/low_c...

Other BTw-based ISPs could also choose to pass this geographic-based pricing on to their customers but off the top of my head I can't think of many (any?) that do. Perhaps there's a question to ask there, although the obvious and often perfectly reasonable answer would be "because it makes our business model too complicated".

[1] http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/broadband_access_market.htm

In reply to a post by Sadoldman:

It does have that element that it feeds the fattest, insomuch that those who have a lot of choice for cheap connections get even more choice, but that is the wonderful world of our system.

That's the free market for you, competition breeds lower prices and/or better services.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

PlusNet does not have any LLU, so to you all exchanges ARE EXACTLY the SAME COST.
So WHY are you charging almost DOUBLE to unfortunate folk on smaller exchanges ?

Not so.

The cost of a broadband rental from a Market 3 exchange to the customer is substantially lower than from Market 1 and 2 exchanges.

This is so for all ISPs.

So far as I know Plusnet are the only ISP offering lower prices on Market 3 exchanges than elsewhere, so are to be commended.

Relevant News Articles:-

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/3556-wholesale-br...
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/3816-ofcom-allows...
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4353-ofcom-recons...

I have a feeling there is at least one more in-between those but have missed it on a quick scan.

In reply to a post by Ignitionnet:

That's the free market for you, competition breeds lower prices and/or better services.

I did say a much the same thing to me nephew who is on a Market 1 exchange............my words went a long way to console him.

Thank's for all the replies.
I do understand the Market 1 / 2 / 3 system and the BTwholesale pricing.

BUT, PlusNet being wholy owned subsidiary of BT is in anomalous position.
Yes, they may well be charged by BTw the OFCOM regulated price, but in this case that is just a bit of internal accounting.

If they want to keep and promote the PlusNet brand, they SHOULD treat their Market 1 loyal (many pre BT ones I bet) customers better.
Otherwise, why not just go totally BT ?
Regards,
Martin

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

If they want to keep and promote the PlusNet brand, they SHOULD treat their Market 1 loyal (many pre BT ones I bet) customers better.
Otherwise, why not just go totally BT ?
Regards,
Martin

Plusnet are at the budget end of the market, I would guess that they're more interested in customer numbers than customer loyalty.

Loyalty to customers costs money... as Don said (more or less): welcome to the free market

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Thank's for all the replies.
I do understand the Market 1 / 2 / 3 system and the BTwholesale pricing.

Well you do now it seems.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

If they want to keep and promote the PlusNet brand, they SHOULD treat their Market 1 loyal (many pre BT ones I bet) customers better.
Otherwise, why not just go totally BT ?
Regards,
Martin

Not much point in doing that if it leads to a loss, and it would. All ISPs are in business to make money, on a Market 1 exchange Plusnet are in competition with every other non LLU supplier, BTW included, so people will vote with their feet.

This BT angle is misleading. If any ISP caught wind that BTw was giving any preferential treatment to either BT Retail or Plusnet there would be ructions.

If anyone is loyal to their ISP I hope they do it for the right reason. How it works is that an ISP works in their own interest and a customer should do the same. Each individual has different priorities so therefore a good number of ISPs providing offerings to match those differing priorities.

In reply to a post by billford:

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

If they want to keep and promote the PlusNet brand, they SHOULD treat their Market 1 loyal (many pre BT ones I bet) customers better.
Otherwise, why not just go totally BT ?
Regards,
Martin

Plusnet are at the budget end of the market, I would guess that they're more interested in customer numbers than customer loyalty.

Loyalty to customers costs money... as Don said (more or less): welcome to the free market

Quite wrong. PlusNet marketing relies heavilly on existing cutomers introducing new ones in exchange for small but continuous discount. On top of that, I have had at least 3 emails in last 3 moths promising up to £100 vouchers on top of the discount and now 3 months free BB. So they know the value of loyalty very well.
Trouble is their reputation isn't what it used to be before the BT takeover, so it's not easy to persuade people tp switch, even though their LLU prices are amongst the lowest.
Regards,
Martin

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I have had at least 3 emails in last 3 moths promising up to £100 vouchers on top of the discount and now 3 months free BB. So they know the value of loyalty very well.

No disrespect to Plusnet users, but that sounds like they're trying to buy it

Trouble is their reputation isn't what it used to be before the BT takeover

Compared to their reputation when I joined this site, it's sky high! I used to be with Metronet, an excellent small ISP. Got an email telling me that Plusnet had bought them out... I'd never heard of Plusnet then, so came here to see what they were like and decided it was "not with a bargepole" time.

But now, I'd be quite happy to recommend them to a friend if they had the appropriate usage pattern and wanted a not-too-expensive ISP, they've improved out of all recognition.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Trouble is their reputation isn't what it used to be before the BT takeover, so it's not easy to persuade people tp switch, even though their LLU prices are amongst the lowest.
Regards,
Martin

Plusnet are not an LLU ISP.

Plusnet years ago were an excellent ISP. They then went through a serious downturn for some time which was largely improved when BT took over.

Plusnet may be part of BT now but their accounts are separate and they make their own profit/loss. They also effectively operate independently and are treated the same as any other ISP by BT Wholesale/Openreach. It is not just internal accounting as it is a separate company within the same group.

Personally I would complain about all the other ISPs who are using the money garnered from the Market 3 exchanges where BT charge less but the ISP still charge the same - they are all using that money to subsidise the "more expensive" areas of the country. Plusnet are the only ISP I know of that differentiate where the BT wholesale costs are lower in market 3 - but in the end it is down to the business model and any ISP can use whatever business model they like.