There are a lot of variables some people will see a lower ping time than others because of their location . then there is wireless vs wired, if a serious gamer you will always use wired as wireless will add to ping times & cause other unwanted behavior
The peering used and the internal routing can also impact the latency, to overseas locations mainly , But switching to a FTTC based product may produce higher response times as FTTC connections are subject to DLM and bt profiling which has the ability to switch you from fast path to interleave automatically , But as the peering would be different if with another isp, then there maybe no difference or there could a significant one (big increase)

If within the uk using my BE connection the ping is quite steady but if say connecting to Ubisoft in Canada it shows a alarming amount of fluctuation at times, as for the average ping times the only sub 10ms ping i see is to the exchange equipment be gateway but I'm in the north of this wonderful broken over populated country

I am in Northern Ireland

Do you think I should go with Be?

30ms seems reasonable.

In reply to a post by steek:

Do you think I should go with Be?

I don't, as i'm pretty sure that 02/BE Retail customers in northern Ireland have been complaining about their quality of service ping, packet loss ect , not too long ago, The best way if your exchange has BE/02 enabled would be to try a be /O2wholesale product via one of the many reseller ISP's such as Vivaciti,or Xilo ,Aquiss/ADSL24 plus others too as are as i know all use different peering and other things that could influence throughput/sync rate and latency , so although it's got an 02 badge it will give a very different level of performance and according to those who subscribe to the wholesale products report positively (well those that post on here and other places ) ,
But the main difference being that the contract would be 1 month so if it was not to your satisfaction easy to switch provider again

Which one would you recommend?

Whats the voice condition like on the line? Do you hear any crackling?

Connect a wired phone to the line and dial 17070 and select option 2 for a quiet line test, all you should hear is a small hiss, if you hear a crackle report a voice fault to your landline provider (don't mention broadband)

I will tell you from experience, That you do not want a 25ms ping or below for online gaming on console, I have been playing since the release of cod4 on consoles, I've never had above a 25ms ping connection, Directly connected to my exchange at 200m, I've been in 2 different properties on my estate and the ping was the same in both properties, I've had several isp's over the years, And every single game i've played, COD4, WAW, MW2, Blackops, MW3, BFBC2, MOH, BF3, Uncharted, Has very bad lag compensation problems, I'm always out of sync with players, Rediculous hitmarkers, people taking half a magazine to kill them, Players ahead of you by 1,2,3 seconds.

The modern warfare games have horrible lag compensation I honestly cant understand how they are so popular when they have so many problems on consoles.

I have been with BE at two different property's in Edinburgh and have not really had any problems with them online. I currently have a virgin FTTC connection as well and it is just horrible for playing on live.