British Telecom Pulling Plug On Dial-up on September 1
Say goodbye to dial-up.
While dial-up is a thing of the past for many of us, not everyone's dial-up days are in the past. Still, that's not stopping British Telecom in its plans to pull the plug on dial-up in just a couple of weeks' time. The company is cutting off its dial-up service on September 1.
The Telegraph reports that BT has reached out to its customers still on 'narrowband' connections to warn them that their service will end come September 1. British Telecom has offered to switch these customers to broadband where broadband service is available. For those that live in areas where broadband is still inaccessible, they'll have to switch to the BT-owned (but independently operated) PlusNet. Unfortunately, BT won't be helping customers to make that switch, and will instead be leaving them to contact PlusNet themselves.
BT says only 1,000 of its customers will find themselves needing to get in touch with PlusNet because where they live is not rigged for broadband. For others, the company says its cheapest broadband package is actually cheaper than dial-up (£10 per month as opposed to £17.25 per month).
It's 1K who have dial-up and live in areas where broadband isn't available.
The actual number is likely somewhat higher.
It's 1K who have dial-up and live in areas where broadband isn't available.
The actual number is likely somewhat higher.
You're probably right, I was just making a reference to the idea in the article.
What about doing the right thing for their stock holders? It amazes me that some people don't understand a business is in business to make money. They are not in business to provide jobs, provide a service, or help people. They exist solely to make money.
It's 1K who have dial-up and live in areas where broadband isn't available.
The actual number is likely somewhat higher.
You're probably right, I was just making a reference to the idea in the article.
BT has to pay maintenance on outdated equipment that they probably can't find anymore and keeping even a few thousand customers on dial up is too much hassle. There are other cheaper and easier to deal with ways of getting internet even if broadband isn't an option.
It's 1K who have dial-up and live in areas where broadband isn't available.
And are direct subscribers to BT dial-up.
I'm guessing there are thousands more on other dial-up ISPs who aren't going to be affected by this.
I ask are you a shareholders? Is that hard to sympathize with people who get screwed by this decision more than with some corporate benemoth? I always wondered why are people today so broken that they know all the reasons why bloodsuckers need to suck blood and don't know either one why that blood would be important to the victims. Well, obviously, people are that broken [some commenters here prove it] and today, if myth about David and Gloliath was truth I know whose fan would they be.
I do not see why you think BT is screwing people with this:
1- for BT dial-up subscribers who can get DSL, they get low-speed DSL that is both FASTER and CHEAPER than their existing dial-up plans
2- for BT dial-up subscribers who cannot get DSL, they can still get dial-up internet from some other provider who probably costs less than BT did
Sounds like nothing more than a mild inconvenience but if BT's former dial-up subscribers can be bothered to shop around for their next dial-up ISP, they can most likely get a better deal elsewhere which makes the situation win-win-win: BT gets to ditch their dial-up modem banks, 3rd-party dial-up providers get new subscribers and dial-up subscribers get the final push they need to shop around for better deals.
I was not implying that BT should keep the dial-up equipment just for the sake of the few die-hards; I was merely saying that BT could have offered to facilitate the switch, rather than dropping the customers (with very little warning at that, as well). Say, they could have said "this is it people, but if you are interested in broadband, here are a few options and we can help you get in touch with them and give you a hand throughout the process". It would be just proper business practice, even if in the end you lose these people to other businesses (otherwise put, called "being nice", esp. to someone that you had as a client for may years). I doubt the BT stock would have plunged beyond repair just for taking this tiny extra step.
I did not see the official BT communique, either, so all this was just referring to the info in the article. It would not be the first time when a reported piece failed to give all the details.
If anyone wants to be angry about greedy corporations, we should be angry at the greedy monopolies in America who have bribed the government into giving them said monopolies allowing them to charge much higher fees for broadband than what people pay in Europe.