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Tiscali UK caps users

Is capping the new black?

Tiscali UK is capping its unmetered Anytime service to 150-hours a month.

Snag is, the Italian ISP forgot to tell anyone about it. The first punters knew of the cap was when some of them received an email saying: "We notice that you have had extremely high usage (over 150 hours a month) on your AnyTime package every month for the last three months. Unfortunately your current level of usage is adversely affecting the service we can offer other users."

Tiscali then threatens punters that unless they reduce their usage they will be booted off the service.

One Register reader who received the email told us: "Now I have looked up their terms and condition and yes it does say about 150-hours.

However when I moved to them last year (I was bounced by BT Openworld for a similar thing) I checked out Tiscali which was definitely unmetered at the time, so this is clearly a change of terms and conditions."

According to Tiscali UK the Ts&Cs were updated - last Friday. On Wednesday this week the ISP emailed a "small percentage of [its] AnyTime customers who were persistent heavy users in every one of the last three months" and issued the warning.

However, it won't be until after the weekend that Tiscali UK will inform the rest of its punters about the cap. The 150-hour a month cap - which Tiscali claims is "in line with industry standards" - comes into effect from May 16.

In a statement Tiscali UK ISP Director Steve Horley said: "We have been monitoring this for three months and have identified a core of users who are consistently treating the service as an 'Always On' service.

"AnyTime offers flexible any time use but we have always been clear that it is not designed to be always on. Like other players in the market we have adopted 150 hours as a reasonable level, bearing in mind the average AnyTime customer uses under 50 hours per month." ®

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