Broadband, Part 119

January 24, 2007 11:06 am General

Dear Mr Foster

As you might be aware, Xtra’s Broadband plans now offer download speeds as fast as your phone line allows. For the majority of our customers, the change has been a good thing and they’re getting better speeds. But unfortunately, there are also some customers – yourself included – whose connection speeds have slowed down. Clearly, this is a frustrating situation. It’s why we wanted to get in touch as soon as possible and why we’d like to give you a one-off credit to cover the next three months of your broadband plan charges. We also wanted to explain the likely cause of the slower speeds and let you know what options you have. Having tested your phone line, we estimate your broadband connetion is now running at a maximum download speed of 1248 kbps. Unfortunately, we can’t avoid this reduction in speed: it’s the result of the way broadband technology works. Introducing download speeds as fast as your line allows has caused more interference on phone lines and this, in turn, can result in slower connection speeds for some customers, particularly for people who live a long way from their phone exchange….

And then the fuckers suggest the following wonderful 3 options

  • Stay on your current plan
  • Change to Xtra Dial-up
  • Cancel the service

Sigh. This is another moment in a long string of cockups that I come to expect of Telecom. I wonder where my exchange is – I can’t be that far away, I’m pretty much in the CBD. Next time I move, I’ll make sure to find a place that cable modem covers.

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