BTopenworld has confirmed that it is to cap its AnyTime and SurfTime unmetered dial-up services.

From November 1 AnyTime customers will only be allowed to stay online for 150 hours a month before they have to start paying Internet call charges. SurfTime customers get 120 hour quota.

The changes will affect around 900,000 of BTopenworld's customers, who should receive an email from the ISP from tomorrow.

According to Duncan Ingram of BTopenworld, it is the act of "a responsible ISP" that will help create a "sustainable business model".

So, will BTopenworld change the name of its service from "AnyTime" to "Someofthetime"? Dunno.

What will stop it from reducing still further the quota it has set? Nothing. In fact, it should be expected. After all, customers used to be able to use the service for around 16 hours a day before BTopenworld's heavy mob booted them off. Then this "limit" was reduced to 12 hours in every 24. Now, it's effectively more than halved just five hours usage a day.

So will the price come down accordingly? No way.

If that's the case, is this just another way for BTopenworld (BTopenwound to its friends) to improve margins, stamp out network abuse and create a bigger gap between it and broadband in the hope that punters will migrate to hi-speed Net access? Shinickle? Moi? ®

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