Take It To The Limit – One More Time

Some broadband providers say there are no limits to monthly downloads but there are you know. No matter what they call it or how it’s advertised what they are doing is at best inaccurate, at worst wrong. You sign up and pay for a monthly “unlimited” package but that’s not what you get.

Legal

The ASAI – the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland – has received numerous complaints over the last few years. Customers are asking the obvious questions – how is this legal? How can this be?

Service

Just recently the county’s largest Internet service provider has introduced a new mobile service called ‘No Limits Data’, but get this, it comes with a limit of 80GB. When the limit is reached the service won’t be stopped but the data tap will be turned down to a trickle. “No Limits” is in fact limited. It defies all logic. It’s like saying to the kids – “you have all the ice cream you want but after two I’m turning the heat up and it’ll no longer be ice cream.”

Policy

Providers maintain the restrictions safeguard all customers’ experience. So now that the Advertising Standard Authority is on the case they’ll sort things out won’t they? Well they have promised review the use of “unlimited”. Right now it’s ok for firms to use this term provided they mention their “fair use” policy (their get out clause).

Here are a few other terms that may come across.

unlimited limits	limited unlimits	free limits
limited freedom	download limit	connection charge
cap on usage	no real limits	really no limits
effectively uncapped	Fair use
And in the French	pas de limit	limits non