UK government makes 10Mb/s broadband a legal right

[perka123]

[QUOTE=Morgen;53000122]10 megabits per second is 10 Mb/s. The small b means bits, and the large B means bytes. So 10 Mb/s equals 1.25 MB/s. 8 bits in a byte.[/QUOTE]

Oh, case closed then :v:
You learn something new everyday as they say!

[Bob The Knob]

[QUOTE=DaCommie1;53000610]You know what's really spurred competition in home internet in Canada? A decision from the CRTC that Bell/Rogers have to allow third-party ISPS full access to the "last mile" of infrastructure. Before this decision in 2011, 3rd parties were limited to a maximum speed of 7Mbps, but could offer unlimited data usage, whereas Bell charged for usage. In 2011, Bell petitioned to charge these 3rd parties usage as well, which would have basically killed them and ruined our internet. The CRTC initially approved this, but the Conservative government told the CRTC "If you don't change your mind on this, we'll legislate a change in your mind for you." So the CRTC, seemingly to spite Bell for making the government angry at them, did a complete 180 and not only told Bell they can't charge usage for 3rd parties, they also have to stop capping their speeds. This meant that by 2012 Bell, who hadn't offered an unlimited usage plan in years, was forced to offer unlimited usage to compete with prominent 3rd party ISPs like Teksavvy who offered unlimited usage. Within just one year this decision had a profound effect on the "Big" ISPs (Rogers/Bell in Ontario, Shaw/Telus out west). Now Bell has actually put direct Fibre in almost all of Toronto. We went from 25/10 to 300/100 just last month, and we're paying $15 per month less than before.

Competition, rather than government mandates on service levels, is what truly spurs development, however sometimes a government mandate is needed to ensure that competition is present in the market. I know if Bell had had their way in 2011, we'd be paying some of the highest prices in the world for internet in Canada right now.[/QUOTE]

The UK's regulator Ofcom is trying to do a similar (I think?) thing by allowing third party ISPs access to BT's 'dark fibre' network, but there have been legal challenges and it's ongoing ATM

[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/10/28/openreach-stand-off-regulators-dark-fibre/[/url]