'Throttling' Broadband Provider Sued In Australia

destinyland writes "Optus has been severely throttling users who exceed a download quota, according to ZDNet — down from 100Mbps to 64Kbps — and it's drawn attention from federal regulators. Optus's ad campaign promises 'supersonic' speeds, and one technology blog notes that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 'isn't happy about Optus' sensationalist claims, which it's sure breaches the Trade Practices Act.' Australia's trade commission called the practice 'misleading or deceptive,' and the broadband provider now has a date in court next month, the second one since a June hearing over 'unlimited' voice and data plans that actually had usage caps."

Comments

Re:They have 100Mbps broadband here?

[Nursie]

Oh right, I see, any city that's not Perth. Got it!

Re:Throttling to 28.8 Kb/s.

[ScrewMaster]

Yes, they really call it "unlimited", in the same table with the limits.

I'm always amazed by people whose frontal lobes are capable of generating and publishing such non-sequiturs without exploding.

Re:I see no problem with this

[ScrewMaster]

If the customers desires more than 250 GB, then let him buy more from his Aussie provider.

If that Aussie provider doesn't want to end up in court, let him advertise what he's actually offering. This isn't about the quality of service, it's about their quality of ethics.

I live in the U.S., and it's stories like this that make me feel better when I read other stories about countries where you can buy gigabit services for thirty bucks a month. Of course, one has to wonder whether those services are sold under similar misleading terms. I wouldn't know.

Re:Big deal

[maxwell demon]

Comcast has throttled any P2P traffic - regardless of your plan - into the ground. The FCC has told them numerous times to stop, they told the FCC to fuck off. Numerous times.

Then the FCC should revoke Comcast's license, plain and simple.