What happens if you exceed the download limit

With BT you would suffer just because of the slower connection. Vodafone will reach to your wallet. Basing on the information I received from their call centre each additional megabyte will cost you a cent. Not much? Well it all adds up. Imagine if you forget to count your downloads, or another family member is downloading large amount of data without your knowledge. If by any chance you would happen to download 70 GB of data, which is 10 GB over the limit, you would pay additional 100€ with your next bill. The Vodafone customer service representative told me that if I am getting close to the limit I would receive a phone call informing me that I am dangerously close to the limit. I wouldn’t trust that. BT representatives told me the same but there was no phone call. Instead I found myself back in the 1990’s with 128 kB/s. You are probably wondering how easy it is to reach the limit. Let’s see: assuming that you always download at the maximum speed available (which is 7 Mb/s) and you want to get 60 GB of data:

[source: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=60GB+%2F+7Mb%2Fs]

Hooray! You can enjoy superfast Internet for over 19 hours a month. If you are connecting with BT in the other hand you can enjoy the highest package for 9 hours and 15 minutes and the middle package (3o GB limit) for nearly 3 hours each month assuming that the download speed is constantly at 24 Mb/s. The difference in BT’s and Vodafone’s limit is that BT is calculating the limit by summing up the data you downloaded and the data you uploaded, when Vodafone is only taking the downloads into consideration. In theory Vodafone’s offer is way better because during one month you should be able to send up to 220GB of data regardless of your downloads while BT would include your uploads in the total transfer limit (I am assuming that Vodafone doesn’t have a hidden cap on uploaded data, the speed is the factor limiting the monthly uploads).

Conclusion

Vodafone customer service states that BT customers will not be forced to change over to Vodafone tariffs therefore some people should be happy to know that they have the choice. Vodafone’s offer is still a better value having in mind that the package they offer includes free landline calls, minutes to Vodafone cell phones and more. Yet it is still a big step back for Internet users as they will be in danger of paying higher bills while receiving fewer amounts of data. Personal note: I am a BT customer for years now and each month I am receiving a 10 euro discount on the line rental. By becoming a Vodafone customer I will lose this privilege. Not cool. Sources: http://www.btireland.ie/ http://www.vodafone.ie/ Vodafone Customer Care: 1800 927 380