The Units tariff has two main parts to the ongoing charges: A monthly charge for the service itself, which depends on the type of line, and a number of pre-paid usage units that you buy each month.
The usage units are used up when you receive anything from the internet. Upload does not count. The speed that the units are used up depends on the time of day and also on the type of line you have. One unit is at least one gigabyte of download during the day.
The Unit tariff also includes a free .uk domain name and associated services (Up to 1G of email storage and 1G of webpage storage).
The number of gigabytes of download you get per unit depends on the type of line and time of day.
| Line | Daytime (except hols) 9am-6pm Mon-Fri | Evening/Weekend/Holiday All other times |
|---|---|---|
| BT ADSL | 2½ | 50 |
| BT FTTC | 2½ | 50 |
| BT FTTP | 2½ | 50 |
Your usage does not have to be whole units at certain times, you can use some of a unit during the day and some in the evening, etc. We also have a special bonus aimed at people doing backups and file transfers over night. Instead of the normal off peak tariff, between 2am and 6am usage is metered at 1000GB/unit. These are the rate units are used - the actual amount you can transfer will depend on line speeds; number of lines; speed of the servers and links on the internet; and, of course, the number of hours in a day.
How much is a unit
There is a minimum of two units a month of pre-paid usage per site. Each pre-paid unit in your tariff costs £3.90 so the minimum usage charge per month is £7.80 on top of the line only charge for the service.
| Line Type | ||
|---|---|---|
| | ||
| Time of day | Download Usage | Units |
| Daytime (except hols) (9am-6pm Mon-Fri) | - | |
| plus evening/weekend/holiday usage (all other times) | - | |
| Total units per month | - | |
| Suggested tariff (units per month) | - | |
| Monthly cost (broadband plus suggested tariff) | - | |
* Price includes a copper pair at £10 pcm†, which is optional - you can instead use a phone line from another supplier with the broadband product. Up-front costs vary considerably depending on new/existing products, please see our order/quote page to see exact costs that will apply to you as well as speed forecasts for your site. In some cases the install will be FREE.
What if you use too much or too little?
We allow some give and take on your usage. If you use less or more than your tariff then the balance carries over to the next billing period, but there are limits.
If you start a period with lots of under usage brought forward from the last period, then any more than your monthly tariff (for the new period starting) is lost.
If you start a period with lots of over usage brought forward from the last period, then any more than your monthly tariff (for the new period starting) is charged at £5.64.
The usage is all metered to the byte, and carry over from one bill to the next as well as excess usage charging is done in 0.01 unit steps. So you don't pay for a whole extra unit just for using part of it.
Keeping you informed
The control pages have usage statements. These show exactly how much you have used on different types of line and times of day and how many units that works out to. They show how the units from the previous period were brought forward and tell you how many units would carry over to the next period. The current usage statement is updated at least every hour. Once you get about a week in to the billing period you will even see a forecast of usage based on your current rate and whether that would result in a bill or not.
We also email out the current usage statement during the billing period if it looks like you are using a lot, and send you updates if you keep using more than we would expect for your selected tariff. We normally send a text or tweet as well to let you know to check your email or the control pages for details.
We will send you a warning when your usage is high for your tariff. This will normally be before you start to run up any sort of excess usage bill and is based on forecasting your usage at the current rate. You can also ask for a notice on the 15th of the month by setting an option in the control pages. Once we forecast high usage we send warnings at various intervals if usage continues to rise. We cannot guarantee to always send a warning.
The exact criteria for when we notify you may change from time to time, and at the end of the day you are responsible for your usage of the service whether we warn you or not.
Can I change my tariff
You can change tariff any time you like and it takes effect from your next regular bill. You can pick any number of whole units per month with a minimum of 2 units per site. A site can have many lines which can be of different types.
To change tariff use the on-line ordering pages.
When do changes apply?
We can announce changes to prices or usage per unit. The web site always states the current rates. Changes to prices take effect when the next bill is raised after we have changed prices. Changes to usage per unit apply on your next regular bill after we change the rates, just like changes to your selected tariff.
By next regular bill we mean when a new normal regular billing period is started (typically the start of the month for most customers).
Is it just download?
Yes, our metering is all based on data received from the internet. This is normally data you have requested from a web site or similar, but can also be data pushed to you such as email sent to a mail server if you run one. The metering is for all data received from the internet whether you requested it or not, as long as your router is on-line. However, what you send out from your line does not count towards your usage.
