Attractive Shares
Become a member of The Phone Co-op and you'll receive a share of our profits. Tempting proposition?
Broadband allowancesContentsHow will my data usage be measured? How much data does (activity) use? How is excess data usage charged? What does the extra data cost? Is my connection always in use? How will I know if I exceed my data allowance? Can I purchase additional bandwidth in advance? Can I carry my allowance to the next month if I don't use it all? Can you tell me more about Skype?
Can you tell me more about BBC iPlayer? How will my data usage be measured?We measure the total data transferred over your connection, both download (receiving email, web browsing, downloading files) and upload (sending email, file sharing). How much data does (activity) use?The following are indications of the bandwidth required for the most popular online activities:
How is excess data usage charged?Usage above the allowance in any month will be charged according to how much extra data has been used. What does the extra data cost?Usage over 40GB on the £23.95 Home Phone and Broadband package is charged at 50p per GB. The service will be suspended in the unlikely event that 100GB is reached in any month, so you can manage your broadband costs. Over-usage on other services is charged at 0.15p per MB (15p per 100MB). Customers on our Home 0 service (discontinued) are charged 0.24p per MB (24p per 100MB) Is my connection always in use?No. Even if you leave your router on it will not normally be transferring any data unless you are actively using the connection. How will I know if I exceed my data allowance?Before you reach your usage allowance we'll send you a warning email, then a second if you have gone over it. There is also software you can use to monitor your data transfer, although this may not give a wholly accurate reading.The Phone Co-op cannot accept any responsibility if you incur additional usage charges as a result of using third party software to monitor your usage. Please note: We offer the email service as a courtesy but email is not 100% reliable. You will have to pay any additional usage charges whether the email is received or not. It is your responsibility to provide us with an most up-to-date email address. To let us know of a new address please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Can I purchase additional bandwidth in advance?It is not possible to purchase additional bandwidth in advance for the current calendar month. However, if you consistently find you are exceeding your limit, 10GB blocks of extra bandwidth can be bought, and applied to your account from the following month, for £3 per 10GB. Can I carry my allowance to the next month if I don't use it all?No. When does the usage reset?The first day of each calendar month. Can you tell me more about Skype?OverviewSkype is probably the most popular free Internet telephony (VoIP) program which allows you to make free phone calls over the internet to other Skype users, as well as send messages. It is a 'Peer-to-Peer' application that is downloaded to your computer. This means that instead of having centralised servers to route the information, everyone who has Skype installed becomes a node and their connection is used to form a virtual network to route the calls around the world. The advantage of this is that Skype do not have to purchase and maintain their own servers which is why they are able to offer the service for free. Issues with BroadbandSkype works best on a broadband connection. Whilst you are making a call using Skype, you are transferring data which will count as part of your usage allowance. How much it uses depends on the network conditions between yourself and the person you are calling. Skype uses on average between 3-16 kilobytes/sec whilst you are making a call. When you are not making a call, it uses about 0-0.5 kilobytes/sec as it is just running in the background. However, some customers have found that using Skype has caused them to incur excess usage charges as Skype has used much more bandwidth that anticipated. This is due to the fact that the customer's PC has become a 'Supernode'. What is a Supernode?Skype define a supernode as "A regular Skype client that provides a bit of assistance to the Skype network by handling contact lists and helping out with call routing". Essentially a Supernode is a relay. It means that Skype traffic is routed through your internet connection allowing other Skype users to make and receive calls. It's fundamental to how Skype works. Without Supernodes, it would be impossible to maintain the Skype virtual network. They act as "go-betweens" for communications between Skype users who are behind NAT and firewalls, who would normally not be able to talk to each other. Why am I being used as a Supernode?When you sign up to Skype, part of the End user Licence Agreement states: "You hereby acknowledge that the Skype Software may utilize the processor and bandwidth of the computer (or other applicable device) you are utilizing, for the limited purpose of facilitating the communication between Skype Software users". If you have a direct broadband connection to the internet with no firewall in place, then it is likely that you will be selected at some point to become a supernode, as connections that have firewalls or use NAT will block this type of traffic. What can I do to stop myself becoming a Supernode?As Skype cannot work without Supernodes, it is not possible to disable this feature of the service. However there are steps you can take to prevent you from becoming a supernode.
Can you tell me more about BBC iPlayer?BBC iPlayer provides online access to BBC TV and Radio programmes. If you install and use iPlayer we strongly recommend that you keep an eye on your usage for the first couple of months. For more information about iPlayer see the BBC website. As a rule of thumb 30 minute TV programmes on iPlayer are often around 300Mb in size, which could take around 500Mb of your bandwidth to watch as a stream (i.e. to watch 'live', without downloading). |
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The Phone Co-op, 5 The Millhouse, Elmsfield Business Centre, Worcester Road, Chipping Norton, Oxon, OX7 5XL
