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One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

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Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#211

Post by lotsofpulp »

rcarr wrote: post #192
lotsofpulp wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Unlimited” data is not comparable because different subscriber’s data gets assigned different priorities at times of congestion. In the US, you can get “unlimited” data for as low as $25 per month, or as high as $90 per month, depending on what level priority you want (which you assume might make a difference at peak times). And then there is a lot of bundling going on like Netflix and Disney or international. For e…

> “Unlimited” data is not comparable because different subscriber’s data gets assigned different priorities at times of congestion. > In the US, you can get “unlimited” data for as low as $25 per month, or as high as $90 per month, depending on what level priority you want (which you assume might make a difference at peak times). Yeah I don't think this happens in the UK/EU. The US system seems really weird and compl…

“QCI” was the industry term I was looking for. Here is some unsubstantiated, but true sounding information about the US mobile networks:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/oaophe/data_pri...

I would be surprised if UK/EU did not also have it. Surely, it exists for certain levels of politicians/government/emergency services. Seems like a short throw to then extending that implementation to capture as much revenue as you can by implementing price segmentation strategies like in the US.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#212

Post by gavin_gee »

jameshush wrote: post #153

Visiting family in the UK for the first time in about five years. Costs here are _way_ higher than I remember. I bought three hamburgers, three drinks, and two large pops at a burger shop here, the total was 48 GBP (about $60 USD). This was at Five Guys. I couldn't believe it. I visited my co-worker in the UK, and over some beers, he mentioned he's getting taxed at 48-50% on top of this. Also 20% VAT on regular shopp…

My unscientific burger comparison I think calls BS on the UK prices. Everywhere is expensive now. The problem with the UK is Brexit and a country that went from being very supportive to small business and entrepreneurs to a high tax wasteland of averageness. The UK is the deepest into its decline of any western empire. They are shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. the coronation was the canary for living in the past.

some data:

I looked at two restaurants in central London. Gordan Ramsey (expensive) and honest burgers. Their prices were 13 and 17 GBP for the regular burger. (16 and 21 USD respectively.

Compared to seattle. If I pick Victory Tavern (which is ethan Stowall somewhat equiv to Gordan) thats a $21USD burger. Little woody's is a $7.50 burger but has no sides. add fries for 3.5 and you are at $11.

Seattle is no London. Yet these prices arent miles apart and I would put little woodys as a cheap burger and America is the King of burgers and Beef production so would expect to see cheaper options.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#213

Post by hospitalJail »

jjoonathan wrote: post #209
andy_ppp wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t worry, everyone is suffering - we’re all in this together… For example we’re set to have the highest private jet sales on record this year https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/private-jet-sa... Almost as if COVID caused a huge redistribution of money from the poor to the wealthy.

"By design" seems like a bit much, but the upper class sure didn't let the crisis go to waste. Spend $800B so the poors can eat? Hand-wringing and pearl clutching up and down the air waves. Just think of the inflation! Spend $3000B to pump real estate values? Complete silence, relatively speaking. This experience made it very clear who was in charge and who wasn't. These are US numbers, but I tend to suspect the same…

I was so angry about all of this.

I had been waiting to time the market, I ended up only buying 30% down rather than the 50-80% down I was hoping.

What happened in 2020 changed my understanding of markets. Politics>Economics for politicians.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#214

Post by skippyboxedhero »

clnq wrote: post #172

> Watchdog Ofcom has warned 4.3 million eligible people are missing the deals. > These were available in 99% of the UK and started from £10 per month, it added. This language sounds a bit more like advertisement than what I'd expect from a national regulator. Also, almost of the social tariff plans (plans for people receiving significant poverty-related benefits in the UK) are at £10 per month - https://www.ofcom.org…

They aren't "significant poverty-related benefits", a lot of the benefits that make you eligible are in-work benefits or from having children. That is why most people don't claim, most of these people have jobs and have no problem paying another £10/month and don't want to go through the admin (or restrictions, I think some of the plans have restrictions).

You are bang on about property costs. You notice how instant action has been taken by regulators to blame telecoms companies. Where is the action on planning regulations? Trying to reduce bills through this route really makes no sense.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#215

Post by [deleted] »

lucb1e wrote: post #184
bradfa wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YouTube, Netflix, music streaming, most video conferencing, and general web browsing all work fine on a 1.5Mb/s link in my experience. It's certainly not fast, but it's fast enough to do the basics.

Most things you mention are a matter of buffering and waiting it out, so those will work in a 'basic' fashion as you say. But video conferencing? Even in a 1:1 call, where you need to download only one audio and video stream, if you don't live alone (most people don't), I would be very impressed if you got a router that can recognise and prioritise the call traffic to the point where that works smoothly.

[deleted]

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#216

Post by lucb1e »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #211
rcarr wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “Unlimited” data is not comparable because different subscriber’s data gets assigned different priorities at times of congestion. > In the US, you can get “unlimited” data for as low as $25 per month, or as high as $90 per month, depending on what level priority you want (which you assume might make a difference at peak times). Yeah I don't think this happens in the UK/EU. The US system seems really weird and compl…

“QCI” was the industry term I was looking for. Here is some unsubstantiated, but true sounding information about the US mobile networks: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/oaophe/data_pri... I would be surprised if UK/EU did not also have it. Surely, it exists for certain levels of politicians/government/emergency services. Seems like a short throw to then extending that implementation to capture as much re…

I didn't know this was a thing. As someone who's on roaming 90% of the time with a MVNO from another country, definitely a good thing to know about! Thanks for linking.

Also relevant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QoS_Class_Identifier (to know what QCI stands for)

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#217

Post by EddieEngineers »

CydeWeys wrote: post #198
EddieEngineers wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Five Guys has always been that price, but I agree with your point. As a Brit, the US is pretty crazy too though. I just saw a single broccoli for $7 at a grocery store in Palo Alto. On my $172k salary I pay $59k in taxes which is roughly $1k more than I'd pay in the UK but in the UK that includes national insurance while in the US I pay health insurance on top. So while taxes sound crazy in the UK it's not actually d…

You wouldn't be making nearly that much in the UK though.

Two years ago I was making $160k in Oxford with 7 years work experience and no degree - contracting in London for > $500 per day or working remotely for startups in the Bay Area are both easily accessible if you have a couple years under your belt. I'm moving back to Europe this summer and talking to companies at 550+ a day.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#218

Post by koolba »

skippyboxedhero wrote: post #204
jameshush wrote: post #153

Visiting family in the UK for the first time in about five years. Costs here are _way_ higher than I remember. I bought three hamburgers, three drinks, and two large pops at a burger shop here, the total was 48 GBP (about $60 USD). This was at Five Guys. I couldn't believe it. I visited my co-worker in the UK, and over some beers, he mentioned he's getting taxed at 48-50% on top of this. Also 20% VAT on regular shopp…

Can't believe prices are so high...goes to Five Guys which is at least 3x any other burger chain. I still can't believe how cheap the UK is. Big Mac meal near me is £6, cheeseburger is £1, 1kg of potatoes was 20p the other week, two-portion microwavable rice 20p, even a nice matured ribeye steak is only £5, it is genuinely incredible. In particular, the price of stuff that comes from farmers is really too low in the…

With a 45% tax rate and a 20% VAT, something that costs $1 would require an income of $2.18.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#219

Post by jon-wood »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #195
hammyhavoc wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BT works just fine. Have used it for at least 8 years without any fuss. I don't even know that I've connected to it unless I checked, it just does it. As such, I use very little cellular data.

If you mean BT Wi-fi that's not free. https://www.btwifi.co.uk/

It’s “free” if you’re paying for a BT internet connection at home.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#220

Post by anonuser123456 »

nologic01 wrote: post #42

Exactly the opposite of what should be happening. Homes should be connected with permanent, reliable, high capacity fiber optic networks. Mobile connectivity plays an important role but it should be complementary, an add-on to the backbone not a substitute. Given how the costs of digital technology are generally on a collapsing trend this suggests significant dysfunction. Reducing the computing experience of the enti…

>Given how the costs of digital technology are generally on a collapsing trend

Digging trenches and maintaining lines is not a collapsing trend.

>Reducing the computing experience of the entire population to mobile phones is a severe downgrade

Probably not. Most internet traffic is TikTok, Netflix, adware and people yelling at one another. The useful bits are exceedingly narrow.

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