KEY POINTS:
Internet users are up in arms at the poor state of broadband in New Zealand and impatient for changes resulting from the unbundling of Telecom's network to bring faster and cheaper broadband this year.
Potential subscribers are now being bombarded with offers from rival companies while dozens of existing customer comments posted to the Herald website reveal disillusionment with the speed and reliability of existing so-called unconstrained broadband services.
Marc McAllister wrote: "As a computer technician I have started to receive more calls in regards of broadband than any other issue since the Telecom increase in usage and plan changes late last year."
Peter Manderson wrote: "The last guy I spoke to admitted [Telecom] had a big problem with the latest unlimited access plan and suggested I change to a lesser plan. I have never seen a more blatant example of over-promising and under-delivering."
Broadband and games forums and comments left on the website of the Consumers' Institute, which claims a "broadband speed rort" is going on in the internet market, mirror the views.
Residential ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) broadband services, which can be accessed by over 90 per cent of the population, range in price from $30 to $100 a month and while Kiwis seem happy to pay extra to make the jump from dial-up to high-speed internet, they're increasingly finding the promise of faster downloads to be a hollow one.
While Telecom "unleashed" download speeds on its network in the middle of last year - taking the upper limits off how fast your connection is - many subscribers claim speeds have in fact slowed.
Critics point out that the unconstrained speeds offered by Telecom and its wholesale customers are too demanding for the phone network to deliver, especially at peak usage times. Upgrades to the network will improve the situation, but not in the short term.
The Consumers' Institute's 2006 internet survey, which collected the views of 10,000 internet users, showed increasing dissatisfaction with internet services. Only 66 per cent of those surveyed said they were happy with their internet provider, down from 82 per cent in 2005.
Telecom's internet provider, Xtra, comes in for the strongest criticism - only 55 per cent of its customers were satisfied with its service, according to the survey, down from 78 per cent in 2005.
In particular, Xtra's Go Large plan, which offers unconstrained download speeds and removes the monthly data cap for a flat-rate fee of $50 a month for Telecom phone customers, has been criticised for patchy download speeds.
If there are any winners, it's Telecom's tiny competitors, who are winning business for providing better customer service and more flexible plans.
Inspire, Actrix and Xnet rated the best in the most recent Consumers' Institute survey. But as with most internet providers simply buying Telecom's services at wholesale prices, they are not immune from the broadband speed issues Telecom is experiencing. Ihug, TelstraClear, Orcon and Slingshot compete fiercely to take the business of those leaving Telecom, waiving sign-up fees and offering free modems and discounts to get customers on board.
The unbundling of Telecom's local loop may have caused a political furore last year, but any upside from unbundling may be seen only towards the end of this year, when Telecom's competitors put their own equipment in Telecom's phone exchanges.
Doing so allows them to bypass the central elements of Telecom's network, renting just the bare copper lines to provide their own broadband services.
In the meantime, there seems to be little relief in sight.
None of the internet providers guarantee the download speeds of their broadband services and they are not obliged to do so by law, but they will respond if customers are getting consistently poor service.
Telecom encourages dissatisfied customers to perform speed tests on their connection over three days and will monitor the results.
Other ISPs do likewise as internet users increasingly express their dismay at the gap between the promise of broadband and what is actually delivered.
Buying Broadband:
* Does the ISP require you to have your phone-calling services with it to take advantage of discounts? Carefully check the calling plans that are available before signing up for broadband.
* Does the ISP require you to sign up to a fixed-term contract and is there a disconnection fee for changing ISP before the term is up?
* Are there exemptions when it comes to the promised unconstrained speeds - such as speed-limiting peer-to-peer services and internet telephony?
* Consider less popular alternatives - wireless services, mobile broadband and cable broadband are available in some areas and may deliver services suited to your needs.
* Is there a trial period? If your broadband connection isn't delivering the speeds promised, you'll likely discover this in the first month of use.
