BT throttling download speeds for cheapest services

British broadband provider BT Broadband's practice of routinely throttling download speeds on its cheapest package by almost 88 percent during peak hours between 5 p.m. and midnight is drawing criticism from content owners who say the practice negatively impacts their products.

A BT spokesman said limiting download speeds for services like YouTube and the BBC's iPlayer to as slow as 1 Mbps on the provider's 8 Mbps service was necessary to "optimize the experience for all customers."

Critics say BT throttles its service without warning customers, which can make the viewing experience less satisfactory.

BT has said its speed limit is explained on its website, on a page describing its Total Broadband Fair Usage policy.

For more:
- see the BBC article [1]

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