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BBC’s iPlayer causes ISPs to introduce restrictions

By Andrew Redfern @ 10th March 2008 5:15 pm

The unmissable might well be unmissable nowadays thanks to the BBC iPlayer but the new service’s popularlity is reportedly causing ISPs some headaches according to The Times :

“BROADBAND firms are having to restrict customers’ usage because of the unprecedented success of the BBC’s iPlayer, the online viewing service.

The news will raise fears that Britain’s broadband network is struggling to cope with the growing demand for TV programmes that can be viewed online after they have aired.

Thousands of broadband users face breaching their usage limits as a result and will have to fork out more for superior packages.

The iPlayer – which was launched in December and allows you to watch your favourite programmes on your computer – has attracted 17m people in its first three months. However, it has increased internet traffic by 66%, say some broadband providers.

They have a limited “bandwidth” so, with more people using high-speed services, are having to impose restrictions on speeds, and use download limits and “fair usage policies” to control traffic.

iPlayer programmes tend to be around 300 megabytes (MB) in size though longer one-hour shows like David Attenborough’s Life in Cold Blood can take up 600MB.

However, many low-end broadband packages have monthly download limits of one gigabyte (GB) – equal to about 1,000MB. Downloading just two iPlayer shows a month could therefore mean you use up your limit and have to pay extra for additional downloads.

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