Comment: How cheap to be an ISP

 

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By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 28 Mar 2007 at 11:12

Lack of regulation also means consumers need to take privacy precautions: membership of an ADR isn't a guarantee that a provider will adhere to other commitments, such as data protection. 'Consumers need to look at a company's privacy policy carefully,' said Ferguson. 'For example, does the company reserve the right to sell your details for marketing purposes, which could potentially include lists of websites you visit? Are the mail servers UK-hosted or at a cheap overseas location that may not be subject to the same data-protection laws as the UK and EU?'

As with other breaches of guidelines, Ofcom admits action can only be taken retrospectively, by which time it's usually too late. Similarly, consumers can only approach either CISAS or Otelo once they've obtained a 'letter of deadlock' from the provider, or a staggering 12 weeks has lapsed from the initial complaint.

Of course, it isn't only small ISPs that mistreat consumers, although the bigger players are less likely to ride off into the sunset with your subscription. So should consumers avoid small ISPs and resellers? Absolutely not. Smaller players, as revealed by our own Reliability & Service awards, are among the best at providing service. Zen and Madasafish are both minnows compared to BT and TalkTalk, but provide superb customer service according to our survey. Sadly, a few bad eggs spoil the mix. It's a case of buyer beware.