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From 1 August 2006, the included peak-time usage for the PAYG Basic service will rise from 50MB to 450MB. Plus peak time usage rises from 3GB to 4GB for Option 1, 5GB to 7GB for Option 2 and 8GB to 11GB for Option 3. Premier limits increase from 15GB to 20GB on Option 1, 22.5GB to 30GB on Option 2 and from 30GB to 40GB for Option 3. Outside of peak times there remains no fixed download limit.

Neil Armstrong, PlusNet's product development director said that the usage increases have been made possible by PlusNet's Workplace platform management

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of its broadband network.

'We are completely transparent about our network traffic management,' Armstrong said. 'To the degree that we publish a representation of the data transferred across our network on our website. On our site you can clearly see how much, what type and when data is prioritised. No other ISP is doing this.'

Armstrong criticised BT for failing to pass on cost savings to ISPs, despite benefiting from the rise in demand for broadband.

Bandwidth demand has grown across the millions of ADSL broadband users, he explained, and ISPs have had to buy more bandwidth from BT Wholesale or restrict the usage per customer to accommodate the overall increase in data transfer. As a result, he said, BT Wholesale have benefited from the economies of scale, but not passed on any cost benefit to ISPs.

'It's been frustrating to see a lack of value for money at the wholesale level, holding back Broadband Britain during the past year or so,' Armstrong said. 'Now, due to the efficient way we deliver data, we can raise usage allowances in advance of expected cost reductions due next spring.'