Pipex customers shunted to Tiscali

By Neil Hawkins Staff Writer Friday, 14 March 2008

Pipex Customers are being Shunted over to Tiscali Compare all Tiscali Broadband packages: Compare Tiscali Broadband Related Tiscali broadband news & features See our other recent news about Tiscali broadband: Realistic Alternatives to Pipex: A guide for Pipex refugees YOU were with Pipex for a reason: price, support, reliability. So which other broadband providers are decent alternatives to Pipex? Helen Storey uncovers some surprising options that should keep ex-Pipex customers happy. Is Tiscali Broadband Any Good? IF you're a Pipex customers being shunted over to Tiscali, you're probably wondering: Is Tiscali any good? We have the answer in our comprehensive and objective look at Tiscali's broadband service. Broadband Weekly News Roundup (8th Feb 08) THIS week Tiscali has been in the news for all sorts of reasons, Neil Hawkins gives you the lowdown on this and all the other happenings. Tiscali Contract Length Cut To 12 Months THE UK's cheapest broadband provider Tiscali has not only reduced its prices - it has reduced its contract lengths on all of its broadband packages in a bid to win back the custom of broadband users afraid of commitment. Tiscali Tops Customer Satisfaction Survey CHEAP broadband provider Tiscali has confounded its critics and come out on top in a new broadband customer satisfaction survey.

MIGRATING to another broadband provider is something that is much easier nowadays, but Pipex customers are unhappy about a move which has been forced upon them.

It turns out that Pipex customers have been sneakily moved onto the Tiscali unbundled network which enables Tiscali to save money as they no longer rely on BT’s network.

Tiscali’s takeover

Pipex were bought by Tiscali in 2007 and the past couple of months have seen some customers experience mysterious downtime on their connections.

Tiscali informed customers that this was just essential maintenance and that outages would not last for long.

But under pressure from customers, Tiscali admitted that the reason for the downtime is because of the gradual transfer of Pipex customers from the BT network onto the Tiscali unbundled network.

According to The Register, Tiscali remarked that network migrations like this ‘happen all the time’.

Different Network, Same Service?

The reason this move has caused so much anger is because former Pipex customers fear they will be subject to Tiscali’s stricter traffic management policy.

Technically speaking, any degradation in service requires a 30 day notice period which gives broadband users the option to switch if they don’t agree with the new terms,

However this hasn’t happened in this case and Tiscali stated that Pipex users will be governed by the same policy which they were under before.

A Case of Deja Vu

This week a similar situation has emerged with Redten Internet, who in a more violent manner decided to dump BT as their network provider this week and is currently in the process of migrating their entire customer base to Murphx, whether they want to or not.

Forums are alive with Redten customers complaining of no warning of the changes taking place and so far all have been without broadband for three days.

After the migration takes place customers face an uncertain future because Murphx run an unbundled network for Fast4 Internet, a company not averse to controversy themselves.

It is clear that regulations preventing companies having draconian terms and condition and allowing users to switch broadband providers more easily are changes that couldn’t come sooner.

Are you being shunted over to Tiscali? If so...
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