A HAMMER HEAD CLOUD appears to be building up on Usenet over a move by AOL to limit UK subscribers to a pitiful 30 hours a month. AOL wants to charge a penny a minute if the 24/7 unmetered subscribers overdraw their 30 hours a month, it appears.
One user on the Usenet board said: "Just had a letter from AOL saying because I"m not on BT or NTL my service is being cut from 24/7 to 30 Hours per month for the same price of £15.99!!! What am I going to do? And what can you do in an hour a day?"
AOL said in a letter to subscribers:
"As you are probably aware AOL pioneered flat-rate Internet access in the UK introducing the service to AOL members two years ago. Since then we have been working with telecom providers on the continual improvement and expansion of our network. AOL is committed to giving our members the best online experience and customer care. In the near future we will only be able to offer our AOL FLAT RATE price plan to members who access the AOL service using a line provided by BT, NTL or Telewest (excluding Telewest Eurobell customers). This is necessary because we require an underlying unmetered connection from your telephone company in order to offer you a service on a flat-rate basis.
Unlike telephone companies serving the vast majority of our members, and despite continued lobbying, the unmetered connection currently offered to us by the telephone provider you have selected to access AOL is not sustainable. Your price plan will shortly be changed to a new plan, called AOL 30 HOUR, that we hope will meet your needs. Using our specified access number, this will allow you to connect to AOL and the Internet for up to 30 hours each monthly billing cycle for a monthly flat fee of £15.99."