At giffgaff, we work hard to deliver the best possible data service to our members, so that we all get a more consistent experience.
To make sure we're totally transparent about any new processes or policies we put in place to help achieve this, we've signed up to the Broadband Stakeholders Group Code of Practice on Traffic Management Transparency and this page will always be kept up to date with the latest information.
Section 1: Traffic management in relation to your broadband product
Note: Not including during busy times and places to manage network congestion, see Section 2
All giffgaff mobile plans
Use and availability of services, content, application and protocols on this product.
Are any services, content, applications or protocols always blocked on this product? | Yes |
If so what? | To help keep kids safe online, we filter and block 18+ sites, as classified by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). Customers are restricted from accessing adult content by default, until they prove their age using our age verification tools, as detailed here: Age restricted content and age verification. |
Are any services, content, applications or protocols always slowed down? | No |
If so what? | N/A |
Are any services, content, applications or protocols always prioritised? | Yes |
If so what? | Emergency voice traffic |
Are any managed services delivered on this product? | No |
If so, what? What impact? | N/A |
Data caps and downloads
What are the download/upload limits or data usage caps on this product? | |
Is traffic management used to manage compliance with data caps and download limits? | Yes |
Is traffic management used in relation to heavy users? | Yes |
Under what circumstances? | Customers whose use is so excessive that other customers are detrimentally affected will be warned to adjust their usage or risk disconnection. |
Section 2: Traffic management to optimise network utilisation
(what happens during busy times and places in addition to traffic management as described in section 1)
Is traffic management used during peak hours? | No |
Is traffic management used to manage congestion in particular locations? | No |
This KFI gives an overview of typical traffic management practices undertaken on this product; it does not cover circumstances where exceptional external events may impact on network congestion levels.
This excludes any service, content, application or protocol that an ISP is required to block by UK law and child abuse images as informed by the list provided by the Internet Watch Foundation.
If no entry is shown against a particular traffic type, no traffic management is typically applied to it, though overall network management rules shall apply.
In addition to the above practices, giffgaff also modifies some traffic to optimise the end-user experience. The rationale for doing so is to make best use of network capacity to support real-time applications and make efficient use of data allowances.
Glossary
Traffic management
Traffic management is the term used to describe a range of technical practices undertaken to manage traffic across networks.
The different outcomes achieved by the use of technical practices can include:
the prioritisation of certain types of traffic in busy times or busy areas to ensure that it is of an adequate quality
the slowing down of certain traffic types that are not time-critical at busy times or busy places
ensuring compliance with a consumer’s contract, for example slowing down of traffic for the heaviest users
supporting the delivery of managed services, for example to ensure a guaranteed quality of service for a specific piece of content
Managed services
The majority of internet traffic is delivered on a 'best efforts' basis. A managed service, on the other hand is one whereby an ISP offers “quality of service” that can guarantee a certain level of performance, so that the content, service or application can be delivered without risk of degradation from network congestion. Such a quality of service arrangement can be made between an ISP and a content or service provider or directly between an ISP and the consumer.
Best Efforts
This phrase relates to the delivery of internet traffic where traffic management is applied without distinctions based on the source of that traffic.
Slowed down
This outcome is achieved by the deployment of technologies that can decrease the priority of traffic types deemed to be non-time critical on the network e.g. slowing down traffic such as downloads during busy times and busy periods.
Prioritised
This outcome is achieved by the deployment of technologies that increase the priority given to certain traffic types, e.g. time-critical traffic such as video. This outcome can also be achieved as a consequence of slowing down other selected traffic which reduces the overall data flow on the network.
Heavy users
Heavy users can cause peak traffic volumes to exceed the engineered maximum load. In practice this refers to a very small proportion of users of a network whose use is excessive to the extent that it impacts on other users.
For information from Ofcom on Traffic Management, visit: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/internet-based-services/network-neutrality