Telecom's Big Time plan is getting mixed reviews from early adopters.

Telecom spokeswoman Emma-Kate Greer says more than 3000 people have signed up for the plan, which gives customers unlimited downloads for $69.95 a month.

Telecom reserves the right to slow internet traffic, particularly during peak times between 3pm and 11pm.

Big Time customer Terry Summers says there has been a noticeable reduction in speed during peak hours.

"But as they said they were going to do that, it's not really any skin off my nose."

Tyler Roslowski, another Big Time customer, says the plan means he can now watch YouTube videos in high definition without worrying about his bill. He was previously a customer of World Exchange and says the average download speed on his connection was 200 kilobits per second. "I'm now getting 6 or 7Mbps. It's phenomenally fast."

Posts on online technology forum Geekzone reveal not all customers like the new plan: "Anyone switching to this plan should have zero expectations of having usable internet between 9am and 2am," says one member.

Another says international traffic on the plan is "simply horrendous".

Geekzone members have also complained about poor YouTube performance.

Ms Greer says the average download speed on Big Time is "currently consistent" with that of other plans.

There had been no problems with caching but a minor network issue that affected all Telecom broadband customers may have been responsible for the slow performance of YouTube, she says. Caching will improve as more content is stored on local servers.

- © Fairfax NZ News