Plusnet reports high broadband latency

Plusnet's fibre optic broadband customers may have seen their connections hampered by higher-than-expected latency this week.

The Yorkshire-based internet service provider (ISP) revealed it saw an increase in traffic as Apple iPhone owners logged on to download the latest version of the iOS mobile operating system.

In a post on the company's official blog, Matt Turner of Plusnet explained: "The down side of all this extra traffic is an increase in latency, or the time taken for data to move over our network."

However, thanks to the design of the ISP's network, time-critical traffic - such as Skype and online gaming - is given priority and should consequently not have suffered, he insisted.

Plusnet is now urging its customers to get in touch if they experienced broadband problems in recent days as a result of the iOS 5 release.

Rival provider AAISP also reported a surge in traffic, describing levels of consumption as "unprecedented".