October 16, 2000 - October 20, 2000

News - October 20,2000

EcosseTel & ViaTel + FRIACO = ISP

By:mark.j @ 10:50:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Sometime ago we reported on the Telco EcosseTel that were to offer unmetered net access via FRIACO on their Vroom2 named service. According to Net4Nowt they have now signed a deal with ViaTel to fix themselves with 1,000 FRIACO enabled exchanges:

The first ten cities to be covered are as follows: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Bradford, Wolverhampton, Glasgow and Edinburgh. These cities are expected to be operational by the end of October. The rest of the U.K. will be covered on a roll out basis commencing with South East England and Central Scotland.

Kevin McGillivray, Sales Director for EcosseTel commented: "Pre-registrations for our two access packages have been strong, showing that the interest we predicted in unmetered access to be well founded. As our company gets into its fifth year of operations we feel that FRIACO unmetered access is going to be the way forward."

What's really interesting is the way FRIACO is being rolled out like broadband, only faster. We can't be but wonder whether this could be the first sign that rural areas may end up getting a raw deal. Either way a quick visit to the site shows the public details:

Web browsing - surf to your heart's content.

Unlimited email and 5 email boxes per account.

Access to over 30,000 newsgroups on our usenet servers. (Extra newsgroups can be added on request)

Free unified messaging service, with voicemail, faxmail and SMS messaging. (Extra charges may apply for use of those services)

Freephone technical helpline.

Free CD-ROM to help you set up the dial-up access codes to Vroom2, or you can simply make a new DUN connection - it's really easy! Access is via our FRIACO 0808 998 0123 uncharged number.

V90 modem connection. Up to 56k modem speed

There are two packages, although only one residential one at £49.99 per year (above). However business users may find the £14.99 Per Month ISDN option more to their liking.

Freeserve Put Signups on Hold and Improve Network

By:rich.p @ 9:32:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Freeserve have now posted their latest weekly update on the current problems:

"Thursday, October 19th 2000, 18:00

Freeserve is aware that some members in certain parts of the country have experienced some busy tones when trying to get online. We have taken a number of steps to restore this service to its usual high quality. These measures have included adding further capacity to our network, and the removal of some users who were placing abnormal demands on the network.

We have temporarily suspended new sign-ups to Unlimited Freeserve Time so that our existing member base receives an improved service. This is in accordance with our policy, stated at the launch of Unlimited Freeserve Time, of carefully matching usership with available network capacity.

We are in the process of implementing several further capacity upgrades including further modem banks, interconnect ports and diverting traffic onto a new dedicated CVXIP network.

We have received high demand for our unmetered access offers following the withdrawal of unmetered offers by several other Internet Service Providers, and have been limiting new sign-ups to only a few thousand per week compared to 10,000 as week when Unlimited Freeserve Time launched in April.

Freeserve continues to offer pay-as-you-go metered access to the Internet, unmetered access at off-peak times for £5.99 per month and, for high-speed, 'always on' connections, the FreeservePlus broadband ADSL service www.freeserve.com/plus

We apologise to those existing members who have experience busy tones. We will continue to post updates on the site."

Only time will tell whether these latest network upgrades have any affect on the service. It still seems odd that Freeserve continued to allow signups when they new that people would have a lot of trouble getting on.

Freeserve Struck From FTSE 100

By:rich.p @ 9:01:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Freeserve is to be dropped from the FTSE 100 on Monday. This is mainly because of two larger companies British Gas and P&O demerging parts of their companies. The demerged arms of these larger companies are bigger than Freeserve, which means it will be pushed out of the list. How will this affect the share price?

News - October 19,2000

PlusNet ADSL Bandwidth Limit

By:rich.p @ 7:46:PM - Comments (13) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

A report on ZDNet informs of how PlusNet plan to limit the Bandwidth use of their ADSL products:

"PlusNet's ADSL service has a daily bandwidth allocation per customer of 500MB. This would allow users around 2.7 hours of downloads. In its terms and conditions, PlusNet reserves the right to charge users who exceed this limit a higher monthly charge. "This would include applications such as transmitting or receiving live video, live audio or other similar traffic demands across the network," reads the statement."

From a visit to PlusNet's site it looks like the company will limit Bandwidth on all its ADSL offerings but to a varying degree from around 500MB to 3GB. This seems to defeat the object of an always on Broadband service. How can you expect to watch a streaming video or download if your bandwidth is limited? They will even throw you off the service for hogging the bandwidth too much.

New BT Pricing + Free Off-Peak Local Calls

By:rich.p @ 7:14:PM - Comments (9) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This is an update to the previous news items surrounding the rumours of free calls. Just a bit of BT comment and a few extra details. The new pricing structure direct from BT. There are now 4 discount package options available:

The existing BT Together package, for £11.99 a month (including line rental)

BT Talk Together, for £14.99 (including line rental) where customers will not have to pay any more for local phone calls at evenings and weekends*

BT Surf Together, for £14.99 (including line rental) offering inclusive evening and weekend internet calls to SurfTime participating ISPs.

BT Talk & Surf Together, for £17.99 a month (including line rental), which combines unlimited off peak phone calls* and internet calls through SurfTime participating ISPs.

All these packages will come into effect from 1 December 2000.

Angus Porter, MD of BT's consumer division said "In research, customers have given these new packages a big thumbs-up, once they realised we were serious. For example, they think that the ability to make as many local phone calls as they like at evenings and weekends by paying just £5 on top of their standard line rental of £9.99 represents great value for money."

Notice the standard line rental is now at £9.99, which is, a 73p increase on the current line rental but this will now include a call allowance of £1.80, which is £1 higher than before.

If you were to decide to switch to the Free Off Peak local call options you do lose the Call allowance in BTT as it is exchanged for the unlimited calls. As The Register has mentioned before after 1-hour calls will incur a 1ppm charge.

Customers can get more information about this on 0800 055 555 and BT are also starting to take orders for the service. Is this a welcome to change or just too little to late?

Line Rental & Free Calls Confirmed By BT

By:mark.j @ 3:55:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

All the buzz surrounding BT's introduction of free Off-Peak local calls for December 1st has today forced them into a press meeting - in fact it's just started now - 3:50pm. In this meeting BT are expected to fully confirm the recently leaked details about free local calls.

On top of that The Register is reporting on BT's justification for the small, yet obvious, increase in line rental - BT's FAQ:

Q: Why is BT increasing line rental?

A: BT's residential line rental is currently provided at a loss. This loss is recovered when customers make calls with BT. By increasing the line rental BT is aiming to make a better return on its line rental product.

Q: Isn't line rental too expensive anyway? How do you defend yet another increase?

A: We believe that the line rental still represents good value for money. Residential customers receive 24 hour access to some of the worlds' most competitive call prices and a world-wide telephone network from one of the world's leading telecommunications companies. The line is fully maintained, with no additional charge being made for repair or call-out should things go wrong during normal working hours. When you report a fault on your telephone line we will try to ensure it is working by the end of the next working day.

If we do not meet our promise, Residential customers can claim the monthly line rental for each day the line is faulty. On top of this, the quarterly rental covers services such as 1471, Phonebook entry and access to the '999' emergency services. Whilst BT is mindful of customers' concerns over rental charges, we are determined to provide our customers with a first class service 24 hours a day.

The first answer isn't normally what you'd expect from BT, they are basically saying outright that it's to get more money and have given no real reason for the increase itself. Although from our point of view it's just to help offset the introduction of free local calls (off-peak).

Should BLAIR Step In On LLU Crisis?

By:mark.j @ 11:13:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) is now starting to attract growing attention and is steadily becoming an economic crisis for the UK. All the while the very leaders (Tony Blair as one of many) who originally committed themselves to having LLU done by January - say nothing.

Today there have been calls from industry wide officials for the PM Tony Blair to step in and see the serious situation for himself - oh yes, then do something about it!:

At a heads of state conference in Portugal in March the prime minister signed up to an European Commission regulation calling on incumbent telcos across Europe to open their networks to competitors by the beginning of 2001. Since then the EC has worked hard to make the regulation legally binding.

Telecoms ministers signed a further commitment to the timetable at the beginning of October.

But director of corporate development at GTS Iain Osborne believes it is time for the prime minister to step into what has become an increasingly complex row. "At Lisbon the PM said it was a major priority," says Osborne. Since then however, both Oftel and e-minister Patricia Hewitt have defended BT's decision to delay unbundling until July. Both argue that the wording of the EC document means Britain needs only a 'legal framework' for unbundling by January.

The article @ ZDNet doesn't mention that it's now so late there's very little doubt LLU will be delayed one way or another. As usual one of the biggest technological scandals this year seems to go almost un-noticed by the mass media. If the media got behind some of these issues and forgot about things such as cloned frogs, something might get done.

Draft Cyber Crime Treaty Attacked

By:mark.j @ 11:00:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It seems that no matter how much people and even LAW disagree with these new RIP/E-Mail monitoring systems and agreements, governments the world over appear to take little or no notice. What does it say when governments can flout such pressing matters and ignore the obvious concerns?

Today yet another clash has happened over the draft international cybercrime treaty between world governments:

An international coalition of 28 human rights and civil liberties groups has called on the Council of Europe to alter its draft treaty on International cybercrime, warning that the agreement could violate the European Convention on Human Rights and rob Internet users of their freedom.

The Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC) attacks draft proposals to increase the power given to law enforcers to intercept international communications and traffic data as part of their investigations. The group says such measures would give police forces free range to wiretap Internet users and would be open to abuse.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Council of Europe secretary general Walter Schwimmer the GILC also objects to proposals that allow a country to have investigate individuals without first establishing that they have done something wrong. The group says this measure is also open to abuse by law enforcement bodies.

The article @ ZDNet is an excellent summary of the problems faced and not just by this draft agreement either. We simply can't understand why governments fail to notice the publics concern when they don't impose any strict regulation on such systems and agreements. Or in other words, who monitors the monitor?

WAP-NG Coming To Mobiles

By:mark.j @ 10:48:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

WAP, it's that funny 4-5 lines of badly done text which can be got on some internet phones, the only good feature being E-Mail. However as with any technology it expands and grows, hopefully improving along the way and that's where WAP-NG (Next Generation) comes in:

At the moment it is unclear whether WAP-NG will be based on XHTML, which should provide XML functionality to the markup language or Java.

One school of thought believes that NTT is particularly keen on a XHTML because it could supercede WML-based WAP, and therefore be backwards compatible with cHTML – used for the Japanese I-Mode service. The I-Mode service is believed to account for around 60% of the world’s wireless users, according to Eurotechnology.

A spokesperson for Phone.com said: “We would view XHTML as providing an excellent route for backwards compatibility with I-Mode services. However, NTT went for cHTML as a recipe for a quick win in Japan – clearly a good choice.”

NetImperative does a good job of explaining the fundamentals behind the updated technology, but not really what it changes for the consumers? Here's looking for a PocketPC (WindowsCE3) / WAP Phone hybrid =).. hmmm kinder like:

^Don't start getting your hopes up and no it doesn't use WindowsCE3 (PPC), but it is a hybrid of Palmtop and Mobile technology - now that's what we want!

EU ISPs Are Pirate Havens

By:mark.j @ 10:35:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Apparently there seems to be a growing number of ISPs in Europe that are acting as software pirate havens by not taking down members websites that contain illegal software - naughty:

These ISPs fail to comply with 'take-down' notices for pirate sites served by the BSA, Margo Miller, head of the European internet enforcement unit, told IT news site Silicon.com.

The BSA is lobbying the EU for tougher laws to help its anti-piracy crackdowns. And last month it sent take-down notices to European ISPs hosting 400 sites offering illegal software downloads. The anti-piracy organisation claims a 91 per cent success rate, according to Silicon.com. So that makes 36 sites hosted by rogue ISPs in Europe, by our calculation.

The Register doesn't really go into much detail, but this is certainly something ISPs in the UK don't like. Probably because it means ISPs here are now technically responsible for anything their members have online, a little over the top, but that’s the UK for you.

BT Has Listened - NO REALLY!

By:mark.j @ 10:29:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's fair to say that people haven't exactly been best pleased with BT over the last few months and even years. However today they claim their new 'Free Local Evening Calls' as a triumph and proving they do listen to people, so do they?:

"This new set of choices from BT offers a simpler pricing structure and something for everyone whether they use the phone line a lot or just a little."

"We spoke to customers who reinforced our belief that simple prices and all-in-one packages were the best solutions to meet the changing ways people use their telephone today."

"We were also able to build on the success and popularity of BT Together, simply by introducing unlimited local evening and weekend calls instead of an inclusive call allowance"

The article @ The Register is simply showing BT trying to cash in on doing something good for once.

Inferno on RedHotAnt

By:mark.j @ 10:17:AM - Comments (24) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

A quick visit to our forums or a look at our E-Mail complaints tends to suggest that RedHotAnts new number is actually worse than the old. In fact we've had our own fare share of problems when testing it, strange lag sensations (can't explain) and all sorts.

Well today PlanetInferno decided it'd try to summarise some of the issues in a short news item:

RedHotAnt have officially dumped their original number 0808 1050003 and replaced it with xxx010. This would be great, if it improved service. However, since the change, users have complained of:

- Low Bandwidth

- Continuing authorisation problems

- No compression

- Dual ISDN disabled

From a personal view we've experience every single one on that list as well, it now seems to have passed onto the Beta number, which ironically wasn't so bad before. So please let us know how RHA is going for you, is it just peachy or more like a mouldy old pie?

News - October 18,2000

LibertySurfing IT

By:mark.j @ 6:51:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just have a look:

http://www.simstok.co.uk

ISP Review Site Update

By:mark.j @ 6:49:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We're kinder missing out on reviews this month while we make the site more interactive and spend time talking to our readers and resolving their problems. We've also been re-designing sub sections and getting ready to introduce some new ones, which many have asked for.

Anyway aside from that we've today updated the unmetered list again with the new freecall ISPs and fixed a few things. We've also removed the 'Breathe' ISP topic from our forum and replaced with 'NTL' and added 'Surfing Rabbit' - both by popular demand.

We've also sent some E-Mails and made a few phone calls to ISPs regarding issues people have raised on our forum. The fruits/results of which, we hope to mention in the news tomorrow. It's been a long day and we're all off to the pub =).. Ok no, we're going to update ISPr because it's cold out heh.

Surfing Rabbit Update

By:mark.j @ 2:10:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

If you're an avid reader of ISPreview then SurfingRabbit should still be tingling in the back of your mind. It's the other Telco\ISP next to FreeChariot set to offer 24/7 unmetered local calls.

Anyway, one of our very own staff members (Ross) has signed up to keep tabs on things, this is what he had to say in today’s forum update:

I spoke to a guy at Nationwide Tel (the company behind surfingrabbit) today and he told me (I think he was a boss or something) that no diallers have been sent out yet, and no-one is on the service.

They have received thousands of applications, and diallers will begin to be shipped within the next 7 days or something like that....

We're really looking forward to seeing what's going to happen with BT, FC and SR over this new generation of Telecommunications. Just be warned that with the obvious exception of BT, the others may not support ISDN yet.

BT's Off-Peak Free Local Call Prices

By:mark.j @ 2:00:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not long ago BT revealed they had plans to introduce a free local calls package for Off-Peak times. The launch date was set for December 1st 2000, however the prices at the time weren't set in stone.

Today, thanks to more accurate BT Internal documents leaked to the press, we can finally see exactly what they have planned so far:

BT Talk Together will cost £14.99 a month and includes line rental plus an unlimited number of local evening and weekend phone calls, as well as discounted national and international calls.

BT Surf Together provides line rental and unlimited Internet calls - to SurfTime-affiliated ISPs only - during the evenings and weekends. It will also provide discounted national and international calls - and all for £14.99 a month.

For those who want both unmetered off-peak Net and voice calls, BT is to introduce BT Talk & Surf Together. This includes line rental plus an unlimited number of local phone and Internet calls (to SurfTime numbers) during the evenings and weekends plus discounted national and international calls - and all for £17.99 a month.

There's more price details @ The Register, however the above should cover the most important elements. That aside and BT are far from being the first, with SurfingRabbit offering similar and FreeChariot doing the same - Telecommunications are changing fast.

Commundo ISP

By:Ross14 @ 1:52:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Commundo - We guess that you have never really heard of this ISP, but they are from Lycos, one of the biggest and best known Search Engines on the Web.

Well, we thought it might be worth a mention, since they do offer free calls to the net, well, 30mins a day is free isn't it?!

You simply sign-up to Commundo online via their website and you then have to pay £19.99 for a dialler to connect you to Glow Telecom in order to get the free net minutes, but that's not all, you also get:

30% cheaper phone calls - without leaving BT!
30 minutes of free internet calls every day
additional internet calls at just 1 pence per minute
fast connection speed
unlimited free emails
100mb webspace and homepage building tools

And the £19.99 that you spent for the dialler, well it's redeemable against your first 4 Glow Telecom bills, so your a winner all around.

It's a good offer, but it may be too much hassle for some folks.

If you want to know more then visit www.commundo.co.uk.

Scot's Get That Jings! Feeling

By:mark.j @ 10:41:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've heard of ISPs running in England, Spain and the rest of Europe, but have you ever seen a 'Culture' targeted one? Or ISPs that try to specifically hit a region or culture of the world.

Either way a new ISP called Jings! has decided to launch and is aimed firmly at the 'wired scot'. Due to go live today in Glasgow and backed by iomart (Madasafish), the ISP hopes to offer unmetered and broadband solutions:

The company's slogan is "Nae Tartan. Nae Shortbread" and targets the 'modern Scot'. It will offer ADSL as well as standard dial-up access. Customers will be offered a choice between Jings! Unmetered Lite, which will offer unmetered access in the evening and at weekends for £11.99 monthly, and Jings! Unmetered Total which will offer 24/7 unmetered access for £27.99 monthly.

Email, including WAPmail, web space, shopping, domain name registration, helpdesk and email support and local content is also provided.

The article @ ZDNet quite simply shows another unmetered ISP trying to enter the race, but will they last? With a price tag some £8 above 24-7Freecall - you'd certainly hope so.

Cable Modems Come To SME's

By:mark.j @ 10:17:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This morning CableNews are reporting that Telewest are to expand their Blueyonder Cable Modem service to SME's (Business). The new service will be called 'workwise' and integrate fast broadband with a business portal - http://www.byworkise.com :

Chairman of blueyonder workwise, Peter Wood, said:

"The beauty of blueyonder workwise is that it will give small businesses big-business scale. It will allow them to compete on a level playing field technologically in the e-economy without the need for hugely expensive IT systems and management.".

Previously Cable Modems had only been available to residential customers for many reasons, including the inability to give a speed guarantee (shared bandwidth). It's not yet clear how the new offer will improve/fix the issue.

RedHotAnt Number Change

By:mark.j @ 10:10:AM - Comments (21) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Well after much beta testing we finally found the following E-Mail in this mornings inbox:

Dear User,

Important change to our Dial-up Numbers

After extensive testing of the new 0808 dial up number and the continued connectivity and authentication problems on our existing 0808 dial up number, we are now advising all customers to change the number used to access the RedHotAnt network. The old number in question, 0808 1050003 is being replaced with the new number, 0808 1050010.

We also have a secondary number that users may try, but please note this number is still in its final testing stage, although many of our users have reported it to be perfectly acceptable. The secondary dial up number is 0800 015 9969.

Regards

RedHotAnt

People trying out the numbers have found them to work extremely well and it's hoped things will stay that way. RHA aren't perfect, but it does seem as though some real efforts are starting to be made.

News - October 17,2000

ISDN to ADSL information

By:Rob.W @ 9:44:PM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We have some information regarding the people stuck on ISDN at the moment and want to upgrade to ADSL.

Iain from Nildram has posted over at ADSLGuide has said:
"BT is trialing a facility to enable a customer with a BT ISDN2 or Home/Business Highway line to convert this to a BT provided single exchange line over which an ADSL based Broadband Service can be delivered (subject to line test).

I've just been informed by BT that this trial will now be expanded to cover all of the 516 ADSL enabled exchanges.

Standard connection charges for the new Exchange Line will be charged by BT - £99 (inc Vat for residential customers and exc. VAT for business customers).

The lead-time for BT to convert the existing ISDN2 or Home/Business Highway to a Broadband enabled single Exchange Line is 15 working days."

Apparently Nildram are one of the trialists in this scheme but it would be interesting to know how many other trialists there are involved in this. Is £99 really too high though to get your HH/ISDN2e converted?

GTS Going ADSL

By:mark.j @ 6:53:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

GTS is the newest group set to offer ADSL/Broadband, however they intend to buy it from Telco's taking part in LLU and not buy into LLU themselves:

IP services operator GTS has confirmed that it will be entering the wholesale ADSL service market - bypassing the need to install equipment at BT’s exchanges.

The company has expressed a desire to buy wholesale products from those operators who will participate in the unbundling of the local loop. Like virtual mobile operators, this may be a cheaper deal from the outset than building the infrastructure itself.

Iain Osborne, director of corporate development at GTS said that it is capital intensive to install DSLAMs and other co-location technologies into an exchange. He said: “To put DSLAMs into enough exchanges to get coverage across a city is very expensive.” He adds that the incremental cost for switching additional customers is small and therefore this is where the company will concentrate its efforts.

The article @ NetImperative is quite interesting, especially since two Telco's who thought it'd be cheaper to do broadband by purchasing exchanges ended up forgetting it completely. This is simply because a price difference doesn't really exist, the only way to make it cheaper is to circumvent some of the exchange hardware - SDSL.

Still, the proofs in the pudding, with rumours of potential price drops by BTOpenworld it certainly looks like third parties will have to find cheaper methods in order to survive. As usual the matters are made worse by delays.

DPC Hits Back @ R.I.P Again

By:mark.j @ 6:46:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Once again RIP (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) is in the spotlight as the Data Protection Commission updates its previous claims that their new bill conflicts with RIP:

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that a draft code of practice published by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) will conflict with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act, leaving companies confused about whether they can lawfully monitor employees’ email.

The DPC draft is part of a consultation period, due to finish in January, which will spell out the rights of employees in issues including their personal communications.

According to the CBI, the DPC draft could outlaw random monitoring of email and phone conversations: “This draft causes confusion and uncertainty,” said Nigel Hickson, head of e-business group, CBI. “We’ve been working with the DTI since August to establish a fair compromise on the RIP Act. This just takes us back a step.”

The article @ NetImperative is basically an update on the conflict we were already made aware of last month. You can't help but wonder just which side is actually doing all the compromising.

Unmetered WAP By Breathe

By:mark.j @ 6:10:PM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Now here's a first, unmetered Internet access for WAP phone users all thanks to the Breathe ISP:

The offer is part of a limited promo available until the end of November.

Breathe reckons that the offer will help show that WAP really is something to behold and that it isn't just a useless gimmick for people with too much time on their hands.

However, there is a snag. The unmetered offer using a toll-free 0800 number is only available "free" to Orange and One2One users.

We're surprised they haven't supported BTCellnet, although perhaps BTCellnet being so expensive makes it difficult for them to snare a good deal? The article @ The Register is certainly a first for WAP users, although personally I think WAPs poo =).

ISP Review Site Update

By:mark.j @ 5:31:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've been very busy today and finally found several ways to physically integrate automated forum content directly onto the main ISPr page. However with so many changes happening we need to re-build the forum, this should take about 30Mins.

As such we're going to close the forum from now for a little while, it should be back up in a few mins and I'll post an update. This will make sure none of you get corrupted posts =).

UPDATE:
The forum update/data re-build didn’t take as long as I thought and has now been completed, so yes, it’s open again.

BT Speedway ISDN Cards - FIXED

By:mark.j @ 1:10:PM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's strange, but we always seem to read about the problems people have with BT's Speedway ISDN PCI and External cards. Most of the problems are with Windows98, everything from BSOD's (Blue Screen Of Death) to DUN hangs.

This is not usually the kinder news item we'd post, but since we've got the answer it might as well be shared. Firstly the BT Speedway card is made by AVM in Germany and under them is known as the Fritz PCI ISDN card.

Now the drivers BT Supply, even their newest ones, are actually nearly two years old at the core and don't take advantage of Win98, ME and 2000's new network driver system. So instead just forget the BT rubbish, uninstall the software and drivers then look at the following:

1) http://www.avm.de/ftp/cardware/fritzcrd.pci/index.htm
2) http://www.avm.de/ftp/programs/capiport/index.htm
3) http://www.avm.de/ftp/programs/ndiswan/index.htm

Remember the only difference is the logo; hardware is the same. Go to all these locations and download the files at each for your selected operating system. Then unpack them; it'd help if you renamed each DIR from DISK to DISK 1 in the order above (they all unpack to the same place - confusing).

Then basically point Windows to the location for No.1 and install the card/follow the usual process (we won't go into detail over this - too long). After a re-boot move to No.2 and install the Capi Port v2 drivers (this is what fixes most problems), accept the packet size changes it suggests because that'll give you an extra 1-2K on downloads above the usual 14.5Kps.

Finally you can either reboot or just do it directly after No.2, but install the 3rd by right clicking that .INF file and selecting install - now re-boot.

So there you go, should be no more BSODs or strange problems because these drivers are bang up-to-date, even with Windows Millennium!

BT Avoids FRIACO Supply !AGAIN!

By:mark.j @ 11:14:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We are in close contact with three ISPs and two Telco's, all of whom hoped to have FRIACO installed by now. Originally slated for a 1st October introduction (something like their 3rd or 4th delay since May) it slipped a few days, then it didn’t arrive and slipped a few more.

Not long ago we heard that various parties had been told it would finally arrive around mid-October, guess what, it seems to have slipped =). Take note we're talking about the Telco/ISP side and not the exchanges, most of which are now FRIACO enabled.

One group (not named) talking on a related matter described BT as:

It was a nightmare kind of day, you never know whether they are just being stupid or just trying to be as unhelpful as they could possibly be.

We tried to get some details out of BT, but as ever it's not so much finding somebody to talk to as finding the right person to talk with. BT doesn't seem to have a spokesman for unmetered access or anybody that can tell you anything about it other than their own Surftime product. If they did then we certainly can't find them.

Hopefully this is only a minor delay, but one thing is for sure, everybody’s had enough of BT claiming to the media that FRIACO has been available since May - it only recently got installed on exchanges! Brings a whole new meaning to 'available', perhaps they should check the dictionary sometime?

0800Unlimited Troubles

By:mark.j @ 11:01:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

0800Unlimited was to be another one of those unmetered ISPs that simply didn't make any kind of economic sense to run. Or in other words, another ISP we advised against joining until it could prove itself.

That said and not long ago the domains vanished, until today where it now states (thanks to Christian):

This is a message from the Company who registered the series of 0800unlimited domain names for our clients "0800 Net.com"
This web site and all other domain names purchased by "0800 Net.com" are now suspended.

We have recently received a number of enquiries for contact details of "0800 Net.com". Data Protection legislation prohibits our providing any information about 0800 Net.com and accordingly we are unable to supply any information about them.

Please do not contact us about 0800 Net.com. We have and continue to have no trading relationship with them other than they purchased domain names and web space from us.

Regards,
Hostmaster
Fast Web Services

Read it for yourself over @ http://www.0800unlimited.com/ , but generally this doesn't look like good news to us.

Broadband For Apps NOT Services

By:mark.j @ 10:54:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

More broadband news then than you can shake a stick at today, but this items certainly unusual. Operators are claiming that it'll be the applications available over xDSL and cable - and not the services themselves - that'll spark mainstream interest:

Speaking at the NetEvents symposium in Marbella last week, Brendon Mills, president of carrier General Bandwidth, said xDSL and other technologies would only take off if customers became aware of the benefits that broadband applications could deliver.

Mills brought a whole new meaning to the term 'fat pipe' when he told uk.internet.com that the applications available over DSL would make the service, "better than crack cocaine - it will be that good". He added that UK users are becoming addicted to broadband after using cable. "Cable access should be a stepping stone to DSL."

However, IDC analyst Pim Bilderbeek warned that the cable service had been poorly marketed and rolled across the UK. "There are too many disgruntled cable users in Britain," he said.

The article is certainly different, looking at it from a critical perspective it seems to suggest that Brendon Mills is a drug user =). Not only that but the following quote is fairly misleading:

users are becoming addicted to broadband after using cable

Hold on, doesn't cable have Cable Modems that are cheaper and more widely available than ADSL? True C-Modems haven't exactly been marketed well and in fact the media herald ADSL as the first broadband solution, when it's clearly NOT.

Despite that we've never had a single complaint about Cable Modem speeds and services, if you'd like to complain then please do. Is what this man says true or false?

Source: UK.Internet

BTOpenworld Gets Preferential Treatment

By:mark.j @ 10:38:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Many believe BT as a whole are highly uncompetitive and from the news stories we see every day it's the picture anybody would form.

Today’s target is BTOpenworld (ADSL), who claims not to be given special treatment by BT, so that's why they went live first and had the hardware first?:

BTopenworld denied Monday that it is given preferential treatment by parent company BT but admits it will not be taking part in unbundling.

The denial comes as rival operator Energis submits a second complaint to the telecoms watchdog Oftel outlining its dealings with the telco over the rollout of ADSL. It follows a joint complaint from a group of operators, asking Oftel to ensure that BT competes fairly with other operators in the rollout of broadband services.

BTopenworld's chief executive Ben Andradi claimed that the Internet arm of the telco operates on a level playing field with other operators. "I reject any idea of preferential treatment. We get no benefit from Ignite [the network arm of BT which supplies wholesale ADSL to operators]," he said in an interview with ZDNet News. He admitted, however, that BTopenworld will not be taking unbundled services from BT, despite it widely being regarded as a cheaper alternative to buying wholesale ADSL.

The article @ ZDNet shows BTO's slippery eel tactics as they try to avoid answering the real questions. As is typical with most companies, they turn important questions into publicity for their own service.

What do you think? We'd like to hear from Telco's and people in general. Are BT giving BTO benefits that others don't and if so then what?

BTOpenworlds ADSL Woes

By:mark.j @ 10:22:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It seems that even those are now physically able to get ADSL not only suffer from more delays, but general admin problems as well - typical:

Here's what you've been telling us - and as always, we've kept the comments anonymous since these people are currently trying to get ADSL installed and we don't want to jeopardise that.

Here's what one hacked off punter wrote: "BT's order management desk never received my order and it took sales more than two weeks to find it again (their system recognised my credit card when I tried to re-order - so I had to wait for them to find the original again)."

"By the time the line test was ordered my provisional installation date had come and gone. The line test had taken 13 days, apparently, because they lost my first order, it was marked to be done manually so it did not get lost again. I have read about people who have ordered ADSL through an independent ISP getting their line test results the same day!"

The article @ The Register is certainly interesting, but it's also nothing new because exactly the same always happens with BT. When the ISDN Home Highway service launched three years ago I was one of the first to sign up, yet it took three months before we actually got anything.

Ironically the exact same problem as ADSL subscribers are having and also around the same delays, seems to be some kinder trend with BT?

News - October 16,2000

Oftels LLU Handling Pushes UK Back

By:mark.j @ 2:47:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Oftel isn't exactly the peachiest place to work at the moment, facing attacks from all corners and just recently being called in by MPs takes its toll. However with the EU about to make the deadline of 1st January 2001 official, things can only get worse.

In fact the possibility we will even make such a deadline is now so remote that BT's original estimate of summer next year looks more realistic. All this is fast pushing the UK back behind the rest of the world in terms of LLU and Broadband, not good:

Speaking at the NetEvents symposium in Marbella, Rory O'Connor, director of DSL and local access at KPN Qwest, said 1 January 2001 is the critical deadline for unbundling. "If we don't start seeing some action by then, the UK could find itself two or three years behind the US in terms of net access," he said.

"Oftel has a very important role to play, but it has come into the game too late, it obviously didn't believe broadband would be the big business that it is."

O'Connor warned that Oftel's delay and leniency over dealing with BT would also put too much pressure on carriers seeking to access the local loop, forcing many of them out of business.

The article @ UK.Internet is one of a few to put down in clear English just what the consequences of Oftels actions, or lack of, could be. It looks like one way or another there's a good chance some business won't be around for LLU's completion =(.

BTs Personal Portal

By:mark.j @ 2:36:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

When somebody invites you to look at their Personal portal it's usually worth a moments quite shock. That's until you realise its actually a customized BTOpenWorld site for specific people, well of course.

Yes BT's broadband wing '' seems to be up to something that's not actually so broadband after all. They are creating a site that can be access by any medium from PDA's to PC's and can.. well.. read for yourselves:

The Personal openworld Portal, or PoP – a single entry point for accessing BT broadband internet services by PC, WAP, PDA or TV – was announced today. The telco giant claims the service will be a UK first.

The new portal, which will initially be available through PC or mobile and then extended to cover televisions and other devices, will be free for BT’s broadband, narrowband and Genie customers while consumers on other ISPs can still have free access to the portal following registration, BT said.

The service will offer each user a personalised homepage featuring their preferred content with relevant news flashes, email, instant messaging, internet call waiting, call minder, an address book, and a diary, all accessible via any internet device.

All sounds very interesting and you can read a lot more @ NetImperative, but just what does it have to do with broadband? Quite simple, the content comes from their business partners so it's all about cooperation. No wait - we mean money! Hmm but it's free so... oh just give up..

ISPreview Site Update

By:mark.j @ 2:12:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just a quick news item to keep you all informed, today we reset the Readers Top 50, so the floodgates are open to see which is the best. On top of that we also made some more changes to the forum, but mainly admin/staff - so nothing important.

We've also spent an hour going through all your complaints from the last week and a half, Freeserve still being the most hated of all. IGClick seems to be getting users heated as well and not to mention 24-7Freecall that is becoming increasingly unpopular.

Aside from that the usual Excite 0800/Telewest and NTL concerns and complaints crept in.

Oftel Summoned by MPs

By:mark.j @ 11:08:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Barely weeks after the Labour Government backed Oftel officially, they have suddenly taken a U-Turn. Now it looks like the troubled watchdog is set to appear before MPs after numerous complaints from heavy weight Telco's.

This time it looks as though Oftel chief David Edmonds is for the gallows:

Edmonds has been inundated with complaints about BT's activities and has been criticised for not pushing BT hard enough.

According to Sunday's Observer, several of the major competitors, frustrated with Oftel, have lobbied the Government directly in an attempt to bypass the regulator which is increasingly viewed as too weak to deal with BT's cohorts of legal experts. According to the Observer the companies have made their case to the Number Ten Policy Unit and to the DTI.

You can read the rest @ ZDNet, although whether summoning Oftel in front of MPs will actually do any good we just don't know. If Oftel can fool others into thinking there's not a problem, then why not a group of MPs?