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August 10, 2001 - August 16, 2001

News - August 16,2001

Telewest Spanner Causes Outage

By:mark.j @ 3:45:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

A serious outage in one of Telewests Edinburgh (Gyle) offices has caused 70,000 Internet and phone users to temporarily loose their service. Apparently a small fire caused the outage, although things should now be back to normal:

Today a company spokesman said they would be considering individual compensation claims for the thousands of businesses and residents cut off.

Telewest customers in the 0131 area were cut off from 2.30pm with both outgoing and incoming calls being affected.

The incident occurred when an engineer working at the firm’s capital headquarters dropped a spanner on to batteries in an equipment room, causing a spark which set off the building’s fire alarm.

You can read the full account of the incident over @ Edinburgh News.

British Online Credit Card Fraud Doubles

By:mark.j @ 3:33:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Despite recent attempts to quell the current rise in credit card fraud, especially online, it seems to have had little effect. The latest research shows fraud has nearly doubled:

A report by business information group Datamonitor on Thursday highlighted a 65 percent average increase in card fraud in Germany, Spain, Britain, Italy and France in 2000, with UK credit card crime virtually doubling from the previous year.

This chilling growth rate brought the total value of card crime in the five European countries to $693m in 2000, with Britain easily the continent's fraud blackspot at an estimated $428m (£268m).

Britain's unwelcome leadership of the card fraud league table is mainly down to the widespread use of credit and charge cards; continental Europeans prefer debt-oriented finance products, such as hire purchase.

The ZDNet item is worrying and new methods to prevent such fraud (online and offline) are still two or three years away. Until roughly 2003/2005, expect online credit card fraud to carry on climbing as more people come online without knowing how to surf securely.

MS Internet Explorer (IE) 6 Delayed

By:mark.j @ 9:54:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In case any of you are wondering why Microsoft didn't release Internet Explorer v6 as planned yesterday, it's been delayed due to a serious bug.

Apparently the recent release of IE5.5 SP2 highlighted the problem, which also exists in IE6, where the popular QuickTime movie format ends up broken; can't be played through the browser.

By the time this is being read we'd expect the bug to be fixed, although Q/A testing can often take an extra day or two. In other words, it could be next Monday before we see Microsoft’s latest browser revision.

Michael Lewis Calls Internet A Counterculture

By:mark.j @ 9:07:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Michael Lewis, the popular (kind of) author of "Liar's Poker" and "The New New Thing," claims the Internet is a counterculture. His latest book, 'Next: The Future Just Happened' (Internet survey), examines how Internet fault lines have rattled society.

Most of the subjects in Lewis' examination are teens who take on different identities before their computer screens.

There is Jonathan Lebed, a New Jersey youth who at 14 earns $800,000 within six months of trading stocks. The Internet masks Lebed's age and identity, allowing him to promote company stocks from his bedroom.

Lebed's actions provoked the ire of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - humorously detailed by Lewis - and the teen stock jockey was allowed to keep most of his profits in the wake of an investigation by regulators.

Lewis's Net teens also include 15-year-old Marcus Arnold, who manages to fool other users with his knowledge about legal matters and provokes anger from legal professionals when his identity is unmasked.

All this is what Lewis believes is part of the erosion of hierarchies by the Internet's easily-manipulated information canals. And, as is often the case with youth culture, the Internet catapults young people into adult roles.

"It is coming at an earlier age, but it's for a particular kind of a kid. And it's a kid who feels the need to be counterculture. It isn't just young people against old people. These kids are defining themselves on the Internet in a way to set themselves apart from their peers," Lewis said in a recent interview.

In an e-mail to Lewis recounted by the author, Lebed acknowledges the importance of his teen years, but he doesn't feel he has missed much by growing up sooner with his involvement in stocks. "I feel that it is very important to focus on the future right now," Lebed writes to Lewis.

Lewis closes his book with Lebed's note highlighting the teen's single-minded focus on tomorrow. For the author this note from the New Jersey teen illustrates a trend already well-documented - "the intrusion of the market into childhood."

"He went on the Internet and became a financial adult. And, that became his reason for being. So all of his life is about adult financial matters now. He doesn't play. He would argue that is not a big thing to have given up (but) he doesn't know what he gave up."

It's a very interesting thing to say, although it's worth noting that this only seems to happen with a small portion of children. Sadly if this is all the book is based on then surely it's not fair to criticise the Internet as a whole for the actions of the few, nay a serious minority?

News - August 15,2001

BigBlueSky Officially Re-Launched!

By:mark.j @ 5:04:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The once troubled unmetered ISP, BigBlueSky, has today returned to official circulation with the re-launch of their freecall ISP service.

The People's ISP, as they like to be known, was forced to suspend their unmetered service during the early summer months following a dispute with BT.

Despite much controversy, the ISP seems willing to learn from their mistakes and have a second go. BigBlueSky's Managing Director, David Singleton, was kind enough to send us the following message:

The bigbluesky has now re-launched and we have a new URL. Our new site is located at http://www.bigbluesky.uk.com The site has changed and so has our offer! As an introduction, to all users we will offer a three month trial at £9.99 per month. After the first three months the price will settle at £12.75 per month.

Customer service and technical support are now 24/7 as well as customer access. I cannot apologize enough for the mistakes of the past, but those mistakes have been fixed and we are back - Bigger & Better.

A quick visit to their new site shows that the service contention ratio (users : modem) has now been updated to a more realistic 12:1 and that they have some special offers/systems planned:

Special packages, which include Telephone, 0800 Internet access and Cable for a low monthly fee, will be available from 1 October 2001.

Judging by some of their more recent communications with us, the ISP has demonstrated a will to change and improve. However imposing this impression upon potential and existing (ex) customers is a task that can only be accomplished through practical improvement.

Hopefully we'll only be hearing good things from BigBlueSky, time will tell.

BTOpenworld Joins Forces With Sage

By:mark.j @ 4:41:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Ever keen to push themselves as a top provider for businesses as well as residential broadband customers, BTOpenworld has today announced a partnership with accounting and business software giant - Sage:

BTopenworld joins forces with Sage to help SMEs benefit from e-business

London, August 15, 2001

BTopenworld, BT's mass market Internet business, today announced that it has joined forces with accounting and business software giant Sage to help communicate how e-business can help reduce costs and improve customer service for SMEs in the UK.

BTopenworld is the latest partner to join other major companies, such as Cisco and Compaq, who are working alongside Sage in the £6 million campaign, which consists of a series of free e-business seminars being held throughout the UK.

Since the campaign's launch in April this year, over 2000 people have attended over 80 seminars. Companies already involved with Sage are able to provide expertise knowledge on business software, computer systems and network hardware. With BTopenworld Business Internet Services joining the team, the seminars will also offer expert information and advice on Internet connectivity, particularly via broadband.

BTopenworld is well positioned to provide e-business advice, offering a wide range of Internet solutions suitable for the smallest business wanting to get online for the first time to experienced e-traders who want broadband high-speed Internet. With this extra dimension the seminars now offer a complete end-to-end approach, allowing SMEs to discuss their requirements with industry experts across the board.

Other companies partnering Sage include Vodafone, WorldPay and Yell.com. The programme is also supported by the DTI initiative, UK online for business as well as the British Chamber of Commerce and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

For more information on the seminars call 0845 3000 900 or visit
http://www.sage.com

UK Government Finally Grasps Online Potential

By:mark.j @ 4:36:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's fair to say that most political groups and governments only use the Internet as a political weapon or to advance their own direct services.

Some of that looks set to change after the British government struck on a half intelligent idea, a definitive list of all sports facilities - online:

Apparently, no one has any idea what facilities really exist in the UK - not even the local councils - so the minister, Tessa Jowell, has demanded the information is compiled as soon as possible and made easily available to every UK citizen.

The tag is the appalling performance by our athletes at the recent World Championship, and Tessa used her first speech as minister (she was previously minister for public health) to promote the idea as well as new "schemes" that would try to stop kids from giving up on sport between 14 and 17.

The civil service said it would take 10 years to compile all the information but Ms Jowell was having none of it and has insisted it be ready within two.

The Register shows how the government could finally be starting to grasp how the Internet can be used. Of course if they want more people to get back into sport then here's an idea; Stop making it seem like a 'Nazi Death Camp' once every week and don't send them out to play football when it's -15c =).

Multiplayer 'Wireplay' Service To Be Sold

By:mark.j @ 4:22:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The ONCE extremely popular online multiplayer gaming service, Wireplay, is being sold by its Gameplay Plc after failing to get off the ground with its new 'subscription system':

A spokeswoman for the company confirmed that it was seeking a buyer for Wireplay but would not disclose whether Gameplay Plc was talking to any interested parties.

At its height in March 2000 Gameplay shares were worth more than 1000p - four months later they had fallen to around 200p. By February 2001, its share price had tumbled below 100p prompting Gameplay Plc - as it was now known - to reassure investors that it had a long-term future.

It had already cut costs by axing almost 300 jobs, but this failed to prevent its slide. In May this year Gameplay Plc sold its retail sales games operation in the UK and the Nordics for the total of £1.07.

The Register's item reminds us of the days when ‘Wireplay’ was once considered to be the saviour of multiplayer gaming. Previously owned by BT (before gameplay.com), it's dialup network was easily one of the best around.

We can't help but be reminded of how a similar thing happened to Barrysworld, which managed to survive due to popular support and a well-established image, plus the fact somebody actually purchased it.

95% Of Home Users Under Attack

By:mark.j @ 4:14:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

A shocking new report from Symantec (anti-virus company) found that hackers attacked 95% of home users with broadband and dial-up connections.

Apparently an average Internet surfer can expect up to 56 intrusion attempts per day!:

The company equipped 167 users around the country with a firewall and intrusion detection software to monitor the attacks.

Over a one-month period, 95 per cent of the participants were probed, almost always by automated port scanning software. This indicates that the attacker isn't even trying to break in personally: an automated tool is doing it.

Symantec said that 68 per cent of the attacks were attempts to install the notorious Trojan horse called Sub7, which would give the attacker complete control over the infected machine.

The VNUNet item is truly shocking and will no doubt raise an extremely high level of concern among less familiar surfers. However 167 people out of millions of Internet surfers doesn't exactly make for the most accurate of results.

We've already done some articles on security that should help concerned users, at the very least it's always a good idea to disable 'File & Printer Sharing' in your network settings. Or simply unlink them from devices that connect to the Internet.

Hooligans Use Internet To Outdo Police

By:mark.j @ 4:04:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

A new report published today by the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) has showed how Football Hooligans are using the Internet to stay one-step ahead of the law:

NCIS, which is pressing for more power in its ability to detect, investigate, and prosecute high-tech crime, also claims that proposals in the planned European directive on data protection and privacy may have an adverse effect on its fight against cybercrime.

Its annual report confirms that the problem of football hooliganism is still very much alive, and that the use of technology means that petpetrators are more mobile and find it easier to locate rival gangs.

Such technologies also fuel criminal activities that many hooligans are involved in, such as drug trafficking and counterfeit goods trading, according to the police.

Typically the VNUNet item points out how this will only give the government more fuel for their R.I.P and EU data retention (seven year) plans.

Typically such suggestions have been condemned, as they should, by data protection and privacy activists. But since when did the government listen to them?

R.I.P Parody 'Advert E-Mail' Goes Wrong

By:mark.j @ 3:54:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Advertising Standards Authority has come down hard on two companies (Emap and Inter-Mediates) using sex, porn and misleading information in an effort to sell products.

One such E-Mail, which we think is rather good, came from Emap's MaxPower magazine and was disguised as an official document. It used the controversial R.I.P act as a base and titled itself with, 'RIPA. Legal Document. Please read. Regulation of Investigatory Power Act. Offence no.323 - Internet Perversion':

The email, drawing reference to the widely criticised RIP Act, accused the recipient of accessing "material of a violent, sexually explicit or immoral nature". It then said details had been sent to their local police station and they would be in touch. It then offered a URL which it said you could click to appeal against the charges. The URL led to an ad for a MaxPower car show.

MaxPower said it only sent the email to registered users of its Web site (50,000 of them) and that since they were all young men, they figured they'd get the joke. It did admit that it had removed people's details from its mailing list when they had complained, however, suggesting the company has been picking up email addresses from elsewhere.

The email was in fact forwarded all over the Internet, in much the same as the mag's previous joke in which it said you had been caught speeding and you should click for photographic evidence. Of course it led to another MaxPower ad.

Apparently a complaint against the advert was upheld by the ASA whom believed it to, "cause undue fear and distress". The Register also goes on to mention another more serious advertising stunt regarding the use of semi-naked women to sell computer ram. Do they really think we’re that gullible? - So how much is it =)?

HomeChoice Gets Broadband Premier League

By:mark.j @ 10:19:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

What is it about today? The UK broadband provider Video Networks, who run the HomeChoice broadband package, have signed a three-year deal for the exclusive video-on-demand rights to Premier League football:

The service, limited to Londoners, will cost £6 per month in addition to Video Networks' HomeChoice package and is available from this season.

Users will be able to pause, rewind or repeat broadcasts and will have access to the nine-year archive of matches and 106 games over the next three seasons.

Sport has a long history of being used to promote new technologies, in some cases making the sport itself far more popular as in the case of snooker, which was used by the BBC to promote the benefits of colour television.

The VNUNet item reports that Video Networks is the second largest supplier of R/ADSL connections (next to BTOpenworld) with 14,000 users. Today certainly seems to be the day for broadband video-on-demand deals.

MTV Live Signs Europe Online Deal

By:mark.j @ 10:12:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Europe Online isn't exactly known for their lightning fast satellite broadband (analogue) speeds and customer services, although all that could be about to change.

MTV Live is the world's first TV channel designed for IP broadband distribution. Interestingly it looks as if they've chosen Europe Online's satellite network to carry their service throughout Europe from September 2001:

MTV Live is the only channel in the world made specifically for IP broadband technology and the deal with Europe Online is the first commercial carriage deal for a channel made specifically for an Internet Protocol broadband environment.

Thanks to the deal, Europe Online subscribers will be among the first to view MTV Live in near TV-quality on their PCs as the satellite-based delivery mechanism offers download speeds of up to 2 Mbp/s and video streaming of 1 Mbp/s.

MTV Live is a new 24-hour music service targeted at MTV Europe's core 16-34 demographic, focussing on the broadcasting of MTV Europe's archive of live music performances, and is only available via broadband technology.

The DigitalSpy item doesn't really go further to explain why MTV Live should have chosen Europe Online, it may well cover the continent, but it's still a relatively small provider.

We'd guess it'd be acting as a Europe wide test bed, which if successful, could be rolled out on local xDSL and Cable Modem networks, we'd guess.

ADSL Authentication Bug - Fixed

By:mark.j @ 10:00:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to both ADSLGuide and BTOpenwoe, users of broadband ADSL services around the country and on various different ISPs had been experiencing serious authentication errors when trying to connect.

Apparently this problem was directly related to BTIgnite and not any of the individual ISPs, smaller issues not withstanding. You'd know if it'd hit you because of the 'Error 718 in Windows DUN' (Dial Up Networking). We should point out that this error code might be slightly different under some MSWin revisions.

Despite all that the problem should now be fixed (1:45am this morning). None of this surprises us; given our ‘broad’ view of the market we’ve seen multiple problems with all kinds of ISPs over the last week+. Whether it’s all related to nasty Internet worms or something else we don’t know, but it’s all happening at once.

News - August 14,2001

WonkyPig Launch 128Kbps Unmetered

By:mark.j @ 4:05:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The new unmetered provider, WonkyPig, have today sent us an E-Mail with mention of the fact that their new unmetered Dual Channel 128Kbps ISDN service is now live:

Wonkypig 128k is now available @ £18.00 per month.

More Information can be found online @ http://www.wonkypig.co.uk

The price seems roughly correct and WP can finally take their place amongst the growing rank of unmetered ISPs offering such a service. That's one extra option for those whom previously thought they had none, always good.

08002Go Service Update

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

It looks as if one of our forum moderators was able to get some more information from 08002Go regarding some of the service problems they've recently been suffering:

Just spoken to 08002go and they tell me that they had a serious server problem last week and has taken them sometime to recover it. Full service should be restored in the next 48 hours.

In other words we should know by Wednesday if SOME of the customers whom have had connection trouble are now happily surfing again. You’ll have to excuse our shorter news items, but it’s kind of hot on the south coast today.

Unmanned 'Plane' To Carry Broadband

By:mark.j @ 3:44:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

If you've been watching today’s news then there's a good chance you've already seen an item on Helios (Nasa funded), an aircraft resembling a giant wing.

Designed to fly at very high altitudes for long periods of time, it now looks as if scientific research and standard voice comms aren't all it could help with:

"We have very poor broadband last-mile coverage in the world, and we are looking to provide a wireless link to do it," said Earl Cox, SkyTower Telecommunications' director of telecommunications.

SkyTower is a young subsidiary of solar-powered vehicles pioneer AeroVironment, which built and designed Helios. SkyTower hopes to begin mass production of the flying wings in 2003, and is in talks with potential partners, Cox said.

SkyTower's foray into the commercial world is a breakthrough of sorts for scientists working on federal government-funded projects. Getting Helios to launch took $150m of taxpayers' money and the development of a new way for private companies to contract with the federal government. The project involved research by NASA and engineering by a consortium of private companies.

The ZDNet item is very interesting, although to be realistic we can't see this being of much use because by the time it's launched the UK would be 90% covered anyway.

Not only that and call us cynics, but there's something about having a broadband network in the sky that doesn't seem quite right.

Blueyonders New Gaming Site - Update

By:mark.j @ 3:35:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Roughly one month ago news was release that the broadband and unmetered cable ISP, blueyonder (Telewest), would launch a special web site designed for online gamers. Today more information has slipped into the public eye:

It's understood Blueyonder - the broadband service from cableco Telewest - has poached half a dozen Wireplay staff made redundant from Gameplay earlier this year to help set up the service.

A spokesman for Blueyonder confirmed that the new site would be up and running in a couple of weeks. He added: "It's a service for gamers, by gamers."

Films, gigs and music will also feature heavily in the new offering.

More @ The Register.

NeonHippo's New Unmetered Service

By:mark.j @ 3:31:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not specifically targeted at residential clients, NeonHippo's service is more for business use and those whom would purchase branded ISP services:

Aimed at organisations with a potentially large customer base, such as businesses, football clubs, unions, and charities, the monthly service costs £14.99 for punters - the same as similar offerings from AOL UK and BTopenworld.

The FRIACO service is supplied by Viatel Global Communications Limited, (now part of NTL) and Energis.

Shareholders in the business include the ex-England and Arsenal footballer Lee Dixon, who is also a non-executive director of the company.

The Register reports that one of NH's first customers is 24/7FreeCall, whom many will remember from the previous suspension of their unmetered services.

Interestingly one of our readers (Keith) did a check on the new unmetered ISP with 'companies house' and found the following:

Date of Change - Previous Name
30/07/2001 24-7 FREENET LIMITED

In other words it looks as if NH was once 24-7FreeNet.

NTL & Telewest Merger Still Distant

By:mark.j @ 9:45:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Today yet more groups have voiced their opinions over the possible merger of the UKs two biggest cable operators, NTL and Telewest.

Canada Life Assurance fund manager - Michael Gifford, whose portfolio includes both debt and equity stakes in Telewest, claims that while a merger would be a step in the right direction, any deal was a long way off.

"They need to get scale to try and drive their business forward, and get a firm footing. But the debt that these guys have got does make it quite problematic," said Gifford.

Shares in both loss-making companies have plummeted in the last 12 months, on concern over debt burdens and rising costs. NTL said last month it would cut between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs in the next year to help slice overheads.

Internet 'Coffee Pot' Finds New Home

By:mark.j @ 9:39:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The first EVER 'live WEBCAM video feed' transmission over the Internet was the picture of a coffee pot. Originally set-up by students at Cambridge University (England) several years ago, the coffee pot has since become a cult item.

Recently the ever-continuing feed has changed, it now has a 'SOLD' sign propped against it. The now broken coffee pot was bought in an online auction for 3,350 pounds by news magazine Spiegel Online, according to the German website's editors. It will occupy pride of place in the magazine's Hamburg offices and on its website.

Dan Gordon, a scientist at the university, said the site, which he acknowledged was only marginally more exciting than watching paint dry, had attracted more than two million viewers since 1993.

"Once, some American tourists called into the tourist information centre (in Cambridge) and asked where (the coffee pot) was so they could visit it," Gordon told Reuters.

"They took lots of photos. It's not really very impressive though, it's just a coffee pot."

Now the university's computer students are moving to a new laboratory and the pot is being retired. "Time moves on and we want to buy a shiny new espresso machine," the students wrote in their offering on auction site eBay.

If you're really bored and want to send yourself to sleep then the Coffee Pots last known location is as follows:

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/coffee/coffee.html

Government Publishes R.I.P Rules

By:mark.j @ 9:29:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's been sometime since we last heard anything on the R.I.P (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) act, yesterday the draft code of practice for law enforcement authorities wishing to invoke R.I.P powers was finally published:

Under the proposed code, a police inspector could obtain account and subscriber information for phone or internet users if they suspect that doing so could prevent public disorder.

The full list of agencies that can invoke the Act includes the police, the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Crime Squad, Customs and Excise, the Inland Revenue, the security services, the Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ officials.

Allowable reasons for looking at communications data are: interests of national security; the prevention or detection of crime or disorder; the economic well being of the UK; public safety; the protection of public health; and the assessment or collection of any tax, duty, levy or other imposition, or contribution or charge payable to a government department.

The VNUNet item states that interested/related parties have until 2nd November 2001 to respond. To date the contradictions between R.I.P and the Data Protection / Human Rights Act still stand, although this latest draft won’t help matters.

Typically there seems to be no stopping the government, they've already ignored our human rights and little has changed with this most recent draft. Not to mention that the 'the economic well being of the UK' and other items mentioned above are perhaps too broad.

We're fully opposed to R.I.P (as it is now) and will publish 'educational' information on how to circumvent it should it ever become law. We believe it's a breach of our fundamental human rights and goes too far, not to mention that there's no regulation of the regulators.

Do we spy on personal communications if they’re late with an Inland Revenue payment or the return form went missing in the post (tax payments)? Do we spy on businesses if we think it’s in the interests of the company’s economy? Where do you draw the line?

BT To Market R/ADSL Via National Press

By:mark.j @ 9:12:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to ADSLGuide and perhaps done to counteract NTL & Telewests plans, BTWholesale is planning to push R/ADSL ISPs and services through a special advertising campaign in the national press:

The campaign will be designed to educate the market so that people in areas where ADSL uptake has been low will become aware of the product. ISP's are been given a chance to participate to ensure that the campaign does not end up been a series of adverts for BTopenworld.

This represents a big change in strategy for BT, whom has typically stayed rather silent due to limited coverage and higher prices, both of which have recently improved (slightly).

Where before we might have bashed such an idea because only a small 'practical' portion of the UK was actually R/ADSL enabled, now we welcome it. Why? Simply because such a campaign would raise pre-registrations and awareness in areas where the technology isn't installed.

Ultimately we'd hope this would lead to BT extending their coverage to areas they'd previously thought to be 'economically unviable'. Only time will tell and it'll be the end of the year before we truly know whether it'll have any ‘wider’ effect on coverage.

Tesco.com Extends Into South Korea

By:mark.j @ 9:00:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if one of the UKs most popular super-markets, Tesco, is to expand its online shopping service (Tesco.com) into South Korea due to their high broadband penetration.

With any luck they'll take some of their awful advertising campaigns along as well, they're almost as bad as the ones AOL keep throwing in our faces (‘Yes Connie.. we're sure AOL is lovely, but..’):

The move follows the recent announcement of a joint Internet venture between Tesco and the US supermarket chain Safeway, which will make the home delivery service available to residents in the San Francisco Bay area.

"The Tesco.com strategy is international expansion -- either through its existing store network, or by brokering a deal with another store network," said Russell Craig, spokesman for Tesco.com.

South Korea was an obvious country for Tesco to target, as 20 percent of the population already has access to a high-speed Internet connection at home. In the UK, just over 100,000 residential customers have access to broadband.

The ZDNet item goes on to point out how so many other supermarket chains have failed in the area where Tesco seem to dominate. So it looks as if the residents of South Korea will be getting a fair dose of 'Old lady proves more intelligent than young lady at shopping'. We'll prey for them, we really.. really will.

News - August 13,2001

ISP Review Site Update

By:mark.j @ 4:43:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

While updating some of our ISP listings (all of them) we came across two previously unlisted unmetered ISPs and have now added them. As such we've accordingly introduced two new forums and linked them into our unmetered listings.

We now have a total of 79 Unmetered/FreeCall Dial-up ISPs listed, all with their own specific discussion forums.

BTs Wires-Only / Self Install R/ADSL Update

By:mark.j @ 4:01:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Up until very recently the details of BTIgnite's Wires-Only and Self-Install systems for broadband R/ADSL connections were confidential. Over the past couple of weeks all that has changed and we now know much more than we did before.

Since most people aren't likely to have seen this, while browsing BTs broadband page we can across the following:

http://www.broadband.bt.com/future/gdmt.html

It's a newish (been around for a couple of weeks) section that explains more information on BTs Wires-Only and Self Install plans:

Since launching its Broadband Services over a year ago, BT has connected over 70,000 ADSL subscribers. Each line has required a BT engineer to visit the End User premises and install service thus turning a normal telephone line into a broadband enabled connection. In addition to installing the service BT currently also provides a BT owned broadband modem and router depending on the service taken.

Since launch, BT has identified two key Customer requirements regarding End User installations:

G.DMT - enabling customers to select the CPE they supply and tailor their service to meet their customers' requirements. This is especially important within the business market.

Self Install - enabling customers to provide End User service without the need for a visit to their premises. This would involve an End User using third party equipment to separate the data and voice traffic. They would also need to buy a suitable modem to connect this to a PC or TV to establish a broadband connection.

Worth a visit if you’re not exactly sure what all the fuss is about, just don’t expect any further information on prices, at least not yet.

NTL & Telewest Holding Steady

By:mark.j @ 3:51:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Despite the recent 'debt restructuring' fears from both major British cable operators, it appears as if bonds issued from the two are still holding firm.

Bankers said the huge amount of debt amassed by the two companies was understood to be the chief obstacle to a long rumoured merger between the two firms and restructuring could facilitate the process.

NTL has around $15 billion in long-term debt and Telewest said on August 2nd that its net debt was roughly £4.79 Billion. NTL's 300 million euro (12.375%) bond due February 2008 was bid at 63% of face value on Monday, dealers said. Telewest's £325 million (9.875%) bond due April 2009 was bid at 79% of face value.

Both were unchanged on the day amid light trading volumes. A key issue in debt restructuring would be a clause attached to Telewest's bonds guaranteeing a buyback of its bonds at 101 in the event of a change of control detrimental to its credit rating.

Telewest is rated one notch higher than NTL with a double-B minus rating and a stable outlook from international ratings firm 'Standard & Poor's' and a 'Ba'3 rating from Moody's Investors Service.

S&P rates NTL single-B plus with a stable outlook, while Moody's put the company's B2 rating on review for downgrade on July 23.

Telewest would have to strike a deal with bondholders and renegotiate the change of control clause to avoid a hefty bill if the two operations were to merge.

Internet Magazine 'the net' Suspended

By:mark.j @ 3:45:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As many will know, ISP Review is only one place to get your dose of the latest Internet Service Provider news and information, most newsagents also stock a number of magazines.

Sadly one of the UKs newest Internet magazines, the net (Haymarket), is to be suspended due to the current slump in advertising:

The final October issue of the magazine will come out on September 5. Two editorial staffers are to be made redundant, while the rest of the team, including the other four editorial staff, will be shifted to jobs within Haymarket.

the net, which Haymarket claims was the top-selling mag in the area, has been hit by falling circulation (during 2000 the net sold an average of 52,600 copies per month), as well as advertising sales.

According to the net publisher Sian Rees, advertising revenue has dropped 45 per cent since last year in the crowded general monthly Internet magazine sector.

As The Register points out, suspension means the magazine could re-launch if the climate were to improve, although it's likely to be sometime before that happens.

70 Jobs Lost @ NTL Call Centre

By:mark.j @ 3:34:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

70 Staff from an NTL call centre in Newport, South Wales, are to find themselves without a job when the centre shuts:

NTL said the closure - code named "Project Nero" - was part of an "on-going drive to improve operating efficiency and identify opportunities to reduce costs".

The company declined to say how many jobs would be lost. However, insiders have told The Register that as many as half the workforce could be looking for new jobs when the site closes in November.

The operations handled by the Caradog House call centre - which provides back-up and support for NTL's Internet customers - will be transferred to Swansea 45-miles away.

While The Register doesn't say it, it's believe the job losses are related to NTLs debt restructuring plan, although nothing has been confirmed.

Affinity Internet Scoops Blue Carrot ISP

By:mark.j @ 10:09:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The lesser know niche ISP, Blue Carrots, has today found its assets scooped up by 'Affinity Internet' for a cool £700,000. This follows AI's recent acquisition of Urbanite ISP, Breathe.com:

The company is taking on all commercial contracts, existing staff and equipment, so it makes one wonder what liabilities are being left behind with Blue Carrots former owner, Cube 8.

Affinity has built its business on the back of the supplie white-label infrastructure and content services for third-party companies to brand as their own ISPs. The company is now building its own-label ISP - and on the cheap.

BlueCarrots.com is to operate as a branded ISP alongside former basketcase and fellow recent acquisition, Breathe.com, in Affinity's new portal subsidiary. Cube8 will pick up an undisclosed number of shares in this business.

The Register's item points to how Affinity seems to want a piece of the A-List cake, although they'll have to be somewhat bigger before reaching the scale of Tiscali, AOL or some of the other big-name giants.

Serious Thedogmagroup Service Problems

By:mark.j @ 9:20:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

TDG (TheDogmaGroup) are responsible for such ISPs as 0800OnlineServe (0800Online) and as many customer will have noticed, have recently been suffering a lot of problems.

Yesterday afternoon they sent us a service update regarding some of these issues, although being a Sunday nobody was around to post it. Sorry for the delay and we've highlighted the most important part below:

The service(s) provided by thedogmagroup.com came to a halt at 21.27 on Saturday 4th August. A recovery team was despatched to the Datacentre based at Spring Gardens, Manchester within 15 minutes, and arrived at the site at around 21.53. Power had now been restored to the main circuits through several redundant PSU's.

According to logs on the system, access to the network became available again at around 21.35, some 5 minutes after the power failure, but several servers had severe unresolvable problems. These servers where the News Group sever, the SMTP server and the Main webserver.

We also experienced corrupt zone data which was restored allowing some services to go online; these where the MAIL servers and the main DNS server. It soon became apparent that the servers that had been severely affected would need to be replaced. This was done within the next working day, but errors and problems were still occurring across the entire network.

All sites hosted on thedotcompletehost.com became available on Thursday of the next week, while other services went live on the 11th of August.

Connection problems experienced by all users have now also been resolved. We wish to make apologies for the lack of service and we will provide 1 week of credit on your account in the form of an extended date of payment.

Also the following is the report on the cause of the power cut.

It appears that the DataCentre was the victim of a brutal attack of theft or vandalism. Staff who where present at the Denton offices became aware of some disturbances at the site at around 12.12. Several calls had been made to the offices and to the DataCentre. What appears suspiscious is that the number (for the DataCentre) is delisted and ex-directory.

The call(s) where hoax, and appeared to be the product(s) of hoax callers, but according to sources, the numbers where delibertly witheld and for a reason. The investigation is still on-going, but what is apparent is the loss of power was the result of some external force which is still unknown.

If anyone has any information on the incident, then please eMail Kate Ross; kate.ross@thedogmagroup.co.uk or phone 0800 542 9550.

Hopefully the update should clear up a few of your questions and service quality may now have improved, although we’ll watch the forums for evidence of that.

News - August 12,2001

ISP Review Weekly Update

By:mark.j @ 9:36:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In being a 'gamer' at heart I must confess to spending a fair amount of the weekend pooling over all the latest info. from Quakecon. Doom3, Quake4, Wolf2, SoF2 are all arranged letters many wouldn't recognise; yet to the gamer they represent a feeling of joy.

Having said that I've spent the rest of my time in relaxation mode after a very busy week in real life and on ISP Review. As roughly all of you should now have realised, we finally moved to the newer forums, although there's still work to be done.

The big move meant some of the extra reviews and content we had planned were pushed back, although not to worry, as we'll do our best to get them online next week.

Despite this we're also working on our next forum upgrade, which should improve speed by roughly 30-40% (actual). Thankfully this upgrade will be a version update for the new technology and so doesn't require any moving. It'll take some time to do since the upgrade itself is still in beta testing.

Typically and much as we'd previously anticipated, focus will now shift to the finalisation of the new 'Readers Top 50' system, which is still in testing. We intend to implement this based on 'Type' (Unmetered, xDSL etc.) and output the results via SSI to various pages (main, broadband page(s) etc.).

We've still a lot of work to do and so continue to expect changes through the coming weeks as we endeavour to make ISP Review easier to use and more interactive / functional. Have a nice weekend, even if most of the UK is clouded over =(.

PS - Make sure to lift the latest ‘.Net’ magazine from the newsagents shelf as we aided them in writing an article on unmetered and broadband. Just remember that as with all publications, it’s based on info. from roughly two months ago.

News - August 10,2001

Fast24 Update Unmetered Prices

By:mark.j @ 3:51:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The smaller and lesser know unmetered ISP, Fast24, appears to have introduced a new Off-Peak package and also updated the prices for some of their other offers. As Keith (reader) pointed out, the four offers now look as follows:

Off-Peak = £69 Per Annum
-6pm to 6am (Mon-Fri) + All Weekend

Anytime = £99 Per Annum
-200 Hours Per Month (Limit), Note that it says '250' on the info. page (contradicts front page).

Daytime = £129 Per Annum
-6am to 6pm (Mon-Fri)
-NOT ONLINE YET.

Alltime = £159 Per Annum
-No blocked ports.
-Full 24/7 access.

Note that each package comes with 30,000 newsgroups, 20 E-Mails and 10mb of web space. Web space bandwidth, E-Mail features, cut-offs and blocked ports seem to vary slightly, see Terms & Conditions.

Overall the packages seem quite competitive with the Off-Peak one standing out from the crowd, although little is know about the ISP other than what's on the site. Existing customers seem to find it works ok, despite the odd signup delay. See our unmetered forums.

Women Help Spur Internet Growth

By:mark.j @ 3:34:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Some of you may remember an item we reported on last month, one which showed women as being on the verge of dominating a once male orientated world, Internet surfing.

It would seem as if today's latest research from the 'Continental Research' group supports this:

London, UK-based research group Continental said that Internet usage has traditionally had a strong male, ABC1 and youth bias, and that usage among these people is still high. Until now, barriers such as cost or a lack of familiarity have prevented the internet from taking a firm hold on people in C2DE households, which tend to be older and/or work in blue-collar occupations. However, Continental said that children of such workers have Internet access at school and have encouraged their parents to go online. This has also been supported by a fall in cheaper ISP subscription costs.

"Despite these barriers, we are now seeing a positive increase in the proportion of C2DE homes with Internet access. Similarly the number of women going online has risen significantly, perhaps spurred on by their children being internet savvy, and wishing to utilise some of the time-saving web sites such as online supermarket delivery, online banking and online flight/holiday booking services," said Colin Shaddick, Continental director.

The ZDNet item also highlights how 76% of the population now has Internet access at home, compared to 67% last year. Apparently 18% also think it could still be cheaper and the rest seem to want faster connections and more information.

Freeserves 3rd Attack On AOL UK

By:mark.j @ 3:27:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if Freeserve have turned to the 'political' way of attacking AOL UK following their recent tax aversion claims.

In today’s claim, FS highlighted how the VAT 'saved' over ten days by AOL (£83,000) could so easily be used to fund four heart or lung transplant operations:

Britain's biggest French ISP has jumped on the news that the British Government is to bail out a privately-owned loss-making heart hospital in London.

While the Government and unions have clashed over using £27.5 million of taxpayers' money to rescue the London Heart Hospital, Le Freeswerve has stepped in to further its own commercial battle with rival AOL.

In a statement issued yesterday it suggests that the "loophole in the Customs and Excise guidelines that currently allows AOL to avoid paying £30 million in VAT to the UK treasury every year, roughly the amount it cost to save the London Heart Hospital," should be closed.

As The Register mentions, Freeserves use of a very serious and politically difficult situation is cunning, but also insulting and could cause some dismay. If they stoop any lower then the local council could hire them to scoop up dog poo.