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September 20, 2001 - September 25, 2001

News - September 25,2001

BT Looses 'UK Online' Contract

By:mark.j @ 10:00:AM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In a further blow to the debt laden Telco, BT has lost the contract to run the Government's flagship end-user portal, UK Online. Talks to negotiate the contract finally broke down at the end of a one month extension.:

The e-envoy's office told vnunet.com that it was now pursuing other options.

It said: "Negotiations for the renewal of the original contract with BT have been terminated. The office of the e-envoy is currently evaluating numerous contractual options."

The e-envoy's office is refusing to say why BT lost the contract, but added that the portal's current operation would not be affected by the collapse of talks with BT.

More @ VNUNet.

NTL To Pull Ex-C&W Internet Access

By:mark.j @ 9:54:AM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Customers from the now NTL owned 'Cable & Wireless' Communications division aren't likely to be too happy with what's about to happen.

Apparently an undisclosed number of former C&W Comms customers will be booted at the end November due to "technical reasons".:

The cableco acquired the retail cable business of CWC last year and had pledged to keep the CWC Net access service running until November 30th 2001.

Now that deadline is within sight NTL has written to former CWC customers telling them that their Net access service will be terminated.

While it claims that it has been working hard to "connect the ex-CWC network switches to the NTL backbone network", some areas - notably in London and on the south coast - have not been upgraded. And it seems that until they are, NTL will not support Net access.

The Register states that NTL themselves have confirmed the date and people will indeed find themselves without a service, something that's likely to cause a great deal of anger among such users.

From what we can remember NTL has made very little progress with their original plans and in fact seen more delays than a flight to Iraq. You can't help but wonder whether it was intentional or not?

Internet To Be Unusable By 2008

By:mark.j @ 9:44:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The latest and rather paranoid scare tactic to emerge is that of Viruses, Worms and Trojans making the net useless as a communication tool by 2008.

MessageLabs believes that one in ten E-Mails sent over the Internet will contain a virus by this date and that one in four will do the same come 2013.:

According to a press release (titled "Believe the Hype: Future Spread of Email Viruses Threatens Internet") issued by MessageLabs today, this approaching deluge of infected email will become so great that "people will simply stop using email".

When we took Alex Shipp, senior anti-virus technologist at MessageLabs, to task over this warning he conceded the release was "alarmist".

Email-borne viruses are an increasing problem, particularly since the outbreak of the SirCam worm, but several measures can be taken already to mitigate their effects.

The Register presents an interesting item, of course human culture has always been able to adapt to the most extreme environments and the Internet is cosy by comparison.

Hopefully wider use of robust Virus checkers, ISP side filtering systems and an education of the online dangers should shock people into the realisation that they need to know how to protect themselves.

BTWholesales New USB R/ADSL Modem

By:mark.j @ 9:36:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Accordingly to ADSLGuide BTWholesale will be deploying a new Fujitsu USB R/ADSL modem alongside its existing Alcatel option from December 2001. Typically this is only for the BTipstream 500 (Home) products.

At present the modem hasn't had much of a chance to circulate (not till December), although Manx Telecom have been reported to issue it with their packages.

The modem itself appears to be technically identical to the Alcatel, we'd guess it could be cheaper to manufacture or have better support. If not then there's little reason to introduce a new one unless there's at least one obvious benefit.

BTs Broadband LLU Numbers Fall!

By:mark.j @ 9:28:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's probably one of the most unusual things to happen and certainly not the best news BT could've issued. Apparently the recent economic problems combined with the slow rollout and high price of broadband has had a negative effect.

Where once there were 163 exchanges unbundled from the local loop, now there's only 150!:

The local loop unbundling process was meant to allow broadband ISPs to compete with BT by putting their equipment in BT's local exchanges. Stirrat blamed the fall on the number of local loop unbundling companies such as OnCue that have gone out of business, dismantling or transferring their assets to others.

However, a year and a half after the process began, the number of companies planning to use LLU has fallen from 40 to fewer than ten.

Though intended as a way to bring DSL to consumers, LLU broadband now seems destined to become nothing more than an expensive niche product for business.

Whether or not this trend will continue isn't forecast in the Silicon item, although it's not good news, especially with BT and Oftel about the face the EU/EC's wrath for not completing LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) on time.

NTL Delay Leeds Broadband - Update

By:mark.j @ 9:15:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if it'll now be early October 2001 before Leeds manages to taste NTLs broadband cable modem services. There’s no official date and the technical support staff seem in two minds about the issue, Early October is the best mid-range guesstimate.

News - September 24,2001

Freedom2Surf Launches New Unmetered

By:mark.j @ 4:12:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not content with just offering an off-peak unmetered solution, Freedom2Surf (now also owning Free2Surf - Domain) have today announced the details of its new 24/7 package. Full press release follows.:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Freedom2Surf launches Freedom2Surf Anytime 24 hour unmetered access with built in parental control software for just £11.99 a month

24 September 2001, London - Freedom2Surf Consumer Services (www.freedom2surf.net) has today announced the launch of Freedom2Surf
Anytime, a new unmetered Internet access package for residential and business customers.

Freedom2Surf Anytime will be available for just £11.99 a month including subscription and Internet telephone call charges. The package offers unmetered Internet access 24 hours a day, available via modem or ISDN. In addition subscribers can get email addresses for every member of their family, 20 mb of webspace and 5 mb of database space at no extra cost.

In line with other major ISPs, Freedom Unlimited will have an automatic cut off after two hours of continuous use and ten minutes of inactivity. Users will be able to reconnect again after 5 minutes.

Freedom2Surf Anytime also incorporates Cyber Patrol ISP, parental control software developed by Internet filtering experts SurfControl. Whenever a user accesses Freedom2Surf Anytime they will instantly benefit from Cyber Patrol ISP without having to install the software. Cyber Patrol ISP allows parents to create profiles easily for members of the family and offers four filtering levels to suit the differing needs of adults, older teens, younger
teens and kids.

Cyber Patrol ISP gives children the opportunity to experience the positive aspects of the Internet and helps protects them from the dangers of its darker side.

"I am very pleased that Freedom2Surf is introducing Freedom2Surf Anytime. We have spent a lot of time designing a service which will give users a fast, reliable and affordable solution to access the Internet whenever they want to, without having to worry about the cost implications of the amount of time they spend online", said Chris Panayis, Managing Director, Freedom2Surf. "Freedom2Surf Anytime's use of Cyber Patrol ISP's parental control software lets parents create a safe Internet environment and stay in control of their childrens' online experiences".

Customers can subscribe to Freedom2Surf Anytime by visiting
http://www.freedom2surf.net .

From the looks of it Freedom2Surf is aiming to be competitive with the likes of V21, which is ironic considering the recent issues with V21 backed Free2Surf.

One other advantage is that it's yet another unmetered provider able to add some choice and competition into an increasingly volatile marketplace. Ultimately customers finally have some real choices, lets hope it counts.

WonkyPig Launch Non-BT Unmetered

By:mark.j @ 4:03:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The ISP that likes to go through more changes than a cross dresser, WonkyPig, has today officially unveiled its unmetered ISP package for those outside of BTs services (cable provider customers).:

Available to non BT Customers

Our non BT Line Internet package allows you to use the internet from 8pm to 8am Monday to Friday and All Weekend using any non BT telephone line in the UK (ie: ntl, cable and wireless, eurobell, telewest etc.) By connecting to our service using our freephone number there's no call charges - for just £12.99 per month.

As well as the freephone access we also include the following services as part of the monthly charge.

- Personal Email Address
- 10mb Webspace
- Webmail
- Newsgroup access
- Telephone Support
- 24-7 Email Support

Great Support
We offer 24-7 email support to all our users and 9am to 5pm telephone support on our freephone number.

No Contract
With wonkypig you have no contract with us, you simply pay each month to use the service and may cancel at any time.

Massive Cut of Time
The service is subject to a 4-hour continuous use cut off period, after which time you may re-dial immediatley. Should your line become inactive for a period greater than 10 minutes your connection will be terminated.

Priced £2.99 above the BT-only package (same offering) and with a new off-peak unmetered option set to arrive tomorrow, WonkyPig seems determined to move forward.

Despite recent problems WP now seems to be picking up, although they have yet to prove they can keep a steady service for any length of time. Hopefully this will be that time, hopefully.

BTs De-merger Plans & Tiscali Circling

By:mark.j @ 3:55:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BT has finally released all the formal details and information concerning the de-merger of its business into two separate parts, one for wireless and the other covering everything else.:

There's not much in it that you won't already know. The main point of course is that the company will be split into two. mmO2 - formerly BT Wireless - which consists of all mobile businesses owned by BT will be floated off as a separate arm.

Then everything else - with the exception of Concert (but more of that later)- will remain as is and be called BT Group. (We're assured that the name Future BT which was bandied around when the demerger was first announced was never going to be a trading name. Must be our flawed memory again.)

The Register reports that the submission must now pass a vote by every one of BTs shareholders before it can proceed. If you're really interested in all this tiresome corporate plop then take a look at the official document HERE.

The document itself highlights the following layout for BTs future.:

BT Group
- BT Ignite - Internet services, data services etc
- BT Openworld - the company's ISP business
- BT Retail - residential and business telephone provider
- BT Wholesale - Networking services and other services for telcos and ISPs

mmO2
- BT Cellnet
- Digifone
- Telfort Mobiel - Netherlands
- Viag Interkom - Germany
- Manx Telecom - Isle of Man
- Genie - WAP portal, soon defunct

At the same time it would appear as if Tiscali has begun circling one of BTs Spanish orientated ISPs, Arrakis. Apparently any acquisition could pose a "serious threat" to Spain's biggest Internet company Terra Lycos, a unit of Telefonica, in its home market.

So despite recent global economic problems the wheels of corporate power keep on turning, hopefully in a direction of benefit to the customers.

Earthlease Still On BTs Local Loop Tail

By:mark.j @ 3:45:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if Earthlease could still be in with a chance to own 'part' of BTs fixed line local loop business. The group plans to wait until after BTs mobile phone business has de-merged before taking another shot, but why?:

Earlier this year BT dismissed an £8 billion offer from the consortium, which is led by Babcock & Brown and Chancery Lane Capital. Indeed, BT Retail CEO Pierre Danon also said he thinks the sale would be a bad idea for the telco.

Despite the lack of interest from BT - publicly at least - Earthlease still thinks it's in with a chance. An unnamed source told the Guardian that BT has "left the door open" concerning a possible approach.

Last week, the head of telecoms regulator Oftel said he would "look very carefully at any proposals" surrounding a bid for the local loop.

Realistically hitting BT while it's in the middle of such a huge change could open a gap of sorts, although it could equally make them less receptive to outside offers. Time will tell, although after reading The Register's item we still believe BT would refuse another attempt.

NTL Delay Leeds Broadband Rollout

By:mark.j @ 3:30:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to DigitalSpy, those looking forward to today's rollout of NTLs broadband cable modem services in the Leeds area could be in for some bad news. One DS reader is quoted as saying.:

"..just spoke to CS again, they have now changed what they are saying. There was a provisional date of today, but first thing this morning they were told that it's not happening because of problems. They don't know when it will be available.."

As yet no further details have emerged, we'd expect more soon.

Vispa Warns Customers Over Usage

By:mark.j @ 9:50:AM - Comments (15) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Vispa Internet look to be the second ISP in so many days to warn their customers about usage, the following is an E-Mail received by several members of the service.:

Unmetered Access Usage::
------------------------
While everyone have noticed massive improvements recently with the quality of the access and reduced engaged tones, this is has been down to all the hard work the staff at Vispa have put in to bring new ideas and skills online.

While we are a bit more relaxed about the situation we are aware of a percentage of users who are using software to try and keep connections open, even though they are not using them ... WHY?

We have highlighted about 4% of our user base, which I am afraid is the vast majority of new users to Vispa who know doubt were kicked from other ISP’s for similar reasons who are leaving their Internet connections on, even though not been used. I am afraid that these users have 7 days to change usage patterns to our more polite manner or we will terminate accounts on your next billing date.

May we remind users that FRIACO based services are not intended as “always on” Internet connections as stated in the terms and conditions that you signed up for.

We do know it’s not the vast majority of users, and we thank those for being responsible, you have seen what improvements to service levels can take place if simple rules are followed.

If you don’t need your Internet connection be polite to other users who do, after all others are being polite for you, so that you can get online. Basically use what you need!!

IF YOU DON’T NEED TO BE ONLINE – DISCONNECT!!!

Unfortunately we'd have to agree with Vispa and other ISPs on this one, unmetered ISPs may be spreading, but they're still not mature and experienced enough to cope with 'lurkers', as some people call them.

The kind of usage mentioned above is usually associated with people hanging around in chat rooms or on IRC and doing nothing aside from the use of 'stay-alive' software to keep them connected.

If you're going to use a service then use it, unmetered access isn't designed for ‘hanging around doing nothing online’ and almost all ISPs have some sort of clause against it. On the other hand we’d hope ISPs haven’t gotten use to this as being a good excuse to kick people who ARE ‘using’ the service, albeit somewhat heavily, which is a more questionable act.

Boots Remove Online Photo Service

By:mark.j @ 9:37:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Over half a year ago we posted news of 'Boots' new online photo service for developing Digital Pictures and other services. Sadly things haven't been as profitable as it had hoped, which isn't surprising since they haven't really advertised it - ever!

It said the website, expected to make an operating loss of £7.3 million in the first six months, would be re-launched in 2002 offering a range of digital services, including editing, email and printing.

The cost of withdrawing photographic services would be around £10 million, Boots said, which would be shown as an exceptional item in the half-year profit and loss account.

Hopefully by 2002 Digital Cameras will be more commonplace, they're still somewhat open to market take-up.

BT To Revive The ££Video phone££

By:mark.j @ 9:32:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The prospect of being able to talk to friends, family and work via the use of the video link is almost as inspiring as it is frightening. Typically BT has had ISDN based videophone technology for sometime, although vastly overpriced it's never been able to take off.

Now it looks as if BT is heading for a revival by putting the latest broadband communication standards to an alternative use. It's already signed an order for 1,000 phones from Motion Media to take part in a marketing trial.

Unfortunately BT still hasn't learned from its mistakes, pricing the phones at an extortionately high £650 each. Ironically it'd be cheaper to buy a second hand laptop with Ethernet ADSL connection than a videophone.

BT has already carried out a small-scale consumer trial of the videophone on a group of 240 people, and has reported positive feedback, the UK manufacturer of video communications equipment said.

The phones were popular for use in situations ranging from divorced parents seeing their children to deaf people using them to communicate using sign language, Motion Media said in a statement.

Videophones have failed to capture the public imagination in the past due to poor quality and high prices. So why do they think it'll be any different this time? Chief Executive of Motion Media hopes this is set to change. "This is the first time that videophones have been marketed in a major way for home use," he said in a statement.

"Early results from our initial trial indicated the videophone is proving very popular," added Angus Porter, managing director of BT Retail's Consumer division.

Without knowing exactly what the new generation of phones has to offer over the old, aside from being several hundred pounds cheaper and of a higher video quality, it'll need to be more if it hopes to succeed in the wider market.

For now you'd be better off getting a USB based web came and using that to communicate with friends via your PC, you'll also save 90% off the price compared to a BT videophone =).

Oftel Prepares Mobile Price Cuts

By:mark.j @ 9:21:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Oftel is expected to publish the finalised findings of their report into mobile phone pricing and competition sometime today or in the next few days.

It's expected that this could well bring some price cuts, which could be relevant to nearly everybody reading this.:

The report is expected to scrutinise interconnection charges paid by mobile customers using their phones to call subscribers on rival networks as well as the calls made between mobile phones and land lines.

Analysts predict a price cap could cost operators up to 13% of their total revenues.

More @ Silicon.

Cedar Launch Broadband Satellite

By:mark.j @ 9:16:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've been amazed by the number of new broadband Satellite providers coming online / being announced in the last 6 months. Despite recent failings such as 'StarSpeeder' and 'SkyStorm', the latest provider to give the technology a try is Cedar Telecommunications.

Although seriously miss-informed about thinking itself the first commercial DSL-equivalent satellite service in the UK, it still looks interesting.:

The service offers a 256Kpbs uplink and a 512Kbps downlink, the same speeds as entry-level DSL.

At £180 per month with a £600 installation fee, the service is more than four times as expensive as DSL, so it will only appeal to customers in areas where there is no DSL access -currently about 50 per cent of the UK.

At this price, the appeal is limited to SMEs, though wealthy consumers may also consider it.

Somehow we can't help but feel that £180 per month doesn't make this a wise alternative when the likes of Tiscali (among two others) are set to launch an equally unrestrictive service for roughly £50 per month.

Silicon goes on the state that the service will be supplied by 'HOT Telecom', the UK subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems. Interestingly BTOpenworlds future Satellite service (see listings / £100PM) is to be provided by Gilat Network Systems, Hughes rival.

News - September 23,2001

ISP Review Weekly Update

By:mark.j @ 10:39:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

UPDATE: The 'Readers Top 50 ISPs' system is now back online, we've also updated the 'ISP Complaints' page and 'Unmetered ISP Listings'. Forums have also been re-built and re-indexed, give them a couple of days to get back up to speed.

I'll keep this weeks update short since we have a couple of things to fix with the new server before everything is back to normal.

Firstly I'd ask that everybody erase their cookies and cache because otherwise some of the sites features might not work. This is because the new server is different and may not be identified properly (with cookies).

We'll try to fix the 'Readers Top 50 ISPs' system today if possible, although we'll also be re-building (automated process) the forums (sorry if they go offline while we do this) to make sure any corrupted data during the domain transition is fixed.

Typically we've got a lot of things to catch up with after over a week of uncertainty, expect some of the complaints and ISP list pages to be updated in the next day or so.

NTL Expand Broadband To Leeds

By:mark.j @ 10:06:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Customers to NTLs service in Leeds will be glad to hear that according to DigitalSpy, they'll be expanding the broadband cable modem service into the area for 24th September (Monday).:

'Impz' first reported the news following a conversation with telesales, in which the rollout date was confirmed. This enterprising member of the forums went to the trouble of recording the conversation; an MP3 of which is linked from the forum thread in which the news broke.

News - September 22,2001

Clara.net To Suspend Unmetered Accounts

By:mark.j @ 12:27:PM - Comments (7) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One of the UKs most popular and recognised ISPs, Clara.net, look to be doing exactly what they had once hoped to avoid with any unmetered packages.

The ISP, which has often stated its allowance for heavy Internet usage, now looks to be kicking people for just that. The following E-Mail has already been received by several customers.:

Dear FreeTime Anytime customer,

Claranet have recently introduced a new FreeTime service, called FreeTime Anytime (FTAT) Business. This service is essentially the same as the existing FTAT service except that there are more modems available per customer (only 5 customers per modem instead of 10) and is designed for people with heavier useage requirements.

Over the last few weeks your usage of the FTAT service indicates that you require a greater share of a modem than a 10:1 service can provide and we would therefore like you to upgrade to the FTAT Business service unless you think your usage is likely to decrease.

You can request an upgrade to FTAT Business on our web page at http://www.clara.net/members/ . Otherwise, please call our customer service department on 0845 355 1000 before Wednesday 26th September to avoid your account being suspended.

If your usage is very heavy you might like to consider our ClaraDSL service, details of which are at http://www.clara.net/homeaccess/adsl/

Claranet Customer Services.

It's difficult to know exactly what kind of usage Clara.net are referring to since in typical ISP fashion they've been as vague as possible. There are several types of usage that ISPs hate; one could be hanging around in chat rooms using 'stay-alive' software to stop disconnections.

We sent an E-Mail Clara.net's way during mid-day yesterday and have yet to receive a response, which we'd now expect on Monday. Just how extensive this latest set of warnings has penetrated into Clara's customer base we don't yet know.

ISP Review Site Update

By:mark.j @ 12:09:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Well we've finally moved and currently the only system still offline is the 'Readers Top 50 ISPs', we'll fix it later. You can also send E-Mails to the usual addresses again; however take note that the other members of staff have yet to receive the new details (can’t pickup mails yet).

We've still got a few things to fix, although the most important parts of the site are now back in operation.

UPDATE: Some people's ISPs still haven't updated to the new sites DNS and location details, we'd expect this to take another 12 hours or so. If you can't login to the forums then this is one of the reasons.

Oftel Head States - LLU Unsuccessful

By:mark.j @ 12:06:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The online business video service, Cantos.com, has managed to interview Oftels head - David Edmonds. In the Interview Mr.Edmonds explains that LLU hasn't been a success and that the process has been painful and often miserable.:

Said Mr Edmonds: "There is no doubt that the actual practicality of that has been a painful and often miserable process. There is no doubt that in carrying through the strict requirements on them, BT didn't behave in a way that I believed showed that they really wanted to unbundle the local loop to let their competitors into the network. At every stage we've had arguments and we've had disputes."

Despite the problems Mr Edmonds remains upbeat about the process and remains focused on the notion that LLU will ensure that the UK's fixed line phone network is opened up to competition and that it will yield broadband services.

More @ The Register.

PlusNET On BTI - Customer Treatment

By:mark.j @ 9:18:AM - Comments (13) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

PlusNET appear to be using yesterdays damning BBC1 Watchdog report on BTInternet’s attitude toward certain customers to heighten their profile, or so this full press release shows.:

PlusNet express no surprise at BT Internet customer announcement

(Press Release 21st September 2001, Sheffield UK) Yesterday's report by the BBC consumer affairs program Watchdog (and subsequently reported by acclaimed Industry web site ISPReview.co.uk) has come as no surprise to popular UK ISP PlusNet. Watchdog announced on their web site that 34,000 customers of BT Internet's 'Anytime' service were to be reclassified.

"This week, BT sent Judy Kasper an e-mail. In future, she has to use a special new phone number to log on. Other high users are getting the same news."

"They're being told their service won't change, and their new dial up number should make things better. But this internal briefing document, given to Watchdog by one of BT's own staff, tells a different story."

The Watchdog article implies that many users of the BT Anytime service have been given the impression that when the advert says "24hr Internet access" that's what you get - literally. Such overuse of an Internet service never designed to be an 'always-on' service is quite clearly not sustainable in the long term, hence BT Internet's current dilemma.

A BT spokesperson was quoted as saying, "One of the issues is that a small proportion of customers regularly use the service for exceptionally long periods of time at peak hours, contributing disproportionately to congestion for the majority of customers. We are therefore taking action to manage our network to spread the load more effectively. As part of this some customers have been given a new number to access the service."

When designing their own range of unmetered Internet access services for Home and Business, PlusNet have been at pains to explain to their customers exactly what is being offered. PlusNet's range of 'Connect' services are based on the technical concept of 'contention', meaning the number of people with whom you share your connection. This provides an easily understood means of assigning fair use of the service, based upon the customer's requirements.

"We are one of the few, if not the only, UK ISP to so straightforwardly communicate to our customers what we mean by unmetered. We have a range of accounts based upon contention which allows users to decide which service suits their usage profile the best," stated Alistair Wyse, Product and Services Director for PlusNet. "Indeed we provide a 1:1 contention product, Connect Always On, which we believe to be the only dial up account actually designed to support unlimited access on the market today."

PlusNet's range of unmetered Internet access services start at only £6.99 inc. VAT per month. You can find out more about their range of great value Internet access services at their web site http://www.plus.net

PlusNET do a good job of re-iterating something we’ve often thought should be a requirement of any ISP, openly stated usage limits. Sadly unless this is enforced by some sort of regulatory body (doesn’t exist, yet - Ofcom) then it can make an ISP seem uncompetitive and unattractive.

We can only hope this will change in the future, all ISPs need to adopt it, not just a few.

BTOpenworld Launches Internet Survey

By:mark.j @ 9:11:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not content with propagating most of this week’s news, BTOpenworld have sent us yet another press release, this time regarding their portal survey.

The survey will be asking UK Internet users for their opinions about how they use and perceive the Internet. Users who complete the survey will be entered into a draw and 25 people will win one year's free Internet access from BTopenworld Anytime.:

For each completed survey, BTopenworld has pledged to donate 25p to the Childline charity.+

The survey is expected to facilitate improvements to BTopenworld's service, helping to improve customers Internet experience and enable them to further understand their customers' needs.

The survey has been streamlined to ensure that it will only take it few minutes to complete. People undertaking the survey must complete 8 questions in order to be entered for the draw. It will be live on the BTopenworld portal from September 18th 2001 and ends on October 19th 2001.

To take part in the survey please visit http://www.btopenworldsurvey.com/web

* BTopenworld Anytime offers access to the Internet 24 hours per day and seven days per week, normally for £14.99 per month (including VAT) with no additional Internet call charges. You need a BT Line to take advantage of the package.

+ If interest is extremely high, the amount of money earned for Childline will be capped at £15, 000.

Free2Surf (FREE24-7.net) Domain Dispute

By:mark.j @ 9:06:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Sorry we couldn't post this yesterday like several other items because the servers domain was already in mid-transition. However V21, backers of Free2Surf, was kind enough to clarify the domain situation.:

Free2surf has now not been sold to Route Unix, although an offer was made. The domain name has been sold to Freedom2surf for an undisclosed amount.

Free2Surf has changed its name to Free24-7.net The new service has already commenced. Paul Williams said "To continue on a good relationship will other ISP's we have today decided to revoke the use of the name Free2surf and change it to FREE24-7.net."

This new name will take the place of the former FREE2SURF and there will be no changes in the service we offer. We have seen an enormous uptake in our £7.99 unmetered internet package but there are still about 3000 accounts left to be taken. We are keeping our service to a 10,000 user limit at present to ensure no connection or slow problems.

Hopefully now the new domain, free24-7.net, won't be disputed by 24-7FreeCall =). Services stay the same, but with a different name.

News - September 21,2001

Europe Approves Cybercrime Treaty

By:mark.j @ 3:42:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Nobody was honestly expecting there to be any stark opposition to the Cybercrime treaty following last week’s disaster in the USA. In short this means that The Council of Europe Ministers' Deputies has approved the first international convention on cybercrime.

It's design to set a common criminal policy on the misuse of computer networks and electronic information for terrorist or illegal activity.:

The Convention deals specifically with the distribution of child pornography on the Internet, infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud and violations of network security. It will also be supplemented by an additional protocol making any publication of racist material on the Internet a criminal offence.

The treaty also addresses the controversial interception of communications data for the purpose of criminal investigations, and requires signatory states to grant law enforcement authorities the power to collect or record traffic or content data in domestic law. It also provides measures for electronic information to be preserved by and Internet Service Provider for longer than the billing period, "in particular when there are grounds to believe that the computer data is particularly vulnerable to loss or modification."

More @ ZDNet.

New Broadband Standard - G.SHDSL

By:mark.j @ 3:35:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's important to remember that technologies such as R/ADSL only form a small part of what is a much wider xDSL standards base. From as low as ISDN to the likes of SDSL and FSDSL, the broadband xDSL standards continue to expand.

The latest xDSL standard to enter the fray is G.SHDSL, although don't expect it to be on your home desktop PCs anytime soon, this one is for business use only.:

Although DSL speeds vary widely, the new G.SHDSL is potentially two to three times faster than most versions of DSL targetted at business customers. The G.SHDSL standard can deliver data further than earlier DSL technologies, which are limited by distance.

G.SHDSL is short for the formal single-pair, high-bit-rate digital subscriber line, more casually known as symmetric high-speed digital subscriber line. Approved by the International Telecommunications Union in February, G.SHDSL is a standard for a DSL technology capable of speeds of 2.3mbps (megabits per second), or up to 4.6mbps in some cases.

The data-transfer speeds are symmetric, meaning people can download and upload information at the same rate. Some versions of DSL technology offer faster downloads than uploads.

The ZDNet item reports that some EU and USA businesses have already begun adopting the technology and that it's expected to spread.

One especially apparent advantage for such a high-speed service is its ability to work up to 3miles from the exchange, which is usually difficult @ higher speeds.

BT Agrees 3G/UTMS Cost Saving Deal

By:mark.j @ 3:26:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Deutsche Telekom and BT seem to have been busy trying to save as much money as possible, which is especially relevant during the current economic crisis. In short they claim to have signed binding deals to cooperate in building 3G networks in Germany and Britain with an eye on big cost savings.

Deutsche Telekom unit T-Mobile International and mmO2, the soon-to-be de-merged wireless arm of British Telecommunications, said the details of the deals signed on Thursday were agreed after a memorandum of understanding in June.

Both companies reiterated forecasts made in June that the agreements, which are still subject to regulatory approval, should result in significant savings.

"We are now in a position to move into the implementation phase and focus on driving forward our 3G network roll-out plans in Germany and the UK," mmO2 Chief Executive Peter Erskine said in a statement on Friday.

Deutsche Telekom, which owns the One2One mobile business in the UK, said in a statement that the agreement might lead to savings of up to 30% on the estimated costs of building the costly third-generation networks.

Its British partner, which owns German wireless operator Viag Interkom, also said the agreement was expected to deliver it up to 30% cost savings over 10 years on capital expenditure for the 3G network build.

Of course none of this will matter if the somewhat divided ideas of related regulation bodies aren't happy. Having said that, regulators will be under pressure due to the current economic crisis, they may let things through without too much questioning.

Tiscali EU Expands Portal

By:mark.j @ 10:03:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

While the likes of BTOpenworld have opted to concentrate on service rather than portal technology, Tiscali have been trying to do the opposite.

In further moves to expand its European portal (UK included), Tiscali has signed the popular 'Reuters' news service.:

Users of Tiscali’s 14 web portals will get access to company and markets news from Reuters’ business service, alongside the multimedia Online Reports.

In addition, Reuters will supply its French and UK Online Reports covering top national and international sport, entertainment and business news, alongside more quirky news oddities.

The service has already been rolled out into the UK, French and Italian portals, and will be developed into the company’s other 11 sites in the next month.

More @ netimperative.com.

WonkyPig Unmetered Service Update

By:mark.j @ 9:56:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It would seem as if WonkyPig's latest service announcement backs up yesterdays claim of their intention to purchase the 'Free2Surf.Net' domain. At least in the ISDN 128Kbps aspect.:

128k iSDN Stage 2
We are pleased to announce 128k iSDN will be available to existing users shortly, then made available to new customer signups via our website.

Evenings and Weekends
We will be launching our evening and weekends package on the 25th September 2001, to new customers wishing to use our service from 6pm to 8am and all weekend on an 0800 number allowing non bt customers to take advantage of the service also . . .

Typically if you can't reach WPs site then that's because the ISP has taken the rather questionable move of only allowing those with a screen resolution of 800*600 to see it!?

It would appear to be an unusual move on the part of WP/RoutUnix since most of the website stats we've seen show 1024*768 to be 10-20% more popular than 800*600 these days. Perhaps they just don't want the customers?

easyEverything (Net Café) Deal

By:mark.j @ 9:50:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if the PSINet ISP has successfully renegotiated its deal with popular Internet Café chain, easyEverything. The deal worth £1.5Million per annum should sustain the chain for sometime to come.:

Under the 18-month deal, PSINet Europe will continue to provide connectivity and web hosting support for easyEverything's 21 cafes across Europe.

In March easyEverything told silicon.com that it was looking at other ISPs to host the new cafes it plans to build around the world, because it feared PSINet's financial difficulties meant it was no longer suitable.

More @ Silicon.

Asian Net Traffic Slows Due To Break

By:mark.j @ 9:45:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It hasn't been long since China saw the last break in its undersea networking cable, however it now looks as if two more fiber-optic cables off the China coast have been cut. Whether, like last time, it was due to a shark using it for a chew toy or a fishing trawlers anchor isn't yet clear.

The cable breaks, likely caused by a ship's anchor on Thursday, disrupted Internet service in the region, especially in Australia and Hong Kong, a member of the consortium that owns the cables said. Internet traffic in Singapore also had to be rerouted.

"The connection speed was very slow," a Singapore insurance broker said. "We have a great deal of bandwidth but not much seemed to be moving. We thought it was to do with the virus."

The breakages occurred on Thursday morning about 30 kilometers off the coast of Shantou in southern China's Guangdong province. One of the cables connects Hong Kong and Shantou, while the other connects Shantou with Taiwan and Japan, according to Reach, a part-owner of both cables.

Two repair ships left Shanghai and Japan and will arrive at the site of the breakages on Tuesday, Reach said.

About half the affected Internet traffic had been restored as of Thursday night, although Reach said delays would occur in periods of peak Internet usage. Voice traffic was automatically rerouted and not affected.

Personally we rather like the idea of a shark ‘HOOKING’ into the Internet =), albeit with the use of teeth over a modem or RJ45 connector. If it works it works.

TV's Watchdog On BTInternet AnyTime

By:mark.j @ 9:36:AM - Comments (26) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It was only a matter of time before the popular British consumer affairs program, Watchdog (BBC1), picked up on the never ending problems with BT Internets unmetered AnyTime service.

Today the BBCs Watchdog website seems to have issued a full report on the matter. Thanks to 'Muppster' for the heads up.:

This week, BT sent Judy Kasper an e-mail. In future, she has to use a special new phone number to log on. Other high users are getting the same news.

Though they don’t know it, 34,000 customers are being reclassified by BT. They’re being told their service won’t change, and their new dial up number should make things better. But this internal briefing document, given to Watchdog by one of BT’s own staff, tells a different story.

What follows is a rather shocking and truly unfortunate account of BTIs behaviour toward customers, it's likely to cause deep concern.:

It says customers are to be removed from the normal Anytime service. But makes clear they mustn’t be told this and stressed the new number should only given out to those on the hit list.

The document also makes it clear that BT is expecting many customers to get the engaged tone. And tells staff to fob them off by simply saying try again.

This is simply appalling and we can't believe an ISP carrying such a well recognised brand would stoop so low, no wait.., yes we can. Apparently customers using this new number are experiencing exactly what BT hoped, poor service and engage tones.

Typically BTs reply manages to completely avoid apologising to customers for its DISGUSTING business practices. Instead they simply give a run down of the service and its problems, doing a good job to paste over any facts.

BTInternet has been in our complaints page for longer than we can remember; we only have to glance the inbox to see another 6-8 complaints for the last week. This is yet another case for why the industry needs to enforce regulatory controls on some ISPs, Ofcom is already too late.

BT Revamps Broadband Site

By:mark.j @ 9:11:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

No doubt directly linked to the future advertising campaign, BTOpenwoe have spotted a change with BTs broadband page. It's had a revamp and also includes a 'LIMITED' list of suppliers (ISPs) offering the service.:

http://www.broadband1.bt.com

..for the suppliers list:

http://www.broadband1.bt.com/for_home/suppliers.asp

The rest of the site now appears easier to navigate and designed to help anybody unfamiliar with the service become better acquainted. Hopefully this will strength consumer understanding of the technology, many of which still don't know what 'broadband' means.

News - September 20,2001

Rout Unix To Buy 'Free2Surf' Domain

By:mark.j @ 4:03:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've just received the following message from Rout Unix, whom now own WonkyPig.

It seems to be valid although we'd take it with a pinch of salt since some detail has been missed out, making it hard to validate.:

Wonykpig today approached paul williams of free2surf £25,000 for the domain name http://www.free2surf.net to turn into there new 128k isdn service due to launch end of september 2001.

Wonkypig will find out within the next few hours weither there offer has been sucessful. More Information available shortly.

It appears to be an interesting if exceptionally poorly timed plan, we shouldn't forget the dispute with 'Freedom2Surf' (name wise). Not to mention that paying £25,000 for a fairly average domain name is somewhat ridiculous.

Why not spend the money on better services? Typically we’d suggest waiting for more confirmation since it seems quite sceptical.

Demon Internet Hit By Nimda Worm

By:mark.j @ 3:36:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Demon Internet looks to be the latest ISP giant hit by the ever prominent Nimda (admiN) Internet worm.:

Demon ADSL users experienced an impaired service on Tuesday due to routing problems, intermittent connectivity plus some packet loss for dial up connection customers.

Many users are still experiencing problems. One Demon user told silicon.com: "Every single leased-line customer is currently without a proper server, no mail, no web and it's been down for over 24 hours."

Another customer said: "Incoming messages are getting stuck on Demon's Punt-2 SMTP server and you have to call its help line to get someone to intervene to unstick them."

The Silicon item reports that Demon is still working to correct the issue; no timescale for a full fix has been given. Other ISPs are suffering a similar set of problems.