November 21, 2000 - November 29, 2000

News - November 29,2000

DTI Moves Too Fast With Auctions

By:mark.j @ 9:40:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

After last weeks broadband wireless auctions ended with the government’s target of £2 Billion looking unrealistic, you'd have thought they might have taken a pause. However according to netimperative.com they are already planning another before the last one has been investigated!:

It has emerged that the government is yet to appoint an investigative body for the abortive broadband fixed wireless auctions, although the DTI and department of Culture intend to release the Communications Bill in two weeks time, which will identify further frequencies to be auctioned.

Last week Patricia Hewitt, Minister for e-commerce and small business, announced that there would be an enquiry into why many UK broadband fixed wireless licences remained unsold. The enquiry is due to be released near Christmas, and will look at the viability of the auction process, which many industry observers have questioned.

Yes, when you don't even get close to your target then something has to be wrong, although as we keep saying - £2 Billion was a highly unrealistic price tag in the first place.

Kingston Tries To Cut DSL Costs

By:mark.j @ 9:32:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Under the present system and even after LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) has finally finished, xDSL services will still be very expensive no matter who offers them. Today netimperative.com sees Kingston Communications trying to implement cost cutting measures:

Kingston Communications CEO Steve Maine has mapped out a strategy for the group’s rollout of DSL services that will see Kingston subsidiary Torch Telecom and Colt Telecom accelerate the build-out of a nationwide backbone, while new companies VisionCo and KitCo, part of Kingston Vision, responsible for DSL services respectively, are spun off.

VisionCo and KitCo will be responsible for installing DSL infrastructure and providing iTV services respectively. Consequently, VisionCo will have the unenviable task of pushing forward Kingston’s strategy for getting rack-space in BT local exchanges. Kingston Vision is the division responsible for iTV, video-on-demand and ADSL services.

According to Maine, Kingston is aiming for a minority stake in both companies and has provisionally capped Kingston’s investment in DSL to £150m over three years. The total cost of the nationwide rollout of DSL services is rumoured to be £1bn.

The changes should help to curve any initial losses the company will take on and ultimately lead them into profit a lot sooner.

News - November 28,2000

New Site Design/Layout - Tomorrow!

By:mark.j @ 3:57:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

I've spent most of yesterday and today sorting out and clearing up ready for the new main page layout. At present there are still three things left to do:

1) Clean up a few bits/layout.
2) Sort out the central area (bit above main news in the middle).
3) Wait for flash banner to be moved into normal site rotation from tomorrow (now in gif format to stop forum problems).

Trying to get the central area right is the most important aspect, although if we can't do that then it'll go live as is. However the change won't be as dramatic if that occurs.

That said and the new layout is the same feel as the current one (keep with ISPr's history), although all the tables have been given a new layout/face lift. On top of that we've also included some smaller changes, like the re-size that occurred yesterday.

Overall this new layout keeps in the typical ISPr style of changing the way things are every three or four months. We think you're going to like the new layout; it's a very 'cool' look and loads faster. Pay a visit to ISPreview tomorrow midday or afternoon to see the change; it should take us nicely into the New Year.

ZDNets David Edmonds (Oftel) Interview

By:mark.j @ 3:44:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

ZDNet look set to cash in the ratings as today they've managed to publish the first part of an exclusive interview with David Edmonds. For those living in a small cave these last few months, David is the head at Oftel and this interview is all about unmetered access and BT.

However we have to say that today’s part.1 was rather lifeless and looked too politically correct. Very little is said about the core issues that cause problems with Surftime and FRIACO and no detail is given. Hopefully part.2 will be better when it arrives tomorrow, we'll quote the better bits:

Oftel had two big announcements last week on local loop unbundling and unmetered access. Could you take a few minutes to talk about the background leading up to what have been viewed as quite harsh judgements on BT?

I'd quarrel that they were harsh judgements. Oftel has been totally coherent throughout the whole process -- both the delivery of unmetered access and in terms of the need to unbundle the local loop in the UK. Some of the press comments suggested that these were reactions to recent criticisms. That is absolutely not the case.

The announcement on Friaco II which extends unmetered connectivity into the network is actually a major exercise which was launched back in June/July. The report we commissioned from technical experts illustrated why it was necessary to take four or five months to look at what the network could actually cope with.

Why did it not happen at the same time as BT rolled out SurfTime?

Friaco I was a product. It was there and it was utilised. Friaco II takes connectivity deeper into the network and was put in place after we had listened to the complaints of operators and after we had analysed the strengths of the network. No one would thank the regulator if we took a bunch of decisions that led to failures in different parts of the network.

Would you accept that SurfTime in its original state was a mess?

No, I wouldn't accept that it was a mess. In its original state it actually opened the door to what we have now got. Look back in the UK at what we had and look at what we have now got in terms of unmetered access. Lowest off-peak Internet access prices in Europe and pretty close now with peak time.

Realistically no manager is going to tell the truth and sell themselves out and thus you can't expect a whole load from this interview. Either way it makes for a good read as you try to hear Oftels side of the situation, although it's what they leave out that's important.

BT Still After HyperLink Patent

By:mark.j @ 3:32:PM - Comments (13) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

There are some things nobody should ever be allowed to own, some such things are people, the weather, a planet and hyperlinks. Yet despite this BT has today announced that it's still well in the running to claim back hyperlinks as its own.

Why is this bad you ask? Well if you didn't already know then cash-grabbing BT wants to charge people who use them! It's a bit like asking people to pay you for the air they breathe:

The telco also refuses to discuss the cases of others who believe they created hypertext before BT patented its version in 1976, despite film footage which many believe undermines BT's claim.

News that BT owned the rights to hypertext became public knowledge in June after UK-based licensing company, Scipher, announced it was acting on behalf of BT to realise the financial potential of the BT's patent.

In an announcement today Scipher confirms that it was still "actively carrying out this commission", scotching mischievous speculation that BT's claim was little more than a hoax.

The Register goes on to say how BT dismisses and refuses to communicate with those who actually have vastly stronger evidence that they own the patent. We can only hope BT don't get their hands on them and start charging extra to websites just because they link pages.

Kingston ADSL update

By:Rob.W @ 12:50:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Kingston Communications are to split its DSL business in two, according to FT.

One will provide network facilities and the other will provide the actual service. The other point of interest is that they have confirmed the investment figures for putting in DSL into a large number of exchanges.

The group also said it had put in place a £250m debt facility in order to help fund the installation of DSL in as many as 1,000 British Telecommunication exchanges throughout the UK.

Steve Maine, chief executive, said the company was committed to the further rollout of broadband residential services and planned to exploit DSL technology for its business-to-business activities.
He said the service was expected to reach 2m residential customers and 50,000 businesses when completed nationwide.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the exchanges get opened up, as it will on the face of it look like ADSL will actually get rolled out faster than we first thought, through the competition of companies such as Kingston communications.

Any thoughts? Are we being too speculative?

BT & Japan Telecom Join Forces

By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Apparently Jens Corp, a leading unit in Japan Telecom, has agreed to join forces with AT&T in America and BT in the UK. More specifically BT Ignite, so as to enable them to combined and provide Internet data centre services worldwide.

In case you didn't know, BT Ignite is a unit of BT that offers Internet protocol services and runs broadband and Internet businesses. The agreements will allow Jens to offer server-hosting services such as managing email, data storage and e- commerce through 30 data centres in 11 countries.

BT's Free Off-Peak Local Calls - FRIDAY

By:mark.j @ 9:53:AM - Comments (16) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Unless you've been living in a small box under the local bridge and are regularly called, 'scum' or 'Mr Grime', then you can't help but noticed BT's new Free Off-Peak local calls offer. It's set to come into effect from Friday and despite the limits, does look like an improvement.

That said and according to VNUNet this morning, Oftel could well find that BT's latest offerings are anti-competitive?:

"We are undertaking an investigation into BT's packages under the Competition Act," said the spokeswoman. "We informed BT about the investigation on Friday and will make a further statement shortly."

BT, which announced its two internet pricing packages BT Surf Together and BT Talk & Surf Together on 19 October, said it is "bemused" by the regulator's investigation, adding that it strongly refutes suggestions that it is acting anti-competively.

BT chief executive Sir Peter Bonfield said in a statement: "These packages represent excellent news for consumers. BT is offering even better value for money in the area of internet access. We strongly resist the suggestion that we are acting anti-competitively: all we're trying to do is to give our customers excellent value for money."

You can never tell exactly what Oftel are going to pull out of the hat or what they mean by anti-competitive. Mainly because they focus on two areas, business and consumer, the resulting answers for either of these when combined with the above option may well have different effects.

So the question is clear, do they mean anti-competitive in the terms that there aren't other offers like it on the market, which there are (Freechariot, Surfing Rabbit). Or do they mean anti-competitive in that other Telco's haven't seen discounts passed on to them to do the same?

If it's the first then Oftel clearly isn't doing its research because we already know of two. So most likely it's the second, which thankfully shouldn't delay BT's offer to consumers. Either way the last thing Oftel should do is block the new packages, but by all means slap BT for not being competitive with other Telco's =).

Oftels LLU Plan - Update

By:mark.j @ 9:30:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not long ago Oftel announced some new plans for the way LLU should go forward and today have produced yet more details on it thanks to netimperative.com. Apparently the original plan to complete the latest round of allocations by December 1st still stands:

Under the new framework, operators wanting co-location space will bid for batches of three racks in their preferred exchanges and assign a priority to each individual batch.

Oftel hopes that this mechanism will prevent operators from bidding indiscriminately for six racks in all exchanges, a strategy that was partly blamed for the failure of the first round of allocations in September. Under the new rules, bids will be submitted to BT and independently audited by the Electoral Reform Society before being passed to Oftel, which will then notify bidders of the results.

Mark Ballett, CEO, of OnCue Telecommunications, one of the bidders had mixed reactions to the news: “It’s progress in the sense that it has to be seen in context, but it’s still nowhere near a level playing field. Unbundling is still highly discriminatory in BT’s favour. BT guaranteed that it would make 190 exchanges available for co-location by July next year, but it’s also said that 600 would be available for distant co-location. They just don’t want people in their exchanges.”

All sounds very interesting, yet the Telco's involved in LLU remain highly sceptical and so they should be.

SKY-by-ADSL

By:Rob.W @ 9:23:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

ADSL is to be used by British Sky Broadcasting to deliver programmes on demand.

The ADSL offering is complementary to BSkyB's core satellite business and will use a different set-top box, he said. If all goes well, 'tele-TV' services could be rolled out nationwide early next year.

Visit The Register for the full story.

It is a positive move for BSkyB to utilise ADSL for this but unless there is going to be a cost saving over the Digital Satellite version, BSkyB are going to have to give an added value to using ADSL for something that is already available via a dish.

There is also the fact that some towns and cities do not allow residents to put up Satellite dishes, and cable may not have all the programmes that Sky can offer. In this scenario, so long as ADSL is available in the area, it will mean consumers will be given a choice.

News - November 27,2000

Oftels Days Are Numbered

By:mark.j @ 5:35:PM - Comments (20) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's been clear for a while that despite Oftels recent improvements, they are no longer flexible enough to work in the current and growing technological climate. ZDNet have now exclusively revealed that Oftels days could well be numbered:

Speaking exclusively and candidly to ZDNet News David Edmonds confesses he is leading the vanguard for the abolition of the watchdog in its current form and claims to be extremely excited at the idea of its replacement -- coined OfCom.

This new regulatory agency would take on more responsibility, merging the duties currently being overseen by Oftel, the ITC and the Radio Authority. "What we want this organisation to do basically is look after the interests of the consumer in a world of converged technology," he says. "Oftel would disappear."

In a wide-ranging interview Edmonds also confessed that BT's behaviour over local loop unbundling had at times "bordered on the obstructive", accusing the telco of refusing to apply its customer care to the operators keen to get into its exchanges.

Sounds very interesting, especially that last paragraph about BT, which could also be used against some ISPs we know. What do you, our readers, think? Is it a good idea to merge different groups into one or a bad idea?

Barrysworld Updates On Unmetered

By:mark.j @ 5:18:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Our friends from Barrysworld have today updated again on their unmetered project, mainly stating that they might not do it at all, but need feedback:

Had hundreds of replies, all of them useful, whether you thought so or not when you sent it in. Ta very much, its exactly what we needed.

Anyway, out of all this feedback I realised that several more points need to be stated about this, to clear stuff up a little.

*Its not a Surftime package, its FRIACO 2nd generation

*That means theres no extra Surftime payment to BT required

*Its a Direct Dial to our own dialup racks, so performance should be the same as the current 0845

*Its not BT only customers, anyone could use it, Modem or ISDN (so we`ve been told. Will get confirmation of this ASAP

*We pay a fixed rate for the lines, irrespective of Usage, therefore its irrelevent to us when its used, hence no off-peak only offering, as there is no off-peak, its a flat rate

*The contention ratio is a port contention, not bandwidth contention

*There will be no port blocking except, possibly, for some of the more "popular" hacking ports, like 12345 etc

*Its Full Internet access, just like our current 0845 offering

*We know £35 is expensive. If theres room to move on that, we will

*Many people suggested a shorter cutoff time, to ensure slots become available. So, we`ll consider 3hrs or even 2hrs

*The sign-ups will be restricted to ensure the contention ratio is adhered to, we wont just keep taking the money and hope no one notices they cant actually connect when the contention ratio gets stupid

*We wont let the Game Server service be degraded by concentrating on this. If we do this successfully this will provide extra funds for the game server area, and therefore we can improve it

We are not definately going to do this. We`ll do it if we can afford to. That means if people are prepared to pay for it. We know Freeserve and AOL are cheaper (for instance). We have no intention of making a loss running such a service (Freeserve lose £5 a month per account currently I`m told) hence the higher than average price.

We`re also aware that some of you dont get the pings you used to from our Dialup racks. The whole point of our Dialup is QOS (Quality Of Service) and therefore we`re looking at the Dialup mechanism now (many many of you said you got an excellent connection too, but the more the merrier ;).

We`d only expect people to use any Dialup mechanism we offer if it achieved its purpose of a better connection to our Game servers.

Anyway, food for thought. If you have any further comment to make, having read this, then once again mail unmetered@barrysworld.com - we read them ALL, and need the feedback to help us guage interest.

Well go give them some feedback and if you missed the original and rough layout for the package then look HERE.

Vispa Goes Telco - EXCLUSIVE

By:mark.j @ 5:05:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've know about this for a little while, although couldn't post anything (asked not to), that was until a member of the public uncovered a site and made the details public for all to see (thanks Paul) =].

Vispa (Internet/Connect) are a well known ISP currently offering an 0845 service, ADSL offerings and in early 2001 the prospect of unmetered. However today ISP Review can exclusively reveal that they also have their own Telco planned.

The site was found by Paul and can be viewed here:
http://www.vispacall.com/

Welcome to a VispaCall, a brand new service launching very soon from Vispa Internet, an already established Internet Service Provider www.vispa.net.

Why VispaCall?

With VispaCall you can save up to 75% on national and international phone calls along with pleasing savings on local and mobile phone calls compared to the rates offered by BT.

"With VispaCall, you can make an average £50 saving based on an annual average BT call expenditure of £108"

Total Control of Spending

Your in total control of payments with VispaCall making your phone calls more flexible and cost effective than ever. You simply call a freephone number, purchase calling credit via large range of debit and credit cards, and then within a couple of minutes you can start saving those vital pennies.

"With BT a 10 minute daytime call to Australia would cost £4.90. With VispaCall, it's just 60p. That's a massive saving of £4.30."

As you can see there isn't much in the way of details and if you visit the site you can Pre-Signup, although by the looks of it nothing is quite ready for even that. We expect this should prompt a more official announcement by Vispa soon enough.

Redstone Confirms SHDSL

By:mark.j @ 4:45:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We already know about Redstones 'External Exchange' idea to be combined with their SDSL technology, but today they have confirmed some early launch dates and coverage details. Quite what the 'H' in SHDSL stands for we can't be sure of, so it's best to keep saying SDSL instead =):

Redstone Telecom has confirmed that it will have external access to 1250 local BT exchanges by July 2001, while operators working to install their equipment internally will have gained access to around 600 local exchanges by this date.

The company says that it plans to rollout a synchronous broadband service, rather than competitors’ planned ADSL services, for SMEs. This alternative will provide equal data speeds up and down stream, which industry observers believe will prove more useful for businesses.

Redstone is not the only operator to have gone down this route. BT’s IP services division Ignite announced in that it would trial an SDSL product in August, will provide end user access.

netimpartive.com's article also goes into a little more detail about the coverage, although we suspect that SME's should be watching Redstone like a hawk.

ISP Review Site Updates

By:mark.j @ 12:07:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You may notice a few changes around the site today as I thought I'd make up for being away last week and boost the site a bit. Firstly you'll notice the forums have been cleaned up a little and we've also added AOL and LineOne into the unmetered comments list, so you can now discuss those.

Next up we've made the first of several layout changes to the whole site and main page. It's now slightly wider and the news headings use a different font/colour. We've also added the 'Broadband' link in to the header; although take note that the section won't be online for a little while yet.

Following that we've also updated the Top10 page and swapped some of the ISPs around in accordance with recent changes/consumer feeling. We've also added an 'Estimated Value' column into the 'ISP By Subscribers' table and updated some of the other values. We have then gone and reverted the 'Readers Top 50' so it tally’s by rating and not score.

Finally we updated the 'Complaints' section, amazingly it's been a good couple of weeks for ISPs. Complaints have been down on the key players - RedHotAnt and Freeserve by as much as 75%! We know RHA are improving, but are Freeserve? However complaints for BTInternet rose considerably and IGClick had the most for the past couple of weeks.

So far it looks as though IGClick will be the worst ISP for next month. Now back to work and maybe even some lunch.

RedHotAnt To Kill 128Kbps

By:mark.j @ 9:41:AM - Comments (12) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This is hardly going to be good news for the thousands who have ISDN and love the ability to connect @ 128Kbps Dual Channel ISDN. According to Stuart and as is now plain to see on the FAQ page, RHA seem to be setting themselves up for permanently cutting 128Kbps ISDN:

Q: Do RedHotAnt Support ISDN Connections?

A: Yes, we support ISDN up to 64K.

That used to say 128Kbps, so it looks like RedHotAnt are set to become the next ISP in a long line after EzeSurf and IGClick (can get it, but costs x2) to drop 128Kbps support. Not to mention that BT cut dual channel access across the board on BTSurftime connections two weeks ago.

After RHA there are next to no unmetered style ISPs who support 128Kbps in a worthwhile fashion. Lets hope some ISPs realise that there are people here who do use 128Kbps and will pay extra for it. On the bright side this will help to improve RHA's service, although on the down side it's going to have more unhappy customers. Of course after last weeks E-Mail it's clear they don't really care much about that =).

NTL Cable Modems Spread

By:mark.j @ 9:26:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to CableNews, NTL are rolling their new prices and offers for Cable Modems out all over their covered areas. Except those Ex-C&W customers who'll have to wait until Q1/Q2 2001:

NTL's 512Kbps cable modem service is now available in most original franchise areas, with the 'starter' 64Kbps service also available in Surrey, Hampshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

NTL aims to have completed the rollout of cable modems in its 'original' franchise areas by the end of December 2000.

News - November 26,2000

ISPreview Weekly Update

By:mark.j @ 10:18:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As many know the mighty Flu bug hit me this week, thankfully I'm on the road to recovery and should be fit and well for Monday. So expect a return to normal for next week, although I have quite a lot of ground to make up and still have no voice; none of which is hugely relevant to ISPr =).

On the cards for next week we're hoping to see the automated ISP listings system finalised and then install it. We also plan a few more cosmetic changes to the forum and the killing of that nasty Flash banner at the top.

However next week will also bring some changes to the main page and although they may not seem like much at first, they're quite important. We're going to widen the site by 40-60 pixels, it'll still be fine in 800*600 although should look better on the more used 1024*768.

Following that we may change the news layout and by the end of the week all of the main page (including nav tables) could have changed. It really depends how far we want to take it, it's going to be a clean up for X-Mas to keep things original. On top of that a couple of ISP reviews will be added, only a couple due to the massive time loss in November.

Along with the new layout update we'll also remove the 'Stats' page and use the extra space to add the 'Broadband' section link; not online for a few weeks yet though. That's basically the agenda for next week, we're now shooting to get even more done by X-Mas so we can all take a few days break =).

So make sure to stop by the site a little more than usual next week as you might see some interesting changes. It's hard to say how dramatic or not they might be, although my own personal vision looks more like a re-design than anything hehe.

LineOne Throws Up 'For Sale' Sign

By:mark.j @ 9:58:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to today’s Sunday Telegraph, British Telecommunications (BT) and United News & Media are putting their joint ISP project - Lineone - up for sale @ 400 million pounds.

Lineone already has a million+ subscribers to the two million who use market leader Freeserve. For comparison Freeserve is currently worth about 1.5 billion pounds. Interesting to see how well a BT owned ISP fails in the unmetered market isn't it? Pity they haven't quite learned their lesson yet.

News - November 25,2000

VeryFree Internet News

By:Ross14 @ 2:30:PM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The hugely successful, yet small ISP, VeryFree Internet has announced that it is ceasing their free local calls offer. This is the announcement on the website @ www.veryfree.net:

We regret to inform you that the company providing the free local calls to VeryFree Internet users has recently cease operations.

Users wishing to cancel their accounts should send a fax to that effect to 0870-222-1011 or by post to VeryFree Internet:The Maltings, Charlton Rd, Shepton Malet Somerset BA4 5QE.

We have been assured that this does not mean the end of their original free net access to local 01 and 02 prefixes. This will still run with the normal monthly fee of £11.99.

Oftel Publishes FRIACO Draft Direction

By:rich.p @ 9:07:AM - Comments (7) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Today, Oftel published the draft Direction to require BT to provide other telcos with unmetered Internet access over its network. The draft Direction sets out the legal framework that will bring into force proposals announced by Oftel on 13th November.

The key figure in this direction is "13,500 Tandem Switch 2Mbit/s ports for all FRIACO traffic" The Register was told that this should mean around 4 million lines will be able to get unmetered access through FRIACO. These will be supplied in the initial stage from 1 February 2001 to 31 January 2002.

The second stage that Oftel drafted is that BT has to meet all reasonable demand. One suggestion they have made is that: "BT may choose to implement the obligations imposed by Stage 2 is by constructing a separate network to lay over the PSTN and which would carry only trunk Internet Traffic". The cost would be shared between BT and the other telcos.

The full draft can be found HERE

Will four million lines be enough to cover the demand for FRIACO? Comments...

News - November 24,2000

Illness Strikes - Part.2

By:mark.j @ 12:30:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Don't be fooled by the fact I've just updated the news again as truth be told I'm far from well. It turned out to be a nasty case of Flu and not a cold, as anybody who’s truly had the Flu knows, it's not just a nasty cold.

In my life so far this is the second time I've had it and I can assure you it's not pleasant. These things tend to last about two weeks and I've had it for just over one, thus the reason I did some news updates today was that I do feel a tiny bit better. Hehe this is not the sort of Flu where you take three days off and tell all your mates it was Flu when really it's just a standard cold. Flu kills people.

However please do excuse the fact I can't deal with all your issues and concerns, you don't tend to work at times like these =). Try to direct any ISP news to the other staff and the send news address, thus only more important topics to me.

Once again I'm sorry if this has caused any delays or problems with anybody, sadly it's completely out of my control. So please don't ask of me things that it's obvious I can't possibly do right now. I'm hoping I'll be well for Monday and will rest more over the weekend - thanks to all who sent 'get well mails' - picked up on my laptop.

BT's Unreasonable Demands - Squashed

By:mark.j @ 12:18:PM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Somewhat relative to the Oftel article below, according to Reuters they also intend to give rivals the ability to directly scrutinise BT over its broadband LLU capacity and possibly even claim compensation:

Telecoms regulator Oftel upheld complaints that British Telecommunications was making unreasonable demands of rivals who want to house high-speed Internet equipment in its local exchanges.

In a victory for operators that say BT is deliberately obstructing them, Oftel proposed a system for challenging BT's claims and making it pay compensation for poor service.

Oftel Director General David Edmonds said he had found in favour of operators' complaints that BT's proposed contract for opening up its exchanges was not reasonable in a number of important areas.

He proposed rewriting the contract to allow operators to commission an independent survey if BT claims there is insufficient space in an exchange. BT would have to pay compensation if the survey found there was room.

No More Broadband Auctions

By:mark.j @ 12:15:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to Reuters, the results from auctioning off broadband wireless were so poor that they may never choose to use that method again. Although to be realistic, how they ever expected to make 2Billion pounds is a mystery to us as this is not a national technology like WAP etc.

When its seven-day auction of broadband fixed wireless access ended on Monday, it had raised 38.16 million pounds, a far cry from previous analyst forecasts of one billion pounds.

"We have never said that the sell-offs had to be conducted one particular way," the Department of Trade and Industry said in the paper. "There are a number of different methods of selling licences, including auctions and beauty contests, and they will all be discussed."

Less than half, 16, of the 42 available licences were sold, mainly for densely populated areas. The technology allows radio waves to transmit data at 35 times the speed of dial-up Internet services.

"I get the impression it will not be an auction next time," Broadband Wireless Association Chairman Stephen Lowe said in the paper. Well if it's not going to be an auction then we guess they're going to have to price it more realistically - otherwise nobody will buy it.

The good news is those that did buy into the system have saved a vast amount of money, cash that can be put into improving the technologies – we hope.

Oftel Gives BT Rivals a Peek

By:mark.j @ 12:06:PM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Oftel is set to give BT's rivals a peek into their exchanges to see if there really isn't enough space for LLU or if BT was lying:

The winged watchdog wants to authorise operators will to commission independent surveys if BT claims there is insufficient space in an exchange.

If the survey finds there is enough room - and BT fibbed - then the incumbent will have to pay compensation to the operators.

Of course, this would be a non-issue - if Oftel had carried out an audit of BT's exchanges before embarking on Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). Instead, it decided to muddle on without even knowing the state of BT's infrastructure.

The Register goes on to discuss the implications, although you can't help but agree that this should have been done long ago. Like trying to build a house on a cliff without checking to see if the ground is subsidence proof.

Keep Your Consumer Rights

By:mark.j @ 11:28:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Sick of ISPs that change their Terms and Conditions on a regular basis; tired of seeing services get taken away? Not for much longer. If you want to safeguard your rights then you can, just keep a copy (download) of any relevant information the day you join.

In other words, make a copy of the T&C, screen shot of the services and prices of those services and anything else of relevance. All this according to the Office of Fair Trading and the Department of Trade and Industry, checkout netimperative.com for more:

A spokesperson for the Institute of Trading Standards, a professional body for people involved in trading standards legislation and enforcement, also advised customers to get a physical as well as email address for an ISP, to know where they are.

netimperative.com sought advice after receiving complaints about ISP IGClick, including allegations that the firm failed to deliver the service that customers signed up for, and changed terms and conditions without prior notice or explanation.

Consumers can also choose an ISP that signs up to a voluntary code of practice like the one implemented by the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), which includes a requirement that members “shall use their reasonable endeavours to ensure Services (excluding Third Party Content) and Promotional Material are not of a kind that are likely to mislead by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise”.

It's good to see the likes of the DTI and OFT giving such useful advice, information many of us neglect. Legally the T&Cs, services and prices you see on the day you signup have a lot of power in the courts. They also help when making complaints against an ISP, IGClick in this case.

Don't Slam The Messenger - RedHotAnt

By:mark.j @ 11:05:AM - Comments (13) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

RedHotAnt are an ISP best described as a roller coaster, one minute there amazing and the next authentication errors, engage tones and poor support dog the systems. In the early stages we used to like them, a three-hour cut off for a low price and a good system is always nice to see - yet often difficult to maintain.

At this point we'd like to remind you that RHA used to have their own support forums, although they took them down after too many people complained (known as abuse to RHA). In the last few weeks RHA have indeed begun to improve, although problems still bog the system down.

We've never had much luck contacting them, in the early days we were very kind and just asked for more details - but never got anything. In fact we've only ever had one direct response from them, although today we received a second, which we found somewhat amusing:

Mark . J,
Before I start, I really dislike your site, apart from the colour scheme. It's full of user's (Victor Meldrews) that whinge and moan about every little thing.

Now that's off my chest the real reason for writing to you is to express concerns regarding an article you displayed on your site a while back (yes, we do read them). It was regarding our ISP (RHA) writing our own radius server (authenticates dialup users) when user's seemed to experiencing some trouble getting connected. The tone of the comment on your main page stated that this would never get done and RHA had no qualified staff to do so (against user's belief). As I was responsible for programming the new server I obviously took this comment personally; how very unprofessional of me.

The new radius server that has only 217 lines of code out- performs any other radius server we have used (believe me we used most of them). It does not need a huge machine to run on, supports clustering, and is platform independent (that means it runs on OS's other than NT).

This is not just hot air, the server has been through testing and copes with our amount of users (your own ISP will soon experience no. of user problems - unless you're a VISP). We are hoping this radius will be available to the public in the future one way or another, so ISP's do not have to pay large amounts of money for server software that does not work.

Keep up the good work of irritating ISP's and keeping them on their toes.

PS.
I don't expect you to print this, so I've posted it on your forums as well.

--
Mark Terry

Internet-Support.Net

Fake or not the E-Mail is authentically from RHA support and the last thing you'd expect from a responsible business. There's no need to comment on what it says because not only does the E-Mail refer to something so old it's positively prehistoric, but that readers have already covered our potential comments in the related forum:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/ubb/Forum10/HTML/000084.html

ISPreview is merely a reflection of the greater consumer opinion; we have no vested interest in these ISPs accept that of getting consumers what they pay for. Not less, not poor and not moor, but what they pay for. So to finish up, don't shoot the messenger because you're only shooting the consumers by doing so - wink.

News - November 23,2000

Terms & Conditions for LLU

By:rich.p @ 10:05:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As reported by Net4Nowt, Oftel has today published details of the proposed terms and conditions contract between operators and BT to supply necessary support services for local loop unbundling. These T&C's had to be drafted by Oftel as BT and the operators could not reach an agreement on there contents. The key points are:

where BT claims there is insufficient space in an exchange, operators will be able to commission an independent survey of an exchange. If the survey finds there is enough room, then BT will have to pay compensation to the operators;

operators should have the right to independent verification of BT’s proposed charges for co-location facilities

BT should be contractually bound to meet time scales for making available co-location facilities and loops and the quality of service. BT should pay compensation if these service levels are not met. BT must also provide the same level of services to operators as it provides equivalent services for its own business;

Operators should be able to transfer space in exchanges to each other to help make efficient use of spaces in BT’s exchanges;

there should be a contractual dispute resolution procedure involving independent experts. This is in addition to the right to refer major disputes to Oftel under BT’s licence.

Hopefully these T&C's should allow the operators a bit more freedom and the right to some compensation if BT does not meet targets.

News - November 22,2000

Barrysworld Ask For Feedback On Unmetered

By:rich.p @ 9:24:PM - Comments (39) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One of the BarrysWorld staff has updated there column giving a bit more info on BW Unmetered:

"Now, none of this is set in stone, as a company we`ve seen 0808/0800 providers come and go and we`re not going to get into something thats going to drain our resources. However, 24/7 Unmetered access to BarrysWorld is now a possibility.

The basic details are as follows:
24/7 Unmetered access to our own dial racks
4 Hour cutoff
4 to 1 contention ratio
Modem and ISDN (Not Bonded)
£35 a month subscription

Now the 4hr cutoff is a "Good" thing whereas the 4 to 1 contention ratio is a "Bad" thing in it will mean redials at peak times. However, it looks like we could afford to implement and run such a system which is fundamental. Its pointless doing something on this scale that wont financially support itself.

Anyway, what do we need from you?
We need to know what sort of interest there would be in this. Its cart loads of cash up front for us, and we dont wanna cock it up.
So, if this is something you`d be interested in, or something similar (as I say, none of this is set in stone and some of it could change dependant on feedback from you) then please Email unmetered@barrysworld.com with your comments.

This is quite important for us, as it represents something we`ve always wanted to do, so your feedback is important. I know it sounds tacky, but could you also ensure other people who might be interested in this see this article. We need as much feedback as possible, its too important to sod up."

You can read the column HERE

If BarrysWorld get their act together this could be a very good unmetered deal.

Madasafish Magazine

By:Rob.W @ 9:51:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

ISP Madasafish is launching a paper-print magazine to be sold on newsstands, as well as sent to their subscriber base, netimperative have reported.

The monthly magazine will have an initial print run of 50,000, with 30,000 of these copies being given away free to users. Copies sold on newsstands will cost £1.50.

The magazine is to be produced by Future Publishing’s contract publishing division, with the first issue due to come out on 23 November.

Demon Internet have been producing a magazine for some time that is sent out to its subscribers, but this is slightly different twist as it is being sold on newsstands for a fee, in the hope to gain more subscribers.

BT buys stake in wcities

By:Rob.W @ 9:24:AM - Comments (13) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BT has found £10m to buy a 17% stake in wcities.com, a provider of information on major cities, GuardianUnlimited have reported.

BT will use wcities.com to provide information for travellers with a mobile phone.

The deal comes only weeks after BT announced plans for disposals and flotations to reduce its £20bn debt.

A BT spokesman said a stake in wcities because it would be a good investment in a business which could provide services for other parts of the group.

"We will not be getting involved in the management of the business," he said.

In a time where BT are trying to reduce its debts, it is a little surprising that they are buying into anyone at the moment.

Freeserve sale update

By:Rob.W @ 8:06:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Wanadoo, France Telecoms ISP is in firm talks to buy Freeserve for around £1.8bn, FT.com are reporting.

People close to the deal cautioned that it could still fall apart and that talks were continuing with other parties.

Dixons, the electrical retailer that owns 80 per cent of Freeserve, is understood to be keen to complete a transaction.

However, the price Dixons is likely to get would be a fraction of the 600p-a-share expected when the T-Online talks were in progress.

Dixons may still fall back into talks with Energis, the UK telecoms group, if talks break down with Wanadoo.

Wanadoo are reported to have 1.15m subscribers in France alone so they are well aware of how to handle an operation such as Freeserve, which the users of the service will welcome.

News - November 21,2000

Essex homes get free web tv

By:Daniel @ 11:27:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Heres some news we found while browsing The Register while mark is away.

"The Essex housing authority is looking for quotes from suppliers who fancy the contract. It wants to include between 250 and 5000 homes in the scheme, which will connect tenants to the Net through their tellys.

Last month the government announced it was to give out 35,000 PCs, at a cost of £10 million, to the most cash-strapped areas of the country."

With all these free pc's, web tv and also free internet access at certain libraries, the population using the internet will continue to grow and if ISP's don't sort their networks out its going to get slower.

We have also been told that Telewest Active Digital will allow people to surf any site at no charge in the near future, at the moment they are trying to stop virae entering the systems.

IGClick Update

By:Ross14 @ 6:36:PM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following all the recent bad media coverage and hype about IGClick there have been more relevations to the story today. It seems that IGClick will begin to remove 'abusers' of the service. They also say that they have sorted out all the 'irregularities' in their billing system. netimperative.com has more on the story:

Following a number of users complaining about its services, ISP IGClick claims to have ironed out billing problems that resulted in customers being charged incorrectly, but also claims, a la Freeserve, that some users are taking unmetered to mean unmetered.

“We had a problem with our direct debit system, but all the problems should have been sorted out today, except for one or two,” said a company spokesperson, who declined to be named.

Concerned residential customers wrote to netimperative.com, complaining that sums up to £80 had been transferred from their bank accounts without notice or explanation. A number of home users also expressed dissatisfaction with the connection available, and the feedback and support provided.

“Every business has its problems, and yes we have had problems getting access at peak times,” he said. Some home users are rumoured to have been kicked off the service without refunds because they used the flat rate service constantly.

The spokesperson confirmed that IGClick is taking steps to deal with the problems: “We’re improving our service by removing the people who shouldn’t be there,” he said. IGClick claims that a minority of people are abusing their service by signing up for residential services while effectively running a business, or by setting up a flat rate account and maintaining a connection just because they can.

Yet again we are seeing an ISP chucking users off of their service because they use it too much. It is beginning to be a paradox with unmetered ISP's.

All we can hope for IGClick users is that the service begins to improve over the next few weeks.

BT: Lights, Camera, Action!

By:Ross14 @ 6:26:PM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BT has announced that it will work with TV production companies to produce programmes that will end up being broadcast to the PC's of their ADSL users. vnunet.com has more on the story:

The telco said it is in preliminary discussions with major studios and independent production houses about investing in film projects with a view to broadcasting them online through its BTopenworld broadband ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) service.

BT would retain a share of the rights to the programmes and will have a share of potential future profit if a programme is used in other media, such as TV or cinema. A BT spokesman said discussions are "very much in the early stages".

"Content is expensive to buy and this is one way of getting around it. BT could potentially invest in a project and secure exclusive rights to the programme and syndicate it to other territories. If the programme catches on, BT would have a share of any earnings," he added.

We still aren't sure if these programmes will only be broadcast to BTO users or all ADSL users, but it will probably just be BTO users.

As the discussions are in the 'early stages' then it looks unlikely there will be any more news about this in the near future,