November 10, 2000 - November 15, 2000

News - November 15,2000

Edmonds vs The Committee

By:mark.j @ 4:50:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Sounding like something out of one of those incredibly easy to predict American action and sci-fi movies (where's the intelligence?), this is merely the title of an update for the earlier news post, 'Oftel Called Forth By DTI'.

You may remember our favourite (spot the sarcasm) 'starting to get on the right track' Telco regulator, Oftel, was called forth by the DTI/MP Committee over unmetered access and much more. Now The Register has posted a very interesting and readable update:

The occasion provided some of the best quotes that have been used in relation to the telecoms industry. Edmonds was accused of being impotent, complacent, overly lenient and hoodwinked. Someone was paying attention then.

Oftel, it was exclaimed, had fundamentally failed to do its job as regulator of the telecoms market. It could have done more to force BT to open local loops, it was "taken for a ride", it has failed to make mobile phone tariffs simple, it has not managed to build competition for leased lines, it didn't do enough to prevent public phone boxes from being closed down - the list goes on and on.

Edmonds was fighting for his reputation and fired back with equally strong words. It has been "trench warfare" with BT over the summer he said. When negotiating with BT "you need to hit it with a club five times and on the sixth they come up with what you want". He also half-joked that at times he wished he could have put BT chief Peter Bonfield in jail. BT has apparently withheld information for months at a time - the most interesting example being that it didn't know the postcodes of its own exchanges. No one said it was going to be easy, Dave.

We're sure that in the so-called trench warfare during World War II they used guns instead of clubs, but prove us wrong. Either way or in trying to escape the sarcasm I'm forced to promote, it seems there were enough losses and wins on either side to draw a line of agreement.

We won't know exactly whether the meeting was truly productive or not for awhile, but if you have any interest in this at all then read the full thing. There are some quotes included that shouldn't be missed by any avid BT dislikers, what we would have given to have been a fly on the wall.

!EXCLUSIVE! - BT Kills 128Kbps ISDN For ALL

By:mark.j @ 4:13:PM - Comments (62) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We couldn't believe it; we simply couldn't believe it! If in the past you've been able to connect to a BTSurftime ISP unofficially or even officially @ 128Kbps Dual Channel then you'll find it no longer works properly - if at all. That's because since around Saturday (maybe different for others), BT's engineers have been visiting ISPs and turning 128KBps off without notice.

The MD from ISP ConnectFREE confirmed this during a discussion over the phone only moments ago and now 'Emeric Miszti' from Cloud Nine (MySurftime) has also sent a message along to us stating the same. But there's more going on that meets the eye and here's what Emeric told us:

Surftime 128Kb Update Release
=============================

Cloud Nine were happily testing 128Kb from a number of accounts and then all of a sudden as of yesterday SPLAT! It stopped working just like that and it happened to coincide with some BT work on our system. We immediately contacted our BT Account Manager to complain that other providers were 'apparently' able to provide 128Kb. He stated:

"BT have turned off 128k for everyone"

However, below we publish information from BT Click's own website that contradicts this statement. If BT are able to provide 128Kb bonded ISDN for BT Click on Surftime but not for anyone else then this is quite clearly providing a BT company with an unfair competitive advantage over other providers - a clear breach of their monopoly position.

Cloud Nine are not going to let this issue rest and we are currently considering whether an Oftel complaint is an option here. We have informed BT of this and asked them to immediately clarify the BT Click position. Either to 128Kb has to be made available for every Surftime provider or none!

In our opinion:

1) We know that the Surfport platform supports 128Kb bonded ISDN because we successfully tested it for a period of over a week.

2) We know that BT quite deliberately disconnected our 128Kb access suspiciously close to when we started making public statements about this.

3) If they are providing any BT company with a service that enables 128Kb dial-up with Surftime support but denying this to other competitive ISP's then this is quite clearly a breach of BT's monopoly position and warrants an Oftel complaint.

This is what we see on the BTClick for Business website.

"BT Connect

A professional and enhanced business internet service."

It also states "Supports new pay as you go 2p/1p tariff. Also supports SurfTime evening and weekend (£5.99) and anytime (£19.99) packages"

LAN Option - we followed the link to LAN Option

This is the statement there -

"BT Connect from £80 per month is also available in a version designed for computers connected via a Local Area Network (LAN). Networker connects users on the LAN to the internet via ISDN, providing more direct, faster and effective access to email, web browsing and a website.

With a LAN account you receive dedicated router CHAP ID and password; 100 POP3 e-mail accounts or an SMTP e-mail feed if required; 10 Roaming licenses; 128k bonded ISDN option available; 24 hour local rate technical support available 7 days a week from the dedicated LAN support team; plus everything included with a dial-up account."

Best Regards
Emeric Miszti

As we come to complete this post several other ISPs of note have just sent in E-Mails to voice their opinions on exactly the same issue. We'll have more when we know more, it's not so much the switching off of 128Kbps access as the fact they didn't even inform the ISPs.

Then there's also the issue Emeric has raised above and get ready for our final two articles on unmetered access (Time Online / Unmetered vs Broadband), they'll lift the lid on the true state of UK freecall (unmetered) access.

Oftel Called Forth By DTI

By:mark.j @ 10:00:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just when you thought things might be getting better, the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) select committee summoned Oftels Director General (David Edmonds) to a meeting nearly two weeks ago. The meeting is now about to take place and on the table are issues concerning leased lines and the out-of-control unmetered issue:

Martin O'Neil MP, chair of the committee, did not mince his words. "Lazy is the way I would describe the speed of your consultation process," he said, echoing criticism aimed at the watchdog from industry observers and analysts for months.

"Your complacency is quite appalling," he said.

ZDNet's article is an interesting, if short, read that also makes us wonder more about the recent FRIACO2 announcement. Very interesting timing wouldn't you say?

WAP Doomed To Death?

By:mark.j @ 9:55:AM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Hopes by vendors of a massive sales increase for the X-Mas period of WAP enabled phones have today been somewhat dashed. Ongoing research from BMBR Interactive shows that WAP use is still failing to take, which kinder leaves WAP as a flash in the pan technology:

Current figures from the researcher show that non-internet savvy consumers accessing Wap facilities on a mobile phone account for just 1.7 per cent of the UK population aged 16 and over. But BMBR is quick to point out that this figure still represents a figure of 765,000 adults.

Those who do access Wap services on a mobile phone are typically under 34 years old. This group, which comprises 64 per cent of users, is also predominantly male, with only 29 per cent being female. Londoners, and those living the South East, are most likely to be using Wap on their mobile phone, accounting for 43 per cent of all UK Wap users.

UK.Internet's article confirms exactly what many, including myself, have been saying for decades - ultimately it's just a buzz technology, but who can really use something that gives you RSI while trying to type a small 5 word E-Mail?

Mobile Internet access is best used in PalmTops, an area that's now merging into mobile phones and has seen vastly more experience. Although even that area of mobile net access has similar problems with getting the data into the device, yet it’s still easier than WAP by a long way

RIP Turns Nasty - REALLY NASTY

By:mark.j @ 9:42:AM - Comments (13) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it would seem the UK government now have plans to really screw privacy up. An amendment to the Freedom of Information Act being put forward can automatically exempt all cases of Tribunals concerning the RIP Act from disclosure:

The amendment (number 34, clause 22) reads "By the Lord Falconer Thoroton, Page 14, line 1, at end insert - ('( ) the Tribunal established under section 65 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000,')."

The Tribunal element of the RIP Act concerns any complaints made regarding the wide-ranging powers given to the government and security services to investigate UK residents. The RIP Act has been widely criticised as overriding human rights as defined by the Human Rights Act, and the Tribunal will be an important aspect in deciding how far the law can be pushed.

The Register's article isn't just something you read, it's something you feel because this is starting to get very scary indeed, as is the last paragraph of item:

The implications are obvious and are a further worry for civil liberties groups. It is also another indication that the Freedom of Information Act - a mainstay of Labour party policy for as long as we can remember - has become drastically watered down.

Governments, why do we need them other than for the economics? We vote these people into power and they start screwing us over like Mexican hookers (apologies to Mexicans everywhere). Soon enough all our lives will probably be video taped and freedom lost, why does the TV mass media never report on this!?

UK Online Population Growth

By:mark.j @ 9:34:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The moment new research comes out news sites flock to take their perspectives and yet another has highlighted a different area of MMXI's recent report - online population growth:

The number of people using the Net has jumped by 40 per cent in the past year, from 7.8 million to 11 million in the UK. There are more women online than before, more children and more over 35s.

This is all according to market researcher MMXI and it's first year-long look at online demographics.

The Register doesn't go into much detail on this part of the report itself, but it's always good to see the online population grow. Lets just hope BT's networks can cope with the increased demand.

FRIACO2 - The Mixed Reception

By:mark.j @ 9:30:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Perhaps one thing that surprised us the most about FRIACO2 was that quite a few people didn't understand it. Possibly because there have been so many different developments with FRIACO (FRIACO, FRIACO Hybrid [One ISPs use now/future], FRIACO2 [just announced]) that people ended up getting confused.

Oftels announcement itself was actually new and does indeed have the potential to make dramatic price changes. However today confusion is very much on the agenda as according to netimparative.com, the UK Internet industry is at odds with itself over how FRIACO2 (as we call it) will affect things:

Whilst AOL is trumpeting the effect of the move, saying that it US-style internet usage is now possible in the UK, ISP Thus has said that using BT’s SurfTime wholesale product is still the most cost-effective way for an ISP to offer 24/7 unmetered access rather than the new FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) package proposed yesterday. WorldCom is happy with Oftel’s proposals for the short-term, whilst ISP PlusNet has accused Oftel of ignoring ISPs, saying it is irrelevant whether Oftel’s proposals come into force because the telcos are not interested in providing unmetered access wholesale products to ISPs.

Now there is indeed a very large divide and most of this has come about simply because different companies have different ideas and ways of dealing with unmetered. However Plus.NET probably puts it best with their multi-focused response:

Conversely Lee Stafford, MD of PlusNet, that is currently offering an unmetered access product based on BT’s SurfTime product says that it may be possible to halve the cost for users to half of that charged by BT for SurfTime – currently £19.99 -as a result of Oftel’s proposals.

However he claims that no telcos are interested in providing their own unmetered access packages based on interconnect with BT’s network because they have other fish to fry. He said: “None of the telcos are interested in providing a narrowband service. Their business plans are a broadband network for business customers.”

Stafford adds that Oftel has concentrated on discussions with telcos whilst not taking account of ISPs that are willing to provide unmetered access packages. He said: “Oftel’s approach is to trust the telcos to look after ISPs. They have focused on the BT-other operator relationship. They have clearly ignored the ISPs.”

Without quoting too much we also spotted two interesting bits from AOLs own Matt Peakcock at the bottom, both are highly relevant:

He added: “Those that offer unmetered access will become mass market giants. [Many of those that don’t] will fall by the wayside.”

Both AOL and Thus have agreed, however that it will be impossible to tell whether costs for the services will drop as a result of the Oftel proposals.

The floodgates are open and the vultures have started to circle, will FRIACO2 really provide any new benefit or just fall by the wayside? We'll be interviewing several ISPs and Telco's involved with FRIACO Hybrid/FRIACO2 and get some fresh perspectives for next week.

Online Usage Boom

By:mark.j @ 9:14:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to new research by the popular MMXI Europe group, people are spending double the amount of time online they used to in the past year. The current average is 40.5minutes per day, compared to a shallow 24minutes in 1999:

The findings, which MMXI Europe claimed make up the first ever complete set of annual data on the UK internet usage, also showed that the UK online population has increased to 11m from 7.8m this time last year.

The majority of users access the internet from home only (9m), with 2m accessing from work only and 1.7m using the internet from both work and home.

Jupiter MMXI also predicted that more than half of the UK population would be online by 2005, with user behaviour expected to shift dramatically, reflecting the fact that 80% will be "mature" users.

Of course what netimperative.com missed is the fact that this is the area where unmetered ISPs fail. They take stats like these and assume it'll work for them, only to find - as Freeserve have, that unmetered usage is closer to 3-4hours per day (average).

The stats above are from all ISPs and unmetered only makes up 5-10% of that at current, so it won't have any huge hold on the figures. You only have to take a look at this month’s survey to see that the top one tells a different tale:

2 To 3 Hours 30.9% (179 Votes)

It'll be interesting to see how the results look at the end of the month.

News - November 14,2000

New ISP Forums

By:mark.j @ 7:17:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Several of the esteemed ISPr staff have been in hot conversation of what specific ISPs we should go about adding to the 'Unmetered List' section of our Forum. Avid readers will know that for the more verbally popular ISPs we put a specific group online, such as RedHotAnt etc. This is then linked to from the unmetered list.

We already have quite a few ISPs listed, but without creating too much server load and thanks to recent changes, we now have space for a further two or three. There's some divide over which one(s) we should add, excluding those already on the list.

In situations like these I always say, "When in doubt have a beer - get drunk - sleep with some women and later eat your goldfish". Hmm no wait it's, "When in doubt, ask the readers". At present AOL and LineOne have been suggested, although with so few complaints and talking points for those I personally can't see the point.

Either way it's down to all of you, please take a look at the forum and see if the ISP you have in mind is already listed, if not then please suggest it. You can either E-Mail me personally with your suggestion and reason(s) or just make a news comment.

Hunka-Chunka-Monkey

No I don't know either, a madness induced by writing too much ISP news I guess. It's known to effect all Editor-In-Chiefs from time to time and is known to be highly contagious.

Oftel Decides Next Phase Of LLU

By:mark.j @ 3:31:PM - Comments (11) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

David Edmonds has once again saddled his horse and claims the new way forward for LLU will be set out later this week:

"Later this week we will be deciding the methodology for space allocation on the most popular sites," Edmunds spoke. "We are committed to making sure BT have very tough deadlines."

The UK is currently behind some of its chief competitors like Germany and the Netherlands in LLU. However Edmonds is a firm believe we'll be able to catch up and that by the middle of next year, a stable process where BT was committed to opening up set numbers of locations each month.

He also warned that BT's plan to break itself up, announced last week, could not go ahead until Oftel and Trade Secretary Stephen Byers were "completely happy with the arrangement".

Note the, "by the middle of next year" bit, doesn't exactly sound as though we'll be able to keep up with Europe.

Freeserve To Cut More Customers

By:mark.j @ 3:22:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to The Register, Freeserve is set to kick another slew of customers if they don't pay their bills. The problem you ask? None of the customers should have any such bills! On top of that there are rumours of a third batch of kick-offs by Freeserve for yet more supposed 'service abusers':

UK ISP Freeserve has gone one step further in alienating its customers by sending out hundreds of thousands of emails demanding payment within seven days or risk being cut off Freeserve Time altogether.

An estimated 250,000 people received an email beginning: "According to our records, the following amount is outstanding on your account: £xx.xx. If the amount shown above remains outstanding, you should note that under the terms of your agreement with us you are required to pay by direct debit and if we are unable to collect the amounts due by direct debit, the debt will be forwarded to an external agency for manual collection and may result in the Service being suspended or cancelled."

Except a number of readers have contacted us to tell us that they actually set up direct debit accounts with Freeserve and so would like to know why they are being threatened with bailiffs for less than £20. A number of them contacted Freeserve and were informed that Freeserve Time's billing system had fallen over and had been unable to access direct debit accounts for at least three months. This was confirmed with reference to readers' bank statements.

It's good to know that in the end it just came down to an admin error, although all of Freeserve's customers are starting to get irritated by the threatening E-Mails being sent globally.

Also, if you use about 10 hours per day then be warned, Freeserve could well have plans to kick you in the next few days/weeks. From a business perspective we can perfectly understand the cuts, although from a consumer point of view we can’t. It’s Freeserves own fault for advertising the impossible.

ISPreview Site Updates

By:mark.j @ 3:02:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just a little update to keep you all in the know about what's going on here @ ISPreview. We've made a small update to the Unmetered list to fix a couple of bugs and have also updated the complaints page again.

While updating the complaints page we found at least four people that made a habit of using Hotmail or their ISP's unlimited aliases feature to complain multiple times with different names. We do not allow this and as such were almost forced to void all the complaints for the last week.

It's extremely easy to spot such things and we will erase any such complaints that do this. We've also asked that people complain via official ISP E-Mails, we are much more cautious of free mail accounts now and triple check that.

Lastly, and as you may have noticed, there have been some changes to ISPreview itself recently - they are as follows:

-Shifted 'Recent Forum Posts' to the right nav column and removed old 'Active Forum Topics' layout in the 'Top News' nav box.

-Coded some JavaScript to stop that nasty line 8xx error from happening when the stattrack server wasn't working (happens a lot). This has not been introduced site-wide yet and is still being tested as it can screw up other code.

-Re-coded the main page tables to load differently and slightly faster.

-Re-coded the live 'Recent Forum Posts' system to be faster and 1/3rd the code it used to be.

-Shifted articles column over to the left hand side under reviews to even things out.

-Fixed main page width problem, where from the news area down it would sometimes push itself out of proportion (noticed by 800*600 users).

Expect some more changes in the next few days and apologies if you happen to join the page when we're testing some new code and it looks strange =).

Trading Standards On IGClick

By:mark.j @ 1:31:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Kaoz623 from our forum has posted an interesting message (read it in full HERE) about how he got in touch with Trading standards after having enough of IGClick’s lack of support.

On a side note, after pleading for IGClick to contact us they still haven't and all our attempts at contacting them have failed:

I have just spoken with a gentleman at Bexley Trading Standards. They have had numerous complaints about IG Click and a member of their organisation Mr. Shepherd is in regular contact with the company.

The gentleman i spoke with asked for all the info. regarding my concerns about IG Click and personally it does nto seem like there is much that you can do about them.

Breaches of Contract are a civil not a criminal matter and as such do not fall under there remit.

Their main area of concern is the current way in which they are trading as a company and whether they will still be trading in the future.

He asked me if i wanted a refund and i advised him no. I have signed up for this service and I want IG to get their act together and start communicating as they once did.

I advised that it is now almost impossible to contact the company except on the premium rate number that they introduced in a very underhand way. They do not respond to emails. 10 in the last few weeks that have not been returned is sufficient evidence of that fact.

I would urge you all to contact Mr Shepherd or one of his colleagues on (020) 8303 7777

Alternatively you can write to him at the address below:

Mr Shepherd
Trading Standards
2A Hadlow Road
Sidcup
Kent
DA14 4AF

There's more from the original poster at the previously mentioned link, although we can't help but wonder who you go to in the case of a civil matter - if anybody? The small claims court is no good if it's not a refund you're after, how about the DTI etc.? Perhaps more interesting is why Trading Standards are in contact with them at all, could IGC be about to fall over?

Broadband Wireless Auction Suspended

By:mark.j @ 12:49:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as though the auction for broadband wireless net access has been suspended on Tuesday afternoon after a bidder requested a recess day (today). This is the second time such a thing has occurred and is likely to frustrate the government's attempt to inject some life into the sale:

The suspension of the auction until Wednesday left the total proceeds at less than 36.5 million pounds, compared with pre-auction estimates of a final tally of one billion pounds or more.

It was the second time a bidder has used its one-time right to call a recess. Two companies have withdrawn from the auction for broadband fixed wireless access (BFWA), a technology that uses radio waves to transmit data at 35 times the speed of dial-up Internet services.

Eight companies remain in the running for 42 licences, but have so far snubbed more than half the regions on offer. Energis leads the bidding with 4.5 million pounds for one of three London licences.

Once again Reuters show us how easy it is for the most perfectly laid plans to come to an abrupt halt. So far bidding has not shown the promise our government might have hopped, we like it when that happens.

Energis Grows - 71% Up

By:mark.j @ 12:43:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One of the UK's most popular network and Telecomm groups, Energis, has announced its earnings for the first-half were up 71%. They claim this unbelievable rise is due to demand for Internet and advanced telecom services in the UK and EU:

The company said broadband data and complex hosting services pushed earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to 65.5 million pounds for the six months to the end of September, beating forecasts of 60-63 million pounds.

Advanced services and Internet operations accounted for about two-thirds of group turnover, which was up 81 percent at 368 million pounds, with the focus on large business clients.

Energis, which started life as a spin-off from monopoly bulk electricity distributor National Grid Group, also said it was well-placed in the higher margin areas of the sector.

The article sourced from Reuters appears to be based on a time frame before the £2,000,000 debt of EzeSurf was laid down. Energis, if you remember, were the people who helped supply their ISP services and many other like it.

Hi-Tech Crime Investigators

By:mark.j @ 9:31:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Cyber criminals had better watch out as the home secretary Jack Straw has put £37,000,000 into a scheme that should help to beef up the police in the governments fight against cyber crime:

Of the total, £25m has been set aside to fund a national crime unit staffed by up to 80 cybercops with hot lines to law enforcement agencies in other G8 countries.

A further £37m will be used to set up a National Management Information System (NMIS), for police forces in England and Wales, rolling out to the 43 forces by April 2003. NMIS will allow data to be warehoused, analysed and cross-referenced at a local and national level.

Straw said that each force in the country will have at least one dedicated hi-tech crime investigator who has expert knowledge of internet technology.

netimperative.com's article doesn't really explain what the scope of cyber crime is, although we doubt any half intelligent ones will be worried.

Breathes New Internet Package

By:mark.j @ 9:04:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We noticed this one on the forums this morning and was posted by Marcie, it seems Breathe have launched there own 1pence per minute ISP package:

A big hello from breathe.

As an existing breathe dial-up customer, we are offering you the chance to be one of the first to try our new breathe easy dial up service.

Internet calls to breathe easy will be charged at a mere 1p per minute. There's no monthly subscription, just a £20 up-front registration fee. So whatever time of day you are on the Internet, call charges will remain the same.

You'll also gain greater control over your expenditure. Your Internet call charges will no longer appear on your BT bill. Instead, you will be billed by breathe and will be able to view and manage your account online. You can even set yourself a spending limit and we'll email you when you are approaching it, enabling you to control your costs. We'll send details of how to access your online account soon after you are connected.

If you're feeling like you don't' want to fiddle with your settings, don't worry, we've even arranged a national rate phone number for you to use for technical support should you need it during the registration process.

Once you have completed the registration process, we will endeavour to get you connected immediately. However, if you register after 9pm we will be unable to activate your account until the following morning.

To qualify for this offer you will need to be over 18 and a BT landline customer * with a valid credit or debit card. To find out more, and to start saving money, just login to the breathe.com website and click the following link.

http://www.breathe.com/join/easy/1p.html

It's amazing what happens when you breathe!

The breathe team.

* Excludes subscribers to BT light user schemes.

At present it's not such a bad deal simply because you don't have to jiggle with all the usual Telco discount packages on a comparison. Yet we do find this deal could be made highly redundant come the new local call price drops and of course other changes to pricing such as free off-peak local calls.

In other words, we'll all be paying about 1ppm 24-7 soon enough anyway, so why bother? Perhaps 0.6ppm 24-7 would have been better, although some of the unmetered systems don’t charge far off that underneath.

News - November 13,2000

World Online Raided

By:mark.j @ 6:44:PM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In a rather unusual twist to World Online's current market movements and improvements, the European wide media and ISP group was raided today over allegations of insider trading. The company is reported to be "fully co-operating" with the investigation and hopes to dispel all the rumours through it:

"World Online welcomes the opportunity to end the rumours and allegations which have been circulating with respect to the company after the above mentioned IPO."

"The company will provide the authorities with all the help and information it can in order to allow a full and speedy investigation to take place," it stated.

The Register's article is certainly very interesting and a unique twist in the tale of the much grown ISP. It'll be interesting to see what the results are, if any, of the investigation.

Oftel Responds To BT's New LLU Idea

By:mark.j @ 6:38:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Hands up who remembers last weeks meeting of Telco's where BT came up with an innovative plan to help speed up LLU. A plan that was later shot down by the Telco's supposed to benefit from it due to the issues and concerns BT failed to mention (if that's the right word).

For around the sixth time in so many weeks, Oftel has again responded to BT, yet seemingly on the side of consumers and competitors:

On Friday, Oftel held a meeting attended by all those operators with an interest in local loop unbundling. As a sweetener, BT announced an amazing plan to get the system working faster - an interim order process and provisioning system ahead of the planned system. Careful, we warned, BT is good at making something simple and bland sound like a huge step forward.

But, incredibly, Oftel picked up BT's plan, sniffed it and sat on its haunches. "BT has today committed itself to clear timescales for the preparation of exchange sites where its competitors can install their equipment to take over loops. However, Oftel has made it clear to BT that it expects further improvements to be made and we will ensure that no resources are spared in preparing its exchanges as quickly as possible," it said.

There's more: "BT has proposed a Service Level Agreement incorporating financial payments for late delivery. Oftel will consider whether this is satisfactory and will require changes if not." Feisty. Still more: "Oftel will also publish criteria shortly which it expects BT to use in identifying suitable space. Oftel does not anticipate that space will be a significant problem in most exchanges" - going against BT gripes and stalling tactics.

The Register goes into yet more detail, which leaves us all asking the question, how long can Oftel keep up this 'consumer/competitor’-pleasing stance of late?

BT To Provide !NEW UNMETERED PRODUCT!

By:mark.j @ 3:07:PM - Comments (14) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In perhaps what's the biggest piece of news since they announced free off-peak local calls, Oftel has forced BT into providing a flat rate (unmetered) net access product that's even better than FRIACO! (We hope) - FRIACO2 (Not hybrid).

This comes only days after we submitted a report direct to Oftel asking for exactly that, although obviously it's not us that caused the change =):

Among measures to promote unmetered access, Oftel said it would require BT to provide other operators with a new wholesale flat-rate Internet access product from February.

The new product enhances a current wholesale product, known as Friaco, that takes unmetered Internet traffic from the customer as far as BT's local exchange.

With Friaco, operators have faced additional costs to convey the calls onto their own network, Oftel said. The new product will carry Internet traffic on an unmetered basis from the BT consumer's home to the network of a competing operator.

Oftel also proposed measures to enable BT's network to cope with the anticipated large amounts of Internet traffic generated by increasing use of unmetered schemes.

This is easily going to be the single most important announcement we all hear for the next few months and it's very relevant. Finally Oftel are starting to listen and do something about the problems, this puts them several points up in our good books =). What do you all think?

Cisco Buy Out Second Group In VoIP Venture

By:mark.j @ 2:57:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Cisco Systems are really trying to pool all their collective muscle into the acquisition of new companies to aid in their bid to introduce new VoIP (Voice Over IP) services. This weeks top of the hit list is Active Voice Corporation Inc.:

The acquisition will result in an IP network product that can deliver combined e-mail, voice and fax messages into a single, common mailbox that can be accessed by internet devices.

Cisco will buy Active Voice's Unity operation that produces IP-based unified messaging solutions for around $266 million in stock. It will also acquire the company’s circuit switched PBX voicemail solutions but this will be sold off after the acquisition closes for $30 million.

After reading the article at netimperative.com you can't help but wonder whether they have any other companies insight for a buy out.

Wireless Broadband Auctions - Part 2

By:mark.j @ 2:53:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not long after the initial bidding started, today we see the second round to auctions for wireless broadband. Some of the total bids are being seen to rise as high as £35,460,000! That's enough to buy a smaller version of Bill Gates:

There are 42 licences up for grabs, with three licences available in 14 regions in the UK. However there are only eight bidders left, consisting of EIRCOM NI, Broadnet UK, Energis, Faultbasic, First Mark Comms, Formus Comms, Norweb, and Winstar. Unica Communications Ltd pulled out of the auction at the first round on Friday. It is unclear at time of writing why Unica pulled out.

The article @ netimperative.com does a good job of keeping us all up-to-date, although wireless broadband isn't perfect either. For a start you can't get it in rural areas (Except the outskirts of cities) and secondly it's been known to seriously disrupt TV signals.

European Online Shopping Boom

By:mark.j @ 2:48:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

With the likes of unmetered, broadband and LLU settling on the peak of consumer options it's almost inevitable that the online world grow and with it the new e-businesses.

Despite recent claims people were being deterred from shopping online due to the mass of fraud and poor security, this report by Jupiter seems to demolish that.

In each of Europe’s seven most mature internet markets – the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway – more consumers are shopping online, while existing online shoppers are spending more of their income online.

Although a number of b2c sites have folded recently, market consolidation and securing funding is the problem rather than the popularity of online shopping, said Jupiter.

The research found that the consumers who have been using the internet for longer are more likely to shop online and to spend more money. Jupiter identified three types of online shopper based on the amount of time spent online: newbies, who have used the internet for one year or less; intermediate users, who have spent one to two years online; and veterans, those users who have used the internet for longer than two years.

netimperative.com's article makes for a refreshing change from the usual fraud, poor security and RIP worries that tend to inhabit the online world. Interestingly the report finds that experience online shoppers use the Internet much less, while newbies (less net aware) do three times the opposite and shop lots more online.

That's probably because the veterans can spot a truly secure site from one with so many holes it could have been shot at by an M16. With there being so few they probably use the retail outlets and phone a lot more.

C.U.T On BT Break-up

By:mark.j @ 2:40:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

With all the fuss surrounding BTs recent break-up, LLU announcements and broadband measures - the might of C.U.T (Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications) was almost bound to make an update:

Most of what was announced was no surprise, having been leaked by accident or design beforehand, but one change was somewhat unexpected: the proposed separation of UK network operations, including BT's local loop, from UK services. The separation is far from complete and may never be as, at the moment, only 25 per cent at most of the new company is intended to be sold off.

Too many people have naïvely stated that such a separation would solve most or all of BT's problems. The devil is in the - unstated - detail and, in any case, anyone travelling by railway at the moment will realise that separating networks from services need not be a panacea; the seemingly constant restructuring of the UK cable industry is another unpromising forerunner.

As usual they take a realistic look at BTs market hold and don't really preach to consumers or business, yet maintain a central stance. Always worth a read..

Kingston & Atlantic Telecom Link

By:mark.j @ 9:42:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to yesterdays Sunday Times and spotted over @ Net4Nowt, Kingston and Atlantic Telecom are discussing linking up. The idea is to combine their network infrastructure and thus help finance the rollout of broadband net access:

The initiative highlights the increasingly harsh environment facing Britain's smaller telecoms companies. The severe downturn in investors' confidence is making it much more difficult to finance ambitious expansion plans.

It is thought Atlantic and Kingston are considering sharing their resources to reduce the financial burden of introducing digital subscriber line (DSL) services. DSL technology, which relies on access to the copper wires that connect homes and businesses to British Telecommunications' exchanges, is the key to providing the high-speed internet access that will become increasingly important over the next few years.

Graham Duncan, Atlantic's chairman, is understood to be pursuing a deal similar to its partnership with the Amsterdam-based European arm of America's Metromedia Fiber Network. This provides the Aberdeen-based company with access to fibre in the networks that Metromedia is building in Amsterdam, London, Paris and eight German cities. In return, Metromedia receives access to Atlantic's British network.

This latest move seems to be the next of many potential linkups between large and small Telecom groups alike. By doing so they can better cover and make dual usage of such things as LLU and share in the benefits.

BT Sell Off & Break-up Continues

By:mark.j @ 9:34:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not only are BT splitting up their various departments, but they are also selling others off to try and consolidate assets. Today's big sale is that of the Sunrise Venture, a joint Swiss project that's being sold for £460,000,000.

BT claims the move would allow their Ignite unit to focus on opportunities for its corporate broadband business in the key European market. The Sunrise stake was being sold to TeleDanmark, which is already a member of the consortium. SBB Swiss Railways and UBS also hold stakes.

A BT Spokesman voices, "We had an opportunity to sell our stake at an attractive price, at a time when we want to consolidate our operations and focus on the high-growth business market in Switzerland".

Or to put it in the simplest way possible:

"This is a case of the right deal at the right time".

News - November 12,2000

ISPreview Weekly Update

By:mark.j @ 9:01:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Floods, Rain, Storms, US Presidents and fuel cuts on types of fuel you never even knew existed - probably because they don't - yet. All have been the talking points and news for the last week, so a pretty much a-typical British week then.

On the ISP side of things we've seen some more ADSL ISPs go live, never ending exchange of flak between BT and its rivals, and of course usual bits that fit in between.

Freeserve were the latest to hit the news with the axe of yet another 600 subscribers for over use (that's not how they advertise it). IGClick has of course been a popular topic with many for their inability to respond to the obvious concerns customers are having. Remember, The Dogma Group said exactly this would happen to IGClick not all that long ago.

24-7FreeCall hasn't escaped either, we put around six reader submitted questions to them only to find the MD's private E-Mails had all been changed/didn't work (wonder why?-sarcasm). Thankfully Richard was later able to get through and we've now been promised a response, although knowing 24-7FC we don't expect them to address all the concerns by number.

Richard was also able to get the new and much improved unmetered ISP list online, although there are still a few things that he missed and need fixing (do on Monday). Last of all was the new 'Real Unmetered' article, which takes a real-world look at why ISPs continue to fail even with FRIACO and Surftime on the market.

ISPr's own FreeCall ISP also went live and from consumer feedback on that we'll be introducing some new options for multiplayer and light usage soon. The 'Power!' package is still awaiting final prices due to recent changes in the market.

To round this update off, next week we should have some rather special interviews with several ISPs and the odd Telco. There will also be a few new reviews if time permits and work continues on the new broadband section. Also that banner at the top of the main page will soon be gone, so don't worry about that one.

Oh and one last thing, the new and hugely delayed automated ISP listings service should be done in a week or so. Once done we'll add the 500 ISPs into the two primary sections and put it online sometime during December. The author of our article/review comments system seems to have gone walk about, although we'll have an update soon.

News - November 11,2000

Freeserve Kick Another 600!

By:mark.j @ 9:50:AM - Comments (28) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Much as the subject states, following on from the last 700 people to be kicked, Freeserve have done it again with a further 600 - total = 1300! Interestingly the first time we heard of Freeserve kicking people they claimed many had been spending around 11 hours online per day. Now the original number has been upped to an average of 17hours, nobody knows why.

Just as before this latest group of 600 have been kicked for technical violation of the "reasonable" use clause in the Terms & Conditions. FS claims that on average each customer is costing them £5 per month (isn't that actually quite good?).

They now claim to be waiting for a new pricing plan, under which companies like Freeserve can buy call time wholesale for a true flat fee. They obviously mean FRIACO, although perhaps somebody hasn't told them FRIACO (FRIACO Hybrid) isn't as good as it was supposed to be (time will tell). Freeserve hopes to introduce this by the end of the year.

Another and quite typical example of an ISP completely miss-advertising themselves, much as we stated in yesterdays ‘Real Unmetered’ article. Could unmetered ISPs be becoming greedy with a system that so far isn't designed for such high income?

Telco's Slam BT Over New LLU Measures

By:mark.j @ 9:39:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Here's a twist nobody would have expected, but as usual it seems as though BT's latest speed up plan has kit a nerve with rival Telco's. Sadly the nerve is not a good one and has caused Telco's to start steaming with fury. In this particular case only broadband seems to be cause for concern.

BT's rivals claim the new plans were "ridiculous" because they involved fewer exchanges than they had expected and required them to pay for properties to house their equipment. Problems started at a meeting between BT and the industry on Friday morning, chaired Oftel, which was called to tackle disputes over the process ok LLU.

BT states it told the meeting they expected to make at least 600 of the 6,000 exchanges available for connections to ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) Internet equipment between January and June. Yet it said for all but 190 of those exchanges, operators would have to install equipment in adjacent buildings. This would invariable saddle them with the cost of buying nearby houses or renting office space.

Seems to us like another typical BT ploy the re-design the whole concept of LLU, to with Jonathan Watts replied, "It's ridiculous". Watts is the UK managing director of COLT Telecom Group Plc, which is led the industry's response. "This was never the intention of unbundling. Frankly it's a bit of a nerve."

Just typical of BT to put rivals in a position where they have to pay for costs that BT itself has no worries about. Not to mention that with there '600' exchanges it looks like we were right, LLU is going to be seriously delayed in the UK whatever happens.

BT Steps Up LLU

By:mark.j @ 9:28:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

With the very real threat of legal action looming over BT due to its slow local loop unbundling process (LLU), they have now decided to speed things up:

It plans to introduce an interim order process and provisioning system ahead of the planned full strategic operational support system. This system, claims BT, should help lines become unbundled sooner.

And in what might turn out to be the significant development, BT has also suggested that other telcos use nearby buildings to increase the amount of space available at exchanges.

"Using nearby buildings can potentially enable every operator that wants it to have access to the lines in any given exchange area," said BT in a statement.

The Register's article is full of all the usual nonsense techno-babble that only a Telco could truly understand. It'd be interesting to see just how fast BT claim this new step is going to push things?

News - November 10,2000

Slow ADSL Uptake Heightens Wireless Bid

By:mark.j @ 3:29:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Using the word 'SLOW' in conjunction with 'BROADBAND' could almost be a contradiction, although in this case it's true. Not so much the speed of the service as the delays from actually having it installed, all of which combined look set to heighten the price of wireless competitors at today’s bidding (see below):

But analysts now say the proceeds could surprise because of the increasing appeal of the technology. Delays in the launch of other broadband technologies -- chiefly DSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and cable -- mean demand for BFWA could be greater than initially anticipated.

"Most serious telecoms operators are looking at a spread of technologies to get to their customers because cable and fibre isn't always available at the right time and the right place," said Mike Wilton-Cox, principal consultant at Quotient Communications Ltd, which advised the government on the BFWA market. "I suspect there's a certain element of operators who just can't wait for wireless."

Now if only wireless broadband could be offered outside of the major cities, these things always have a drawback.

Auction begins for Wireless Broadband frequencies

By:mal.d @ 3:19:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Today sees the start of bidding by many companies trying to get a share of the radio spectrum now on sale by the government. 42 licences are being sold by the government in an auction expected to raise around £1 billion (although if the 3G auctions of past few months are anything to go by, that figure will probably end up being quite a bit larger).

These licences will enable the 10 relatively small companies competing for them to deliver wireless broadband to homes up to 4 or 5 kilometres away at speeds of over 2 mbps, although as with ADSL it is unlikely we will see those sorts of speeds anytime soon.

New Article @ ISP Review

By:mark.j @ 1:26:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

To help round off the week, we've done up a quick four page article called 'Real Unmetered'. This one takes a look at whether unmetered really exists and the serious situation caused by ISPs that falsely advertise such services.

Definitely worth a read if you're interested in why all the problems with freecall access still continue with most ISPs at some level or another.

http://ispreview.co.uk/articles/real

MetroNet Goes ADSL

By:mark.j @ 11:59:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

For the second time today another ISP/Network has introduced new ADSL services, this time it's MetroNet. An unheard of group, MetroNet's initial prices seem a little steep for the consumer end where £40 and £45 per month is now common - press release follows:

MetroNet have been providing Internet Services since 1996 and have today formally launched their ADSL service.

Packages are available to both SME's and home/soho user's with competitive pricing and service to suit.

Prices for the Metro500 (usb service) start at just 49.99 + vat per month.

ADSL strengthens MetroNet's current 020, 0845 and ISDN services and the offering has been designed around feedback received from current customers. With successful trials out of the way ADSL is now a reality for all old and new MetroNet customers.
.......

For more information: http://www.metronet.co.uk
MetroNet Internet Services
4-6 Peterborough Rd
Harrow, HA1 2BQ

£49.99 + vat per month isn't likely to do them any favours, although there are those who charge higher (just). This has also made us question the validity of using 'VAT' charges for non-physical products when a monthly charge is incurred?

RedHotAnt Upgrade

By:mark.j @ 10:41:AM - Comments (15) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One of the important upgrades RedHotAnt have had planned seemed to go underway last Wednesday, yet as many have now noticed, appears to have either not been finished or be causing a slew of new and familiar problems:

8th November 2000 10:15
Over the next 24/48 hours we will be carrying out essential maintenance and upgrades to our network, during this time there may be intermittent loss of connectivity to our network and related services.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.