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March 30, 2001 - April 4, 2001

News - April 4,2001

BBCs Beeb.Net ISP Gets Profitable

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

It looks like the BBCs http://www.beeb.net ISP has finally made it into profitability:

The ISP, which was launched in September 1999 and recently underwent a site redesign, now has more than 145,000 subscribers. Users of beeb.net only pay for the time they spend online, charged at the local telephone rates.

A BBC spokesperson said the ISP has been popular with Britons because it has been “coming out favourably in terms of speed and delivery”. He said the recent site redesign and marketing efforts have also led to the success of beeb.net.

beeb Ventures, the commercial division of BBC Worldwide, which operates beeb.net and shopping portal beeb.com, will reveal its full financial results in BBC Worldwide’s annual report, which will be released within the next two months.


It's rare these days to see an 0845 (Local Call Rate) ISP move into profitability, although we don't doubt they're including some of the sales from the Internet portal. Not to mention that netimperative.com fails to realise that the ISPs success might actually come from the fact they can easily advertise it on TV.

News - April 3,2001

BTOpenworld Extends Broadband Products

By:mark.j @ 7:01:PM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BTopenworld has extended its portfolio of broadband products for the SME and SoHo market, enabling them to host websites and build Virtual Private Networks, particularly useful for home workers, allowing them to connect to their work computer directly rather than through a server. Full press release follows:

Web hosting and VPN's now a reality for BTopenworld Broadband business customers

BTopenworld introduces Static IP and No-NAT options to its Broadband product portfolio

BTopenworld, BT's mass-market Internet business, today added the option of a static IP address to its portfolio of broadband Internet products for SoHo and SME businesses. This will enable BTopenworld's Broadband business users for the first time to host websites, mail and games servers on their own computers, as well as build Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and run a range of online communications applications.

Until now, every time users logged onto their BTopenworld Broadband service they were allocated a dynamic IP address. Such an address is unsuitable for running certain types of online applications such as NetMeeting, chat applications like IRC and ICQ, and certain games. The advent of an option to have an unchanging IP address will allow customers for the first time to run the above services and applications over their broadband connection.

A static IP address is available as an added cost option on the Business 500 (single user) and Business 500Plus (multi user) products (latter also includes 'No NAT' functionality). For the Business 500 product the cost is £10 per month on top of the standard product rental, and for the Business 500Plus the additional cost is £10 per month for up to 5 IP addresses (computers or peripherals) and £20 per month for up to 13 IP addresses (latter option available from later this month). All prices are VAT exclusive. Option is available for both PC and Macs.

For existing BTopenworld broadband users, a Static IP upgrade option is planned for launch later this summer.

No-NAT variants for the higher speed Business 1000 and Business 2000 products are in the latter stages of trial and should be available later this month.

Commenting on the launch, Marc Deschamps, COO BTopenworld Broadband said: "Today's launches open up a whole new range of possibilities for our business customers, from virtual private networking to website hosting. They also demonstrate our commitment to continued innovation and to enhancing the value of our services."

For further information or to register for all BTopenworld Broadband products please visit http://www.btopenworld.com.


It’s good to see that despite recent rumours and unofficial information regarding the company’s future stature they’re still doing their best to improve services.

ISP Review Launches New Forums

By:mark.j @ 4:23:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We're happy to announce that after a slight delay our new ISP Specific forums have just been launched and the latest member files updated. You can visit the additional set of forums by clicking HERE or visiting the existing ones.

The new forums cover all the individual broadband and unmetered ISPs and ISP types, while the existing ones will be changing over the next few hours/days to have a slightly broader discussion area. Please note that the new forums aren't completely finished yet and changes will occur.

You will also find some new features, such as the ability to rate members and topics as well as a better cache system that actually remembers you. The layout is also almost completely different.

UPDATE:
Just to be clear, the board may be a little slower during the first few days until the cache system propagates in peoples browsers properly. Also the current forums will not have the 'Unmetered' ISPs list removed and broadband section re-organized until tomorrow.

This is to give people time to realise and understand that the additional forums exist. You may also notice the 'Member' status name calls everybody an 'Ultimate' member, which is not the case =). All will be sorted tomorrow.

UK Still Behind In Broadband

By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - Comments (13) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The latest research from NetValue clearly shows that the UK is STILL lagging behind Europe, USA and even Asia, putting us right at the bottom of the table just above China.

Apparently we now have roughly 260,000 homes with some kind of broadband connection in the UK, or 1 in every 36! That's up 1.6% over the last three months.

The news isn't likely to do much for the governments 'Broadband Britain' pledge, it even goes some way to discrediting Oftel and BT for being so slow to change.

3G Pressure Pushes Further Price Hikes

By:mark.j @ 9:52:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BTCellnet and Orange are the latest two operators to hike the price of Pre-Pay packages today according to The Times newspaper. Prices expected to climb by up to 40% and much of the reason is being blamed on the costs invoked through 3G broadband wireless licenses.

This follows a similar move by Britain's other two mobile phone operators to end the era of heavily subsidised phones.

Previously BT Cellnet said it had no plans to follow suit, while Orange, the third largest mobile phone operator after Vodafone and Cellnet, said it was looking at its options.

Two weeks ago Vodafone UK said it was cutting the subsidies it pays to third-party distributors of its pay-as-you-go telephone packages from May 1, with the expected result that the cheapest no-contract phone package will rise to 70 pounds from about 40 at present.

Network operator One2One sparked off the price hikes, saying it was almost doubling the price of its cheapest pay-as-you-go handset to 70 pounds.

The Times said on Tuesday the announcements would come prior to the release of the quarterly subscriber numbers, which were expected to see Vodafone retain its top spot in terms of net subscribers. It was expected to add 700,000 subscribers.

In short, if you still want a cheaper Pre-Pay mobile phone then go and buy it today and find yourself paying nearly twice as much in a few days time. This will not affect the cost of calls, at least not yet.

BTs SurfPort24 Price Drop Causes Confusion

By:mark.j @ 9:42:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following yesterdays dramatic price reduction in BTs SurfPort24 unmetered dial-up system that saw a price drop of 25-40%, it would seem that many ISPs have been caught unaware by the change:

Several small ISPs, plus giants like Freeserve and Virgin, were unaware that BT planned a drop in price or knew the scale of the cuts. Conversely, ISPs such as PlusNet and SniffOut, which were expecting the changes delayed roll out of their services to finalise their price lists.

In fact, BTInternet, BT’s ISP and part of BT’s Openworld division, seems to be the only ISP to have incorporated the changes already. It said its prices, which were revealed on January 26, had already had the new SurfPort24 charges factored in. Still, it was keen to point out that it had not received prior warning of the price drops.

A spokesperson for BTInternet said: “We factored it in without knowing the detail. But it had been talked about by the industry since the back end of last year. Like the rest of the industry we didn’t know the prices.


How can you factor in a price drop if you have no idea what that drop will be? We'd guess by a very detailed understanding of the industry. Still the netimperative.com is very clever to point out that the drop may be good for larger ISPs, yet it simply squeezes the noose on smaller ones.

Now SurfPort24 is finally cheaper than BTSurfTime (one of the only options for SME ISPs), it means smaller ISPs still using SurfTime could slowly find themselves squeezed out of the market. This is of course what BT would like to see for reasons of advancement, although its methods are hardly respectable.

That said and the rest of us will likely benefit from the new drop, although smaller competition could be in for an increasingly rough ride.

News - April 2,2001

ISP Review Site Update - Delays

By:mark.j @ 4:47:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Please excuse the fact our new forums didn't go live today, we have to wait on a third party to finalise a few things. To make up for it we'll recompile the members database a second time tomorrow so everything will be up-to-date.

In addition we'd like to hear from anybody who reads this site and whose native language ISN'T English. If this is the case then visit our current forums and post a note about what language you speak in our 'Website Discussion' area.

We ask because if there are enough then we can install a translation system to make things easier.

BTCellnets Attempt To Keep 3G Costs Down

By:mark.j @ 4:40:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

3G (Third Generation) broadband wireless for mobile phones is no doubt going to cost the industry more than just an arm or leg. Last week cost sharing was suggested and BTCellnet is known to now be considering this.

BT Wireless says it has contacted other British mobile operators about sharing the cost of building a third-generation UK network, estimated at about 1.5 billion pounds.

"We are looking to collaborate and we would be willing to do so," said a spokesman for BT Wireless, a division of debt-laden BT said on Monday.

He said the group, which has promised to slice a third off its 30 billion pound debt pile by the end of the year, had spoken to "everyone" about collaboration.

Analysts estimate each 3G network will cost 1.5 billion to 2.0 billion pounds to build in the UK, on top of the 22.5 billion pounds five companies paid for 3G licences last year.

The new networks will allow high-speed Internet access over mobile phones, plus the ability to download videos and music.

Sharing networks could also reduce the environmental impact of an increase in base stations, which are facing growing opposition from people concerned about blighted landscapes and possible radiation risks.

The industry is already struggling to find locations for radio masts for existing networks, and it estimates 3G will require a 30% increase in base stations. Vodafone Group Plc said it was interested in the idea of collaboration.

"Sharing facilities is certainly worth investigating because there are cost savings and less of an environmental impact," a spokesman said.

But he said it would be up to Vodafone companies in each country to make the final decision. Vodafone has already rebuffed offers of collaboration from BT's Viag Interkom unit in Germany. Whatever happens the future for consumers is a much more expensive set of services, although they will be faster.

PayAsUSurf Initiate Service Beta Trials

By:mark.j @ 4:14:PM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The semi-unmetered ISP we reported on over the weekend, Pay As U Surf, have apparently started sending out beta trial E-Mails announcing the first phase of testing for their ISP.

However just as we said over the weekend and Net4Nowt reiterated today, the discounts they give you really aren't anything special and could almost be matched by BT directly. Never the less it is an interested concept, albeit still one that needs some fine ‘price’ tuning.

GUS Remains Silent Over 'Breathe' Controversy

By:mark.j @ 4:01:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Great Universal Stores (G.U.S) continued to remain silent today over renewed controversy last week that they planned to kill off the urbanites ISP, Breathe. It looks as if the finance director @ GUS, David Tyler, is waiting for the latest budget report before making a decision:

He also declined to comment on the likelihood of GUS closing Breathe.com, the ISP it saved from liquidation at Christmas, and whether it will be Breathe’s mobile technology that is used to fuel the new service.

The group said last week it had bought Breathe solely for its expertise and technology, which concentrates on providing internet access across multiple platforms, and is expected to have told the company that it wants to close down its ISP as it is losing money.

Tyler told netimperative.com last week: “We bought Breathe for the technology and the people. The ISP is losing us money. We bought it for certain reasons and the ISP isn’t one of them.


It's unlikely those still in office @ Breathe will be very pleased with the uncertainty presented by this netimperative.com article. After all the ISP is busy planning out a brand new set of unmetered options, seeing all that work go to waste would not be a welcome thought.

Netscape Founder Backs Real-Time Browsers

By:mark.j @ 12:19:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The problem with modern web browsers is that they use a 'Load, Save & View' process in order to present web pages to the viewer. However all that looks set to change as the original founder of Netscape, Marc Andreessen, is backing a new real-time browser:

"It's really clever and definitely expands the envelope of the feasible," said Jupiter Research analyst Peter Christy. "It's taking care of one of the design problems in the browser, which is that you can't push information to the browser even if it's willing."

The service functions by creating a constant connection to a Web browser from a parallel content network run by Bang, a little like Akamai Technology's decentralised network of content servers. A surfer on Excite, for example, would load a full page from the original source, but then the site would establish a direct connection between Bang's network and her browser. This would remain open as long as she is on the site, updating changes in the page as they're made.

This also reduces bandwidth costs for Web sites, since they don't have to send the full page to the surfer every time she wants another updated stock quote or sports score.


The ZDNet item highlights a technology most of us would die for, however sadly it would require adjustments to most of the online application software already in existence. Such an adjustment could potentially be incompatible with older browsers.

While the idea is a good one, we’ll have to wait and see how it works in practice before making any judgements. Not to mention how it’d get around the age-old problem of ISP side caching for proxy servers.

CBL Delay StarSpeeder/SkyStorm Launch

By:mark.j @ 10:57:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This update may be a little late, but it's worth mentioning that those waiting for the new and cheaper digital Satellite services from SkyStorm and StarSpeeder will have to wait a little longer.

It had been due to go live by the end of last month, although they've now extended the launch timeline right up until 31st May due to delays from CBL. Both ISPs are linked, with StarSpeeder being the key distributor in the UK, a recent (+1 week ago) announcement states:

Starspeeder.co.uk are the appointed resellers for CBL / Starspeeder Luxembourg, our systems to handle subscriptions and hardware packages have been in place since February. Like you we can only wait for CBL to launch the service, we unfortunately have no control over the start date or any proposed start date of the service. We do pass all information we receive from CBL on to you as soon as we get it.

Without trying to cause any upset, you in fact have not had to pay for any service as yet, as it has not launched. We on the other hand have had to pay a license fee to CBL, and as yet have seen no return. In saying this we are quite confident that the service will launch in due time. Once again we can only apologies for the delay in the launch date, but we do assure you this is not of our making.


CBL also failed to properly turn up at the popular European technology show, CeBIT, casting doubt over their competence to launch the services. That said and word has leaked that CBL may finally release the needed information/kit for early May, however that's just a rumour.

MAJOR Drop In BT SurfPort24 Prices!!!

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

Who'd have thought the BTSurfPort24 system could get any less expensive, it's not as if £14.99 isn't the perfect price for 24/7 unmetered ISPs either. However all that could soon change as BT announced they'd cut the cost of BTSurfPort24 by a staggering 40%!:

The price change for the service, which takes traffic from the user to the local exchange (DLE), onto BT’s IP network, and drops them off at the user’s ISP, has been attributed to regulatory changes in the price of DLE FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) – or the price for taking traffic between the user and the local exchange.

In addition, ISPs are understood to have put pressure on BT to lower the costs compared to its retail package BT SurfTime and the forthcoming ST FRIACO (Single Tandem Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination), which will allow operators to develop their own wholesale packages for resale to ISPs.

Lee Strafford, CEO of PlusNet, which had delayed the rollout of its SurfPort24 product while it awaited notification of possible price changes, said: “The price of SurfPort24 was higher than BT SurfTime. They’ve reacted to ST FRIACO and reduced pricing. There has been a lot of pressure brought to bear on BT because we want to move away from SurfTime.


Up until today BTSurfPort24 has been more expensive than some other FRIACO and SurfTime alternatives, although it was better due to the way it worked and flexibility for end users. A typical example of where the drop has occurred is in the yearly rental, which has gone from £160 to £100, a massive reduction.

Sadly the netimperative.com article mentions how this could affect prices for ISPs already using BTSurfPort24, yet fails to remember that the new changes take effect from now and not for existing ISPs. Such is the reason PlusNET chose to delay the launch of their service, in order to take advantage of the cheaper rates accordingly.

The drop means that ISPs once offering risky prices, Freeserve - £12.99 (24/7), are now physically able to offer such cheap options and yet still gain a respectable profit (for newer ports). It'll probably take some time before existing ISPs can make use of the changes, although future ones are now in a much better position.

C.U.T On OFTELs Site Re-Design

By:mark.j @ 9:09:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's not exactly the kind of update we've come to expect from the C.U.T (Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications), but today they discuss Oftels new site redesign and what effect its had:

Unfortunately the redesigned site, although visually and navigationally a great improvement, has a completely different structure to the old site. This means that, for example, every link to OFTEL on our Responses page and in our published consultation responses is broken.

Of course we are not the only people affected: netimperative, The Register, vnunet.com, ZDNet UK and a thousand others - including regulators abroad plus, more importantly, industry and government reports linked to OFTEL pages - will suffer breakages.

We are slowly going through our site and correcting the links, but OFTEL's blunder is far more than a simple issue of Web design; it affects public policy as the OFTEL site is of record and much current European telecommunications thinking is based on British concepts. It is ironic that decades of campaigning was needed for a transcript of what was said in Parliament to be made available to all yet there is now a danger of parts of the public record being casually mislaid.


Certainly an unusual update from C.U.T, although it does show how even the simplest changes can effect others in a big way if done to an important site such as Oftels.

News - April 1,2001

APRIL FOOLS!!!!!

By:mark.j @ 4:46:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It would seem some of you didn't realise today is in fact 1st April 2001, aka - April Fools Day. No doubt a few of the reports you've read in the newspapers or see on TV today will be false. Of course the World Wide Web isn't immune either, as we proved today.

April Fools No.1)
-BT Announces No-Limit 24/7 Free Local Calls

While the majority of you guessed this one, several didn't and found confused replies when trying to contact BT =). It's not so much that BT couldn't offer Free Local Calls on a 24/7 basis, but that there's no way you'd have it without a pile of limitations or catches.

April Fools No.2)
-RedHotAnt & AltaVista Resurface Together

Thankfully more of you guessed this one and a few were even able to spot that the name of the package, 'EzeBuzz & Breathe FreeCall 4u', was a culmination of EzeSurf, Buzzline, Breathe and 08004u - dead unmetered ISPs.

Not to mention that RedHotAnt (dead ISP) and AltaVista (imaginary ISP) would have certainly been an interesting combination if it were true =).

Telewest Celebrate blueyonders 1st Birthday

By:mark.j @ 4:31:PM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Very few unmetered ISPs that started at the same time as blueyonders broadband and dial-up services have lived to tell the tail. While ISPs such as RedHotAnt, Buzzline, LineOne and many more slowly went bust, BY stuck with it and continued to improve.

In celebration the ISP and Telco provider have issued a lengthy update explaining some of what they’ve done with the services in recent weeks and what they plan to do in the future. Beware this is an extremely lengthy update and thanks to Peter for pointing it out:

Happy Birthday blueyonder hi-speed internet!

One year ago this weekend, Telewest launched blueyonder hi-speed internet in our South East region, making it the first mass market broadband internet service in the U.K. On blueyonder's one year anniversary, we want to thank you, our customers, for your business and for helping to make blueyonder a success.

We also wanted to take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to providing our customers with a high quality internet service. Below, we detail recent and planned enhancements to our service, which illustrate our continuing commitment to meeting the needs of our customers :

Network Upgrades

On March 26 we brought online a new STM1 [Synchronus Transport Module] link to the USA, which will increase throughput and improve performance on using websites and other Internet services based in the USA. This is an interim measure being deployed until we bring online our new STM4 link later in the year. This has been necessary as there is a considerable lead time in getting these links in place from network providers.

With the closure of the old MAE East NAP [Network Access Point] in New York at the end of February, and its subsequent relocation, we have moved all our equipment and put a higher capacity circuit live at the newly located NAP. Our bandwidth through this router has been increased from a 45MB DS3 to a 155MB STM1 link, effectively doubling pur direct bandwidth to the USA and increasing the speeds at which customers can access U.S. based sites. This will reduce our dependency on the Carrier 1 transit link we use, which was taking the MAE East traffic between the closure of the old MAE East and our setting the new circuit live. The STM4, when it goes live [currently around May this year], will give us a 622MB pipe and further enhance service performance when accessing U.S. web sites.

We will also be completing a similar upgrade [also from 45MB DS3 to 155MB STM1] to the MAE West NAP in San Jose shortly, and for the Sprint NAP - also to STM1 from DS3.

In order to improve the speeds at which customers can access web sites based in Europe, we are also implementing a range of European upgrades. STM1 lines from London to Paris and London to Amsterdam are on order and expected to be in service in mid April. These 155MB lines will replace the existing circuits.

A secondary interface to the Telehouse [UK] router to effectively double our UK bandwidth is going in place in the next few weeks. The current interface is 622MB so this should improve throughput significantly.

We are trialling some new Transit providers with our contract at LINX [London Internet Exchange] coming up for tender, and undertaking a full review of our peering arrangements in order to give the best performance possible. As well as reviewing this with speed in mind we are also very conscious of the effect our peering arrangements can have on the ping times experienced by our gamers. As such we shall also be working to ensure these are also optimised.

Modem Racks

Our CVX modem racks are continuing to be rolled out nationwide, and we are adding capacity as we go along, in recent weeks we have added 870 further dialup modems to our local POPs [Points Of Presence] - Avon (60), Birmingham (90), Scotland (240), North East (90), Southend (30), Midlands (360). These are redistributed 3COM modems that are made available as the 3COM racks are replaced by the CVX racks.

We are aware of some performance issues with the CVX racks as opposed to the 3COM racks. We have raised the reports that we have had on these issues with the providers [Nortel Networks], however we would urge customers to report any further performance problems with the CVX racks to our local newsgroup blueyonder.support.access.dialup [with your modem type and version of firmware] so that we can escalate these.

Caching

We have now rolled out caches throughout all our local regions, and all HTTP [web] traffic to the Internet is now transparently cached.

Caching is a simple idea with powerful benefits that the blueyonder team has implemented. When you access a website a copy of that page is kept locally on a caching device within the blueyonder network.

After this point, when the next person requests this page it comes from the local server rather than having to traverse the internet to find the information and deliver it back to you. Because of our use of NetApp caches, we can therefore provide web pages to you far faster and improve your experience of the Internet.

However, our caches will not store secure pages [those starting https://] such as online banking information or e-commerce credit card purchases, and sites that contain constantly updating information like news stories and sporting results.

We are also looking at installing some 'parent' caches in Telecity [Docklands, London] to improve the performance of the serving of web pages for all users. Parent Caches enable us to maintain a large amount of cached traffic within our network which the local caches will access in preference to traversing the Internet.

News [Usenet]

Our news server has been relocated from our Woking server farm to Hayes, so that it no longer impacts on the Woking router [and hence the blueyonder website for all and DNS services for dialup users].

Once the move was completed the true nature of a further issue, which had been initially attributed to the bandwidth issues experienced when the server was located at Woking, became clear. This is due to the speed that the server itself can communicate with the network mounted (NFS) disks that store the news articles. This results in the news service being slow and performing poorly in peak periods.

After investigating the full nature of the fault with Sun Engineers, we have decided to immediately replace the NFS storage solution with direct Sun storage for our news service. Our news team are making every effort to obtain the new hardware as quickly as possible, and we hope to have a server running that performs as it should do within the next few weeks.

Other News

We are undertaking a review of DNS [Domain Name System] to bring the DNS servers for both dialup and hi-speed together.

DNS maintains a database of names [e.g. www.blueyonder.co.uk] and the IP addresses to which these names point to [e.g. 193.38.113.24 & 193.38.113.25]. The Internet works by resolving these names to IP addresses and networks and servers communicating using these addresses. The faster the response time of 'DNS lookups', the quicker you get served web pages and other Internet services.

We are also reviewing a number of our other services to upgrade them and launch new services in order to meet growing and changing customer demand.

The new broadband version of the blueyonder website is still on track for launch later this year, and will be the start of a number of exciting web based services that will continue to be launched throughout 2001 and beyond.

Finally we are pleased to announce that we now host a website created by users, for users. This can be accessed at: http://users.blueyonder.co.uk and is highly recommended. Many thanks to the original Carton123 user group, now the "by-Users" user group for all the long hours they've put into this site.

The team at blueyonder

Live Chat!

By:Ross14 @ 4:22:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Remember, there is a live chat on ISPr today from 4pm-6pm - me and the guys are dedicating our time to help with your problems and to discuss the past, present and future states of the UK Net Industry.

Please come along - go to the 'Chat' link @ the top of the ISPr Nav Bar =)

Direct Link = http://www.ispreview.co.uk/new/chat/chat.shtml.

Or - irc.esper.net, #isp-review

ISP Review Weekly Update

By:mark.j @ 10:32:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Beware the date, for it tells much and explains little.

This week’s update is somewhat shorter than usual because we're busy preparing for the Monday/Late Sunday (today) launch of our new/second set of forums. We've already sorted most of the member files and are presently re-compiling them for the additional forums.

On top of that we'll also have the new 0845 listings done by next weekend, it just takes time checking every 0845 ISP in existence still exists and then updating accordingly.

Ross has also scheduled a live CHAT session with ISP Review today - starting at 4pm this afternoon. I will not be attending this one due to work on the new forum, which will likely continue into the later hours of this evening.

Aside from that and we have some cosmetic changes planned as well, although you'll have to wait and see what changes over the next week yourselves.

RedHotAnt & AltaVista Resurface Together

By:mark.j @ 10:20:AM - Comments (11) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've received a communication from RedHotAnt that they intend to merge with the 'in-development' unmetered ISP end of AltaVista and launch a dual branded unmetered package to consumers.

RedHotAnt intend to meet with trading standards early next week in order to re-claim their networking equipment and then finalise the deal with AV. The package itself is expected to go live during Mid-June 2001 and is called 'EzeBuzz & Breathe FreeCall 4u'.

No details on pricing and services have been revealed, although we expect to have more soon.

BT Announces No-Limit 24/7 Free Local Calls

By:mark.j @ 10:14:AM - Comments (7) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's official, BT have privately announced that they're planning to offer 24/7 (anytime) Free Local Calls to everybody in the UK by the end of April 2001!

Unlike the current offer the new one will not have any limits imposed and the price is currently being investigated, although £20 per month is likely. A full and official press release is now promised for Monday.

3Gs (Broadband Wireless) UK Future In Doubt

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

Much as many have already said, unless some radical action is taken to off-set the colossal costs involved with 3G licenses, the technology may never be able to propagate properly in the UK. Operators have already begun cutting costs by taking such drastic action as job cuts and company restructuring:

Mobile operators are pressuring the UK government to come to their rescue. Vodafone (quote: VOD) and One 2 One complained about the high costs of licences and have asked for changes to the agreements, including an extension of the duration of the licences and assurances that the erection of 3G masts will go ahead smoothly.

The European Commission (EC) is considering allowing the deferral of payments for 3G licences or allowing the sharing of infrastructure to offset the high costs of securing the licences. This follows concerns that the debt burden will affect Europe's competitiveness with the US.

In the UK, five companies hold 3G licences: TIW, Vodafone, BT, One 2 One and Orange. Across Europe the bill for licences amounts to some £88bn. The EC said that operators might have to spend at least as much again to roll out the new services. It estimates that allowing the sharing of infrastructure will save the industry 30 to 40 percent of its costs.


The ZDNet item simple reiterates the worries we mentioned during the auction period last year, the costs are so unfeasibly high that several things are now likely to happen. Further loss of jobs, one or two big names having to fold and vastly increased costs to the consumer.

In fact almost all three of those are likely to happen, some operators may even have to raise the price of calls again. This is a much more serious situation than most realise, costs to consumers are likely to rise considerably. PayAsYouGo style packages have already been hit.

Who'd Be A Chief Executive @ BT?

By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Reports have surfaced in some of today’s Sunday Newspapers that BTs finance director, Philip Hampton, turned down the position of Chief Executive (Peter Bonfield), which many now call the 'Poisoned Chalice'.

British Telecom declined to comment on Sunday on a newspaper report that its finance director Philip Hampton had turned down the opportunity of replacing its Chief Executive Peter Bonfield.

A spokeswoman for BT had no comment on the report adding that Bonfield was still chief executive, but a source close to the company said that the report was absolute nonsense.

Sunday Business, in an unsourced report, said Hampton, who only joined BT at the beginning of November, is said to have baulked at the prospect of taking on what one insider described as a "poisoned chalice".

The paper said both Bonfield and chairman Iain Vallance are clinging to power, although parts of their restructuring plan are in tatters following the collapse of global stock markets.

It added that it is widely believed Bonfield will resign before the end of this year, but that BT's non-executive directors have so far failed to find a replacement.

Vallance, who is widely thought responsible for holding back changes at the company, is determined to stay until his retirement date of July 2002, when he is due to pick up a £600,000 terminal bonus, it added.

ClaraNET AnyTime 24/7 Deal Almost Done!

By:mark.j @ 9:49:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

ClaraNETs popular guru of TECH, Steve Rawlinson, has been seen to make the following 'unofficial' update (thanks Peter) on the ClaraNET newsgroups regarding the future unmetered 24/7 options from the ISP:

Looks like we finally have a deal so we can offer FTAT (FreeTime AnyTime). It isn't signed yet so no promises (as usual). Looks like June at the latest, possibly earlier.

The bad news is that it wont be national immediately. The actual area of coverage we don’t know yet but it's likely to be quite small at launch (maybe 30%) growing to 95% by the end of the year. We are toying with the idea of releasing more than one product with different U/M ratios with different prices. The higher UM ratios would be aimed at lower usage customers, and the lower UM ratio products would presumably offer a better chance of getting a line (at an increased price of course).

The problem is this: what to do about customers who sign up for the cheap deal and hog the line? We could opt to do nothing about this problem and let the people who are using it sensibly suffer. Or we could ask people using more than their fair share of the line to upgrade.

Whatever, I want to be transparent and upfront about our policy on this. I would be interested in opinions.


This would seem to suggest they’re not choosing to make use of BTSurfPort24, a system, which has already propagated around most of the UK. We’d suspect it’s a combination of third part Telco and the very latest FRIACO revisions, although only time will tell.

On the package side of things and earlier in 2001 we were told (might be in our recent CN interview as well) that ClaraNET would try to offer ‘larger’ options for heavier usage (as mentioned above). A dual channel ISDN option was even up for consideration, which makes SurfPort24 even more unlikely since it doesn’t allow such a feature yet.

As for their stance on those potentially over using the cheap (lighter) service, we suggest that they should ask such individuals to either cut down their usage, upgrade or leave/kick them. Ideally in that order, with the final option being the most extreme.

News - March 31,2001

ISP Review Site Update

By:mark.j @ 10:14:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just a reminder that we’re working to introduce the new forums this weekend and sometime, possibly today, we’ll copy existing member files over and then have things ready for a Sunday or Monday launch – no April Fools =). The new forums will complement the existing ones by covering all known broadband and unmetered ISPs individually.

Future Broadband Tech Labelled 'Unrealistic'

By:mark.j @ 10:12:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Believe it or not the work of high-speed Internet connections doesn't stop with xDSL, Cable Modems or Satellite. Companies are already working to develop the next generation of xDSL, as well as technologies that work outside the standard DSL specifications:

New Wheel Technology (NWT) has submitted prototype kit for tests where it recorded unidirectional transmission speeds of 54Mbps over a distance of up to 2.8Km, using existing twisted-pair copper telephone cables.

However experts have said that the tests, conducted by Lucent on technology called Cu@Ocx from NWT, are incomplete and do not prove the distance limit for high-speed broadband over copper has been extended.


The Register is clever to point out that there are a lot of people who remain wary when trying to push the limits of existing technology. Former BT technical leader, Gavin Young, had his own comments to make:

The test may be valid, he said, but it was "out of context" and did not show if the technology was deployable for two-way data in real-life setups. "Performance results only have credibility in a realistic test set up with realistic cross talk and egress limits," said Young.

NWT has claimed that they were simply trying to prove the technology worked and not to conduct any official tests. However the fact they succeeded over such a distance, whatever the situation, does mean our dear old copper wire might not be replaced by Fibre Optics just yet.

After all, if BT sees a technology that helps it to avoid making yet another massive change then it'll no doubt take it.

New Wave Of Net Crime On The Horizon

By:mark.j @ 10:00:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Stealing credit cards is nothing new, but what if you were clever and only took a small amount from each - would people bother to follow it up? A technology research group warned Friday that Internet consumers remained vulnerable to theft and said there was likely to be "mass victimisation within the next two years."

The report, by Stamford-based Gartner Group said a combination of inadequate law enforcement and growing opportunities for cyber-crime left the door open for the theft of millions of dollars.

The study also said the theft was likely to be completed a few dollars at a time, from millions of different accounts, meaning it would be difficult to detect.

"Converging technology trends are creating economies of scale that enable a new class of cyber-crimes aimed at mass victimisation," Gartner Research Fellow Richard Hunter said in a statement.

The report said consumers should be extra careful to monitor all their financial transactions for unexplained withdrawals or fund transfers.

It also advised they install a personal firewall on any computer that has Internet access and disable any peer-to-peer networking, such as music swapping, on any Internet connected machine.

ISPs Officially Regarded As Publishers

By:mark.j @ 9:54:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In order to help sort a few niggles with the modern day legalities of running an ISP over a global network, the government has amended a law and made it so ISPs can now be regarded as publishers:

Clause 5(5) in the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill (second reading) says that: "In relation to a tobacco advertisement which is published or caused to be published by electronic means by an internet service provider, it is a defence for him, if charged with an offence under section 2(1), to proce that he was unaware that what he published or caused to be published was, or conatined, a tobacco advertisement."

While this is certainly an improvement on previous bills involving the Internet, it still gives an ISP the status of a publisher - something that remains undecided by the courts and has wide-ranging implications on the whole Internet industry.


Realistically the law is very restrictive and to be honest it's not likely to have the 'wide-ranging implications' The Register fears.

World-Of-ADSL

By:mark.j @ 9:27:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One of our readers has launched his own site dedicated to ADSL and has imaginatively called it the World-Of-ADSL. It's hardly likely to compete with the likes of Broadband-Help or ADSLGuide at such an early stage, although we wish him luck for the future.

News - March 30,2001

PlusNETs FRIACO Business Options

By:mark.j @ 6:08:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

PlusNET has now also sent us the details for their Business packages; since you already know what we're talking about I'll simply list what they state:

Business Accounts:

Connect Biz
Business class performance with a host of extras, together with a low contention ratio of only 4:1. You would expect to be able to connect to the Internet for up to 50 hours a week with the Connect Biz account. Only £39.99 per month

Connect Biz+
The Business account that features the same added-value benefits as with Biz, but with an ultra-low contention ratio of only 3:1. You would expect to be able to connect to the Internet for up to 70 hours a week with the Connect Biz+. Only £54.99 per month

Connect Biz Always On
For the ultimate in dialup connectivity, Connect Biz Always On offers Business users permanent availability and Local Area Network compatibility. Your optional Static IP address will allow the use of Network Address Translation for your network. Only £119.99 per month

The expected connection time is based on the contention ratios for each account. The times are guidelines only. Customers exceeding these guidelines will be advised of this by a system of escalating emails.

Please also note that we offer a static IP on all of our Connect (FRIACO) accounts and this is an integral part of our service as we offer free SMTP email delivery.


Draw your own conclusions.

MS Internet Explorer 6 Public Preview

By:mark.j @ 4:34:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Internet is one thing, but having the right browser to see the pages as they should be is another. Certainly one of the most popular browsers is Micro$ofts Internet Explorer. If you're one of those that likes to dabble in the latest software then don't forget the 'preview' version of Internet Explorer 6 is out HERE.

This is essentially a beta and to be realistic IE6 won't bring much new over IE4, 5 or even 5.5 in terms of noticeable improvements. That said and some have been asking for it and so here it is.

General ISP News

By:mark.j @ 3:42:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just some smaller bits of ISP news that don't really deserve their own news item or have already been partly discussed.

First up we have an update on the JAK Internet and Payasusurf ISP related news from this morning, thanks to David:
A check with companies house reveals that "Jak Productions (UK) Ltd" is in compulsory liquidation as of January. However, "Jak Internet Ltd" and "Jak Group Ltd" are still trading.

08002Go's website seems to have been missing in action for the last few days, rumours of the companies demise have already started floating around. It's much more likely their just upgrading ready for the launch, of course we could be wrong.

Finally FreeChariot have re-launched their site after almost a week of downtime and with a slightly changed layout, they just don't seem to think of informing the customers first.

Get The Realtouch With Satellite Broadband

By:mark.j @ 3:33:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As spotted on Net4Nowt, a new 'Two-Way' Satellite ISP that covers the UK has gone online. However with an installation cost of roughly £3,995 and a monthly fee of £350, it's hardly likely to win out against the slightly cheaper two-way and even one-way competition (we don't list these ISPs yet - will do ASAP):

The provision of fast, reliable network connectivity is critical to all companies as the information age is now part of all our lives. For some organisations Leased Line connections are not an option, so our Satellite offering brings opportunities with this new system that are unparalleled, delivering business benefits and extensive cost savings. The service is available across the UK, Northern Ireland and the greater European area.

BENEFITS
-No UK geographical limitations
-No phone link required
-No contention ratios as with other ISP services
-10 day installation
-Up to 2Mbps downstream and 256Kbps
upstream via satellite
-Upgradeable within hours
-Service/maintenance levels to meet
your needs and budget
-Low cost Leasing options for
hardware and service
-Ideal Back-up service for traditional leased line
connectivity - never be without a connection!
-Low cost VPN capabilities all across Europe


The REALTOUCH IP Satellite system has no UK geographical limitation or contention ratios as with other Internet access services such as DSL. The Bandwidth available is comparable to other DSL connection solutions and is available in 3 bandwidth rates ranging from 300Kbps to 2 Mbps, seven high performance service levels, with various maintenance and support propositions and even equipment leasing options.

So, whether your company is large or small, looking for a main connection circuit or essential back-up to your existing leased line connectivity, this system provides the opportunity to connect to the Internet via a state-of-the-art Network Operations Centre that delivers 24 x 7 support to ensure an uninterrupted quality of service. For a full demonstration or more information contact us at: satellite@realtouch.net


Without knowing exactly what satellite they use and more specific details we can't really comment on the ratio of quality to cost and speed. This may well be the ideal ISP for those operating a mountain-based business, however two-way Satellite is now a doomed technology against modern landline broadband.

Not to mention the combination of an unmetered ISDN connection combined with a one-way satellite could potentially do better under some circumstances - certainly price.

JAK Behind Semi-Unmetered Payasusurf ISP

By:mark.j @ 10:45:AM - Comments (10) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Some of you may have heard of the semi-unmetered ISP, Pay As U Surf, which is designed to work much like a 'Pay As U Go' mobile phone:

Pay As U Surf is an innovative new way to access the Internet via a 0800 free phone telephone number. Now you can have high-speed internet access without the worry of unlimited internet telephone bills.

There is no need to register for Pay As U Surf, or give out any personal details. No charges appear on your telephone bill and there are no costs other than the face value of your card.

In addition to low cost, high speed internet access, users have access to a whole host of other free benefits including:

Unlimited email accounts
50MB web space
Domain hosting
News group access
Virus detection and junk email filtering
Unlimited technical support via our online Virtual Support Agent (VSA)
Access to public and private multi-player games servers
Global email to fax system
Web statistics package
Web backup system


Pay As U Surf works in a similar way to the popular Pay As You Go mobile phone packages. You always know what you are spending, and there is never a danger of accidentally running up an excessive telephone bill.

Once set up, you can surf the Internet for free until your credit runs out. When you want to top up your account, you can do so over the Internet quickly and simply - there is no need to buy a new Pay As U Surf card each time. You decide how much you want to spend on Internet calls, and when you want to spend it. Customers who want to top up their account online are protected by the Credit Card Holders Protection Act and all transactions are constantly monitored by the UK's largest high street bank.


Although not ideal for heavy/medium Internet usage, it does essentially work out as giving you a 50% discount on your existing BT call costs and this may be good for lighter use. Here's their comparison table:

Payment - £5
Max Peak Time Online - 4hrs 10mins
Max Off Peak Time Online - 8hrs 20mins
BT Local Rate Daytime Online - 2hrs 7mins
BT Local Rate Evening & Night-time Online - 5hrs 36mins


The rest continues on as follows (un-structured), same order:

£10 8hrs 20mins 16hrs 40mins 4hrs 14mins 11hrs 12mins
£20 16hrs 40mins 33hrs 20mins 8hrs 28mins 22hrs 24mins
£50 41hrs 40mins 83hrs 20mins 21hrs 10mins 56hrs 0mins
£100 83hrs 20mins 166hrs 40mins 42hrs 20mins 112hrs 0mins


It may look interesting and we have no doubt you could get a similar or better deal by just using another Telco, however upon checking the whois data for the domain (thanks Dave) we found the following:

This Domain payasusurf.net is Registered
Name Server: NS2.JAKINTERNET.CO.UK
Name Server: NS1.JAKINTERNET.CO.UK


So it looks like the group once behind the support for failed unmetered ISP RedHotAnt have come back to haunt another.

IMPORTANT ISP Review Update

By:mark.j @ 9:57:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This is the last call for those wanting to make use of the new 'ISP Specific' forums and as yet not signed up with the existing ones, if you wish to save yourselves some trouble then do it now.

To re-cap, we're introducing a second and 'separate' forum that allows you to discuss individual unmetered and broadband ISPs. Sadly it's not yet compatible with the existing one (will be by 2002) and thus we can only move the subscriber base over once and re-compile it once.

In short, sign up to our existing forums if you ever plan on using them or the new ones - now, otherwise you'll just have to do it twice and this will save you the trouble. We plan to copy the subscriber base over sometime this weekend and then re-compile it.

This update also serves as notification that we're almost ready to launch the new forums, which are very different from the current spate. The current forums will also see a dramatic change since the unmetered comments category will no longer be needed there.

PlusNET Re-Issue FRIACO Prices

By:mark.j @ 9:46:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Delayed from Tuesday 27th March, PlusNET have recently released their 'updated' pricing following the recent price reduction in the cost of FRIACO itself by Oftel. The question is, what's changed?

The following is a list of the original PlusNET offer:

Home (Residential) Packages... [Per Month]
Connect 50 (50 hrs month) £16.99
Connect 100 (100 hrs month) £29.99
Connect 150 (150 hrs month) £39.99

Biz (Business) Packagers... [Per Month]
Connect Professional (150 hrs) £45.99
Connect Business (250 hrs) £59.99
Connect Business Advantage (24/7 permanent) £169.99

Extra 50 hours a month is £14.99 except for CBA


Now the new set of packages look like this:

Connect Lite (0845)
Contention Ratio = ????
Surfing Hours = n/a
Cost = £4.99

Connect Light User
Contention Ratio = 20:1
Surfing Hours = 10
Cost = £9.99

Connect Standard
Contention Ratio = 10:1
Surfing Hours = 20
Cost = £19.99

Connect Heavy User
Contention Ratio = 5:1
Surfing Hours = 40
Cost = £29.99

Connect Always On
Contention Ratio = 1:1?
Maximum Surfing Hours = No Limit
Cost = £119.99
Extra = Static IP


Please note, the surfing hours are 'WEEKLY' and NOT based on 'MONTHS' a mistake some readers passed on to us - very sorry.

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