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June 20, 2001 - June 26, 2001

News - June 26,2001

AOL TimeWarner Passes 30 Million Mark

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

In keeping with its overall market dominance, the giant media and ISP company AOL TimeWarner has announced that they've exceeded the 30 Million subscribers mark!

AOL is now set to further embrace unmetered technologies in countries that have yet to see such things and also introduce new software that'll help take advantage of modern broadband technologies.

As usual the majority of subscribers are based in the United States. Despite this the membership outside the USA is an area the company claims it's increasingly focused on and that now exceeds 6 million in 16 countries.

Nortel Cuts 330 More Jobs

By:mark.j @ 9:56:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just because the media got tired of covering the current economic downturn in the tech and .com sector doesn't mean to say it’s stopped. Sadly Nortel have had to cull a further 330 jobs, this time from their Monkstown plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland:

Last week Nortel said it was to cull 10,000 jobs by the end of September. These massive job cuts are on top of the 20,000 losses announced in April.

The cuts are part of a massive restructuring exercise blamed on "significant adjustment" in the global telecoms market.

The Register reports that the result of so many cuts should save the company a massive $3.5 Billion a year.

Madasafish Launch New Unmetered Offers

By:mark.j @ 9:52:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to John for letting us know that the popular unmetered ISP, Madasafish, have begun to announce a new set of unmetered packages:

New unmetered packages

On the 20th July, Madasafish will be launching two fantastic new unmetered packages:

£12-99 for 24 hour a day, seven days a week access

£10-99 for off peak (weekend & evening) access

More details of these will be published real soon, watch this space!
These packages will be available to everyone, whether you have an existing service from Madasafish or not!

It doesn't get much better than this. Surf's up: hang seven dudes!

We're surprised Madasafish didn't inform us of these, although at present it still looks to be a couple of weeks+ before the new offers go live. As usual Madasafish appear to have taken some advice since they removed their last £27 per month 24/7 offer and are now to take advantage of more modern systems for unmetered access.

We should have full details soon.

News - June 25,2001

WonkyPig's !MAD! New Unmetered Offer

By:mark.j @ 4:14:PM - Comments (17) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Whether the subject titles use of 'MAD' is a good or bad thing we'll leave to reader digression, although WonkyPig's latest unmetered offer is certainly questionable.

One of the ISPs staff was kind enough to send us the following message, which is now live on their site:

Well we've been megga busy and thought your readers would like to know about our Summer Madness Offer, which is on until the end of this week.

£15 - one off connection charge for 0800 internet access.

WonkyPig seems to change their 'special offer' every other week and it's now hard to know what's what and when that what is what? What? £15 is ridiculously cheap and how they work the economics we simply don't know.

That said and their latest service update claims, and we quote, "Service Fully Operational, New Ports Online, No Connectivity Problems.". You take a risk signing up, although the choice is yours.

Cambridge's Computer Lab Develop Cu@OCx

By:mark.j @ 4:04:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Some of our more avid readers might remember the small item we did on the imaginatively named Cu@OCx, which is a new broadband technology based on currently DSL standards; capable of 45Mbps over a standard phone line.

Today it has been announced that Cambridge's Renowned Computer Lab is to play an important role in the development of New Visuals super fast DSL based broadband technology.

One of the oldest universities in the world and one of the largest in the United Kingdom, Cambridge University has a reputation for outstanding academic achievement. This worldwide reputation reflects the intellectual achievement of its students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and its colleges. New Visual will be participating in a studentship R & D membership program alongside many other well-known technology companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, AT&T, and Marconi.

Cu@OCx uses the ubiquitous installed-base of copper wire throughout the world to transmit data at speeds equal to or better than VDSL or fiber optics. This technology has the potential to solve the last mile dilemma by delivering broadband services to business and residential customers that are beyond the range of current copper-based technologies.

Don't start jumping up and down just yet, it took ADSL around five years to make it into the public market, Cu@OCx isn't even finalised yet. We'll probably be old men before it finally arrives, if we're even still alive.

Tele2's New 512Kbps Wireless Broadband

By:mark.j @ 3:52:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As spotted by Harvy, the Tele2 Sales & Tariff page seems to have snuck a new residential broadband wireless package in without informing anybody.

Up until recently you could only have the 150Kbps (Up/Downstream) package with unlimited bandwidth for £19.99 Per Month (Ex.VAT). The new offer allows for a 512Kbps connection with the same unlimited bandwidth, yet home users might frown at the £50 Per Month (Ex.VAT) price tag.

Having said that Tele2 doesn't presently have any real competition and Atlantic Telecom’s broadband wireless has so far failed to make it out of their trial stage. Yet this is set to change as the government opens the licenses up for other companies to invest in and thus competition could force prices down.

Sadly this is still someway off and Tele2, much like Cable and ADSL, suffers from a serious lack of coverage.

SupaNET Add 'Young Persons' Chat Channel

By:mark.j @ 3:43:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The congested and popular Telco/ISP provider, SupaNET, has announced the launch of its fully monitored chat channel for young people under the age of 14 years:

In its trial period, Supakids chat will be available to users under the age of 14 from 4pm to 6pm on weekdays. Trained Supanet editors will monitor the room, specifically looking for bad language, unsuitable conversation topics and evidence of a user being an adult. They will also be on the hunt for paedophiles abusing its service.

"There is no foolproof way of making sure who is on the other end... but we wanted a responsible way for children to chat, without encountering any of the well-documented problems associated with chatrooms," said Colin Middlemiss, PR manager for Supanet.

But the initiative does not incorporate any channel for monitors to report suspected paedophiles entering the room. The monitors will simply be instructed to kick any suspicious characters off the service.

The ZDNet item goes into a bit more detail regarding the limits of the service, although it seems like quite a nice idea. Now if SupaNET would just fix their congested ISP service then things would be even better.

Leaked Ex-C&W Cable Modem Dates

By:mark.j @ 3:24:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Apparently DigitalSpy have managed to get their hands on some unconfirmed information regarding broadband cable modem coverage for Ex-C&W areas:

July - Leeds

October - Watford, parts of London including Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Waltham Park

November - Hersham, further areas of London including Bromley, Orpington, and Bexleyheath

December - Peterborough, Ashford, Portsmouth, and Brighton

The bad news is that according to our information some customers will have longer to wait, including over half of the London franchises and Southhampton. These areas will have to wait until the second quarter of 2002 before the service is ready to launch, due to the poor state of the local cable networks.

There's also some information regarding the extension of NTLs unmetered dialup ISP into those areas, something NTL weren't going to do before. As with any unofficial information we'd suggest taking it with a pinch of salt until it's confirmed.

Quick ISP Review Site Update

By:mark.j @ 11:39:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've just done quick update to the unmetered ISP listings (FreeCall) and also the complaints page to bring things up to speed. At present the most complained about ISP for the past week is SupaNET, whom since launching their unmetered package have seen serious congestion problems (we’re investigating).

BigBlueSky, Freeserve and BTInternet have all had their usual rough time of things as well. Engage tones, slow speeds and various server / connection problems seem to dog them all; many of you clearly aren't pleased.

Strange Web Connection Problems

By:mark.j @ 10:02:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Don't be surprised if some British .co.uk etc. based web sites and servers are up and down like yoyo's today. We've noticed it and apparently the cause is to do with problems identifying the DNS of some servers through one of the UK’s more important network links.

We don't have much in the way of details, although if you find a site can't load then simply try again in 10mins. It seems to be hitting a multitude of ISPs.

Glenworld Launch Update

By:mark.j @ 9:56:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

For those keeping an eye on the much questioned Connect25 friendly unmetered ISP, Glenworld, you've no doubt noticed that the last launch date (ETA 14th July) came and went long ago.

The latest is that it should be online by the end of the month, although given that they keep extending the deadline then nothing can be certain. Stranger still is the fact they haven’t updated the site once to reflect these various delays, it still states 1st JUNE 2001 =).

BigBlueSky Back Online

By:mark.j @ 9:53:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

While customers of the unmetered ISP BigBlueSky await a service update as to the reason for the weekend’s 48hour outage, most people now seem able to connect again. Many have described less engage tones and a slightly faster service, but then it's only just back up and this is to be expected.

Those suffering authentication errors may have found their account suspended for heavy usage, since this seems to tally with what people are saying in our BBS Forum. Ultimately people will have to wait a little longer to find out exactly what's up @ BBS, hopefully just a temporary glitch.

News - June 24,2001

ISP Review Weekly Update

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

It’s an absolutely stunning day with temperatures here likely to reach around 25C, which is similar to what we saw during early May just before I had my last vacation. As such this weeks update will be kept short because on a day like this there’s no way in hell I’m staying in to work during my spare time =).

The week as a whole has been pretty slow since the sun has kept me busy, after all this is England and the weather is often violently mixed – make use of the sun while it lasts! That said and work has continued, although mostly through administration and smaller improvements.

One of the more obvious changes was with our newer forums, in which we’ve now added a ‘Translator’, so those from Germany, France and a few other places can read them.

Still we’ll leave it at that for this weekend since there’s sun to be had and you just know it isn’t going to last.

World Online Accused Of Faking Figures

By:mark.j @ 9:25:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to the American financial group GlobalNet Financial, WorldOnline overstated their visitor numbers when agreeing to promote GNet's services:

GlobalNet Financial told the High Court in London last week that it had made investments totalling almost £10m on the basis of information provided by World Online. GlobalNet said that it had built up operations in four European countries and agreed to place advertisements across the World Online sites, because of the disputed data.

Areas, where GlobalNet Financial claims it was misled, include the size of World Online's subscription base in Germany, and the number of page views generated by the ISP's Danish portal.

John Woods of Web site monitoring specialist, Site Intelligence, said it was easy for firms to overestimate the number of visitors to Web sites. He believes that over 70 percent of visitors to most Web sites are not bona fide customers, but hits from search robots, employees or competitors.

You can read more @ ZDNet, it’s too nicer day to discuss this.

News - June 23,2001

Freeserve Customers £500 Bill

By:mark.j @ 10:16:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Freeserve have long been known for making crucial information for accessing some of their unmetered accounts hard to find. Earlier in the year there were several cases of people running up large phone bills simply because they missed out the freecall prefix.

Sadly it looks as if the new Freeserve Anytime package doesn't escape this problem, with one customer running up a bill for £500 since the package started!

The customer in question was not informed that he needed to insert a six-digit prefix in front of the number downloaded from the Freeserve installation disk, in order to avoid incurring extra charges.

"Freeserve has admitted that this prefix was not displayed anywhere on the site or on any paperwork, and unless you had prior knowledge of call charges, there was no way of knowing that this prefix was to be used," he said..

The wording that appears on the Freeserve Anytime configuration instructions makes no reference to this six digit prefix number. But there is a warning that reads "it is essential that you carefully read and follow all three steps on this page, or you risk being charged for your Internet calls (for which Freeserve cannot be held responsible)".

The ZDNet item was able to get a reply from the Consumers' Association (CA) on the matter, in which they state that the above term may be deemed unenforceable. Meaning he should be allowed compensation. This is an old problem and to date we've never seen such a complaint follow through to a refund by Freeserve directly.

BigBlueSky Down For The Weekend

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

If this were any other ISP we'd probably be quite surprised or even shocked, but with BigBlueSky being the cheapest and most economically questionable provider then we're barely even frowning.

According to our BBS Forum and numerous E-Mails, BBS will be offline for the weekend. A service update states:

News Update - 20:45 22/06/01
Our connection service will be interrupted for the duration of the evening of Friday 22nd June 2001 through the weekend. We apologies for this and will provide a full update on 25th June 2001.

New customers wishing to register will also have to wait until next week.

As usual our BBS Forum has been buzzing with the usual rumours and questions reguarding the service and its future. Many of our readers have also been posting snippets from conversations they've had with BBS.

Apparently the reason for the downtime isn't related to BT, but the heavy users on the system. Some customer’s accounts have apparently been suspended for this very reason, but then they're obviously not an ISP for such use.

Ultimately we'll have to wait until Monday to see exactly what's happening.

News - June 22,2001

Local Loop Unbundling Deadline To Pass

By:mark.j @ 4:35:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Since the formal process for Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) was disbanded earlier in the year by Oftel, media interest has wavered. Yet this makes no difference to the fact that July 2001 is still the date set by the EU and Oftel for LLU to be completed:

So how far have we got? Well, as of May this year, 4 local exchange trial sites are operating, with other licenced operators (OLOs) connecting in Battersea, Edinburgh, Belfast and Leeds. Further exchanges in Covent Garden, Harrow, Holborn and Paddington are being prepared for co-location, and contract orders for a further 34 sites have been sent. On top of this, operators have surveyed another 80 sites.

In addition to these co-location sites, 11 distant location sites (where the local exchange is connected to an adjacent OLO premise) have been completed, and a further 72 sites ordered.

That brings the total number of local exchanges which have either been opened for competition, are being built out for competition or have been slated for competition to 205. Out of 5,600 local exchanges across the UK, clearly it cannot be described as comprehensive.

The netimperative.com article is well timed and shows Oftel as stating that the deadline has been met because the process is now underway. That's not quite the case since LLU was supposed to be COMPLETED by July, yet Oftel argues that unless people apply for exchanges then they can't unbundle them - fair enough.

The article is lengthy and goes into a lot of detail, ending with questions and not much in the way of answers.

Global Net Treaty Causes Concern

By:mark.j @ 4:25:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've always loved the way governments manage to target freedom and eradicate as if it were a plague of locusts. Typically the global treaty now being written to help govern the Internet could put an end to free speech and turn ISPs into online police officers:

Opposition to the treaty heated up on Wednesday, when a two-week drafting session wrapped up with few concessions to critics, primarily from the United States, who say the pact threatens free speech and could force Internet service providers to become global content police.

"In a nutshell, it will strangle the Internet with a suffocating blanket of overlapping jurisdictional claims, expose every Web page publisher to liabilities for libel, defamation and other speech offenses from virtually any country, [and] effectively strip Internet service providers of protections from litigation over the content they carry," Jamie Love, director of Ralph Nader's Consumer Project on Technology (CPT), wrote in a report after the meeting.

The treaty is one of several efforts by the global community to grapple with a complicated legal issues on a borderless Web.

The ZDNet item hits the nail on the head, while we're all for improved prevention of paedophiles and tougher legislation against cyber crime, knowing how far to take this is often any governments weakest point.

Totalise Announce Unmetered Launch

By:mark.j @ 4:11:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Totalise have been a very busy ISP this year since the collapse of their initial unmetered offering in the first quarter. Following that they sold dial-up revenue rights for £1.48Million, allowing them more flexibility for any future offers.

Today Net4Nowt have spotted an announcement on their site about a new unmetered package they have planned for launch on 1st August 2001:

Our expectation is to offer unmetered packages from 1st August 2001. They will be offered through Totalise Telecom, predominantly utilising BT sourced facilities.

The first package on offer will be a 24x7 package with 20mins 'no use' cut-off and 2hrs 'continual use' cut-off.

The start price for this package will be £14.00 and will include a short term share offer, which we know will be attractive to those holding Totalise shares.

We will offer value saving packages which will combine a level of free telephone calls based on a minimum monthly spend on a Totalise Telecom account.

If you are interested in joining an unmetered package we recommend you join Totalise Telecom now. When the packages become available you will then be activated within just a few hours from you informing us you wish to purchase one (weekdays only).

Freephone support will be available to help people switch to the package. This will be for a period of time following commencement of the package after which we may charge for support calls.

Apparently they could well offer a business one as well that would probably follow the usual £19.99 / £24.99 per month model, which so many other providers now use.

On a separate note N4N also reminded everybody that SniffOut have made their unmetered packages live for subscribers.

PlusNET Remove Bandwidth Limits

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

Earlier in the month PlusNET removed the highly controversial bandwidth limits from their broadband ADSL packages. Following this mornings news post it would seem that PlusNET also intended this restriction to be removed from dial-up accounts, yet it never was.

Since then they’ve personally issued us with a statement regarding exactly that, the removal of dial-up bandwidth limits. This should help make their packages more attractive, if still somewhat expensive:

PlusNet are pleased to announce the removal of the Data Transfer Quota Limits on all 0845 and Connect accounts. These limits, which should never have appeared on our portals and have not been enforced, have now been removed from the product information pages. The limits remain, however, on Netstart 0800 and F9 Premier 0800 accounts when dialing on the 0800 number. PlusNet would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

The limits, which ranged from 250mb (residential) per month to 500mb (business), have long been an obvious part of their offers. No doubt existing and new customers will find this a welcome change.

BT To Close IRCnet Connection

By:mark.j @ 10:15:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One of our readers (John) has used his eagle eyes to spot that both of the chat.bt.net and chat.btinternet.com servers are leaving IRCnet, meaning hundreds of BT connections who use it will not be able to.

The official MOTD (Message Of The Day) from the servers quite clearly states:

[22:32:53] 12•2•1• - Please note: This server is shortly to close permentantly, after
[22:32:53] 12•2•1• - 5 years of service.

Then a bit further down...

[22:33:08] 12•2•1• Message of the Day for(chat.btinternet.com)
[22:33:08] 12•2•1• 14/6/2001 11:05
[22:33:08] 12•2•1•
[22:33:08] 12•2•1• BT Internet Chat Server
[22:33:08] 12•2•1• =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
[22:33:08] 12•2•1•
[22:33:08] 12•2•1• *******************************************
[22:33:08] 12•2•1• This service is to terminate on the 4th July 2001

Of course BT is only the latest in what seems to be a long line of slow withdrawals from various IRC chat networks. Many have predicted the technology will soon vanish completely, although that remains to be seen.

WonkyPig Change Unmetered Number

By:mark.j @ 10:05:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Customers of the unmetered ISP WonkyPig should look out for an important change in the providers dial-up number at 2pm today. The latest service update reads:

System Status

** PLEASE NOTE**
Our Dial up number will be changing on Friday 2pm please visit back here tomorrow afternoon to collect the new dial up number.

21-06-01
If you are experiencing invalid username and password, please do not contact us we are aware of the problem and our technical crew aer fixing this, hopefully the problem will be resolved by the Morning.

BigBlueSky Suffer Service Outage

By:mark.j @ 10:02:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Customers of the unmetered ISP BigBlueSky have been complaining heavily in our forums that the provider has been up and down like a yoyo during the last 24 hours, more in the area of being DOWN.

The last outage of any length (48 hours+) was blamed on BT and Keith (reader) was quick to point out that BT had placed an update, so this could be the reason:

21/06/01 20:30

We are currently investigating a problem with the dial access platform and you may be experiencing difficulties connecting to the service. Please bear with us as we endeavour to resolve this problem as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile we apologise for any inconvenience.

At present some customers seem to be seeing a slight improvement, although it's hard to tell since the majority seem to suffer 30-60 redials as normal before they can connect. You can find more details and discussion on our BBS Forum.

Zen Internet Begin Taking RADSL ORDERS!

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

Zen Internet / Zen ADSL have today informed us that they've begun taking full orders for their future RADSL (Rate Adaptive / 6KM) broadband services, to go live on 18th July:

From 18th July all new orders for Single-user 512Kbps USB ADSL will be provided as rate adaptive (RADSL). For existing single-user (USB) customers and for new customers located within 3.5km of their DSL exchange, the specification of the service should remain largely unchanged. Customers, who are approximately 3.5km to 5.5km from a DSL equipped local exchange (previously out of range of any DSL service) will now be able to order the Single-user 512Kbps USB service - subject to favourable line conditions.

All customers outside present limitations (3.5km line length, 41dB noise level, 200nF capacitance on the line) will receive the same level of service downstream as the current service, that is the speed of data received into the premises. The service offers a peak speed for receiving data of 512kbps. Data rates transmitted from the customer are reduced slightly to enable the reach to be increased. These 'up-stream' speeds will typically range from 64kbps to 256kbps depending on line traffic and distance from the local exchange.

The pilot orders taking place on 25th June are to test BT's processes and procedures for rate adaption in preparation for the 18th July launch. Zen have already pre-selected customers for the test. However we are now accepting RADSL orders. Please bear in mind that these orders cannot be submitted to BT until 18th July, however you will be first in the queue!

Zen anticipate demand to be high and recommend that you get your order in as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Order your Broadband connection online today at; http://www.zenadsl.com/update/order

If you do have any further questions about RADSL or Zen's ADSL service in general please feel free to contact our sales team on 01706 713714.

We hope to be reviewing Zen's services in full if the new and extended RADSL coverage finally manages to reach over our location.

PlusNET Claim Success For Unmetered & ADSL

By:mark.j @ 9:44:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

PlusNET have today become the latest ISP to ingratiate themselves with the proclaimed success of recently launched unmetered and broadband (ADSL) products. The full press release follows:

PlusNet’s launch of fixed-cost, unmetered and ADSL access ‘a great success’

Fixed-cost access and ADSL services promise to substantially cut the cost of Internet access for PlusNet’s subscribers.

June 1st saw PlusNet launch an extensive and completely new range of Internet access services based upon a fixed-cost subscription model. The launch was made simultaneously across all the ISPs of the PlusNet Technologies group; including the popular Plus.Net, Free-Online and Force9 Internet services.

This makes PlusNet one of the first UK-based ISP’s to offer services based on the new FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) product that BT has recently completed installation of throughout the UK. PlusNet’s new Connect range now offers a truly cost-effective Internet access solution to accompany their already comprehensive range of access and added-value services.

PlusNet’s Connect services are described as fixed-cost, since their subscription payment includes the cost of the Internet calls, in addition to the Internet access services provided. Unlike services such as BT’s SurfTime service, which required a separate payment to BT as well as the standard ISP subscription, PlusNet Connect means that now only one payment is required.

Alistair Wyse, Product and Service Development Director of PlusNet Technologies Ltd. said, “One of the real benefits of Connect for our customers is that now they don’t have to wait until 6pm or the weekend for the cheaper rate. Connect hours can be used at any time, day or night” Wyse continued, “With our new fixed-cost access services, our customers are given complete control of their Internet phone charges coupled with the superb added-value service that you get with PlusNet”.

The new Connect services have been warmly received by PlusNet’s customer base. After only three weeks of offering these FRIACO-based unmetered services, in excess of 25% of PlusNet’s subscription-paying customers have switched to Connect.

“We regard the launch of our new services as a great success and believe that fixed-cost and broadband technologies will revolutionise the way people use the Internet over the next few years”, stated Wyse.

In addition to launching fixed-cost Connect, ADSL services were for the first time made available on PlusNet’s Force9 and Free-Online ISPs. Previously only offered through the Plus.Net brand, the wide range of broadband services for both home and business use now bring high-speed access and cost-savings to a whole new audience.

Several other UK-based ISP’s have recently announced new FRIACO-based products that bear a striking resemblance to the model PlusNet has established. Such a model allows an ISP to deliver value-for-money service, simultaneously meeting the demands of both their low use and heavy use customers. Imitation, as they say, is indeed the sincerest form of flattery. It seems fair to say however, that none has as yet come close to offering the same degree of value-add as PlusNet.

We always feel a little queasy after such a release, hopefully there should be some virtual sick bags passed around shortly =). There's no doubt PlusNET have been doing well and some of the packages are quite appealing.

Although realistically priced, the unmetered bandwidth limits and comparatively expensive packages are still a turn off for users on a budget, yet attractive none the less. The only real sentence we'd highlight as insulting/wrong and possibly arrogant is the last (highlighted above).

Hutchison 3G UK Preps 3G Launch

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

Despite the fact that 3G broadband wireless technologies are still further off than the South Pole, Hutchison 3G UK is already planning what to offer. Britain's newest mobile phone operator plans to lure customers from its rivals by offering advanced broadband Internet services for about the same price as current packages.

The Hong Kong-backed company intends to offer a "sparkling" bundle of music and sports content over its phones when it starts in the middle of next year.

It is in talks to offer a mobile version of Quake, the hugely popular multiplayer Internet computer game (ID Software), and plans to set up a national chain of branded shops to sell its services.

DoCoMo, which holds a 20% stake in Hutchison 3G, will play a key part in the launch. It will help Hutchison secure better supplies of scarce 3G handsets from Japanese manufacturers such as NEC Corp and Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd, the sources said.

In a challenge to Vodafone Group Plc's claims that data services will boost revenues per user, Hutchison is cautious about the prospect that customers will spend more on 3G compared to 2G. Falls in voice call prices will offset most, if not all, of the increases in data traffic, the sources said.

Hutchison is nevertheless confident it can make a profit on the 4.38 billion pounds it paid for a 3G licence last April, in part because it will get additional revenues from calls to its network. It’s hard to believe they could be offering full residential 3G services by the middle of next year and that’s probably not what they intend to do, although we’ll have to wait and see.

CA Succumbs To Poor Online Security

By:mark.j @ 9:23:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've been hearing a lot from the Consumers' Association (CA) and Which? Online recently through their annual surveys, but not this time. The CA said it has closed a financial website after a security flaw revealed the credit card details of around 2,000 customers.

The problem involves customers who bought tax calculation software from its TaxCalc site: "We are contacting all customers that have bought TaxCalc from this site informing them their personal and financial details have been compromised," Kim Lavely, deputy director of the Consumers' Association said.

"As soon as we were made aware of the flaw, we removed all personal and financial details from the TaxCalc site. We have already commissioned an independent security expert to conduct a thorough audit of the security of this site," she said. "The TaxCalc site will remain shut until this problem is resolved."

No doubt you'll be hearing about this all day on the news because the CA has succumbed to something they often fight hard to prevent. Once again questions regarding online security have been raised.

News - June 21,2001

BT To Offer Self Installable (DIY) ADSL

By:mark.j @ 3:50:PM - Comments (10) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BT looks set to cut costs and installation times by offering self installable ADSL packages, saving time and money on the use of engineers to do it all for you:

BT Retail chief executive Pierre Danon told vnunet.com's sister publication Computing that low demand, rather than poor supply, is to blame for the slow rollout of broadband - and that self-installation may cut prices and speed up the process.

Danon admits BT has been slow to establish its ADSL offering, but says it can deliver the service in less than 15 days - and in most cases on the same day.

BT has been criticised for limiting rollout to only 50 per cent of the country, but Danon says the focus of the debate is wrong because take-up has been low.

The VNUNet item doesn't go into a lot of detail and it's difficult to know exactly what part of the process would come down to consumers. Certainly some parts of the process MUST be done by skilled engineers (Exchange etc.); we'd guess they mean the software and PC Adaptor/card set-up.

Given that we've heard a lot of disaster reports regarding how some engineers screw peoples computers up, perhaps this isn't such a bad idea?

OFCOM Starts To Take Shape

By:mark.j @ 3:38:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to a news item on Net4Nowt, the five primary communications regulators have welcomed the Queen's announcement that a full draft of the Communications Bill will be published in the current Parliament:

To coincide with this announcement, the Chief Executives of the five regulators – Broadcasting Standards Commission, Independent Television Commission, Oftel, Radiocommunications Agency and the Radio Authority – have appointed Towers Perrin, one of the world’s largest management consulting firms, to map the process for setting up the new regulator.

The five Chief Executives – Paul Bolt (BSC), David Edmonds (Oftel), David Hendon (Radiocommunications Agency), Patricia Hodgson (ITC) and Tony Stoller (Radio Authority) said, “This is an extremely exciting project. It will help us to turn the proposals for OFCOM as set out in the White Paper into reality. We need to get the vision and the initial strategy right if we are to develop a new, streamlined regulator appropriate for this dynamic and complex industry.”

The initial work by Towers Perrin will include setting out a clear timetable for the stages of work that will need to be carried out in order to get from where we are now to a fully functioning OFCOM by 2003.

As many may remember, Ofcom is set to replace Oftel by merging all the five regulators into one and expanding overall coverage, this will also include ISPs and the Internet.

Top British Sites

By:mark.j @ 10:25:AM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The latest report from NetValue has shown some of the most visited sites in the UK and the biggest advertisers (Visited):

The Top 5 Most Visited Sites in the UK:
1 –- msn.com - 5,455,000
2 -- amazon.com - 5,179,000
3 -- dell.com - 4,814,000
4 -- msn.co.uk - 4,065,000
5 -- capitalone.co.uk - 3,644,000

The Top 10 Online Advertisers (Visited) in the UK:
1 –- msn.com - 5,455,000
2 -- amazon.com - 5,179,000
3 -- dell.com - 4,814,000
4 -- msn.co.uk - 4,065,000
5 -- capitalone.co.uk - 3,644,000
6 -- bonzi.com - 3,514,000
7 -- expedia.co.uk - 3,505,000
8 -- ebay.co.uk - 3,475,000
9 -- yahoo.com - 3,427,000
10 -- pricerunner.com - 3,146,000

Less People Using E-Mail

By:mark.j @ 10:16:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The latest information to surface from the Which? Online group is that people are now stepping back to using traditional methods of communication rather than E-Mail:

The consumer group says that only one person in 20 sees email as their preferred method of communication. Amazingly, people have become more human since last year, when the figure was one in seven.

Instead, folk prefer to - get this - actually meet people face-to-face. Twice as many said they most preferred to actually see their friends/associates than last year. It's radical but it might just work. Which? puts this worrying trend down to the overuse of email - information overload and all that.

The Register doesn't go into much detail, although given the increase in online users and usage, it's strange to see E-Mail on the loosing side.

News - June 20,2001

LogicSurf To Dabble With Satellite Internet

By:mark.j @ 3:59:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Another unmetered ISP newcomer, LogicSurf Internet, was kind enough to hint our way that they were looking into providing a Satellite Internet service.

No other details were given, although to be any good it'd have to be another CBL (StarSpeeder) reseller, or at the very least turn competitive with those providers. We'll just have to wait and see, Satellite ISPs seem to be bouncing up all over the place.

Vispa Update On Unmetered & Services

By:mark.j @ 3:53:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Vispa Internet was kind enough to send along a personal update for ISP Review on the status of their unmetered and various other services. It looks as if there may be a short launch delay, although not by much:

We have been upgrading quite a bit of the Vispa network and services in order to bring Unmetered system onboard. These include:

1) Our customer admin databases have been upgraded and now in place to accept unmetered services. (*live*)
2) Web Site signup pages have been overhauled and now include unmetered options. (*live*)
3) Radius Servers have been upgraded to accept new accounts, and are being tested at the moment. (*live*)
4) Norweb have upgraded our interconnect points with Telecity Manchester and Warrington POP. These are also being tested.
5) Backbone improvements have been brought online. With peering improvements at Telecity Manchester and MANAP.
6) BT are upgrading and installing further lines at the Warrington POP with Norweb. (this is currently behind).
7) FRIACO ports are being installed by BT and should be installed by June 22nd (currently 2 days behind planned target date).

Then our attention is to switch on our waiting list of members once we have data back from beta testers. The start date of this is on course for July 9th. Just a couple of days behind, but not too bad.

Trading Standards Fails Online Consumers

By:mark.j @ 3:48:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

If you've been watching the news then you'll know that today Trading Standards have admitted their lack of technical knowledge, resources and skill surrounding the Internet is failing consumers.

In its report "Surfing the Big Wave", the trade body called for the creation of a national post to enforce and regulate Internet trading standards for the estimated six million Britons who shop online.

The TSI said it needed more resources to safeguard shoppers in the digital age: "This is a great challenge for an enforcement body and the Trading Standards Service is falling considerably behind the times," the TSI said in a statement.

"Consumer complaints become harder to investigate since most officers do not understand how to preserve the evidence that they see on a computer screen or how to trace the owner of the web site," it said.

The government put cyber criminals on its most-wanted list in April with the launch of a specialist police unit to combat computer crime. This also renews concern that the new R.I.P act may suffer due to similarly minded technical negligence.

Strencom ISP To Cover All Of Ireland

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

During the next five years the Cork based ISP, Stencom, plans to push its coverage to all of Ireland. The company is currently looking to expand its service into Dublin and later Limerick, primarily because other Irish ISP choices are poor.

Apparently companies in Munster are relying on one link to Dublin service providers for their Internet connectivity, so if that one link goes down then there's no backup.

Tim Murphy, managing director of Strencom, states, "The level of dissatisfaction with the service provided by current ISPs is very high and we have been able to capitalise on this. We are taking business from the big providers like Esat, Eircom and Worldcom because our whole network is based in Munster and our levels of service are higher.".

The company is looking to expand gradually for the moment and Murphy said Strencom has been profitable since the first quarter of this year. Strencom has been receiving a lot of repeat business and aims to be a one-stop shop for Internet access. We wish them well.