January 7, 2002 - January 10, 2002
News - January 10,2002
UK Stars Push Internet Access
By:mark.j @ 3:22:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] No we're not talking about those bright things in the sky, rather the famous people we often see in the media (TV etc.). Strangely the government has opted to use these individuals in order to push UK Internet access.
Round-the-world yachtsman Ellen MacArthur, actress Honor Blackman and TV presenter Lisa Riley have signed up as ambassadors for a government and industry backed campaign to get more people online.
Blackman, best known for her roles in "The Avengers" and "Goldfinger", said her busy schedule had stopped her learning about the Internet in the past but she was keen to learn. "It is never too late to learn. I'm looking forward to finding out all about the Internet for myself."
UK Online campaign organiser Caramel Quin said the programme was designed to help people of all skill levels.
It's a nice idea and if you can truly stomach the thought of seeing celeb’s push the Internet then more information can be found at http://www.letsallgeton.gov.uk . There's a certain irony in being able to find information about the project online before those looking for it can even access the Internet =). |
Telewests Latest blueyonder Promotion
By:mark.j @ 2:58:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] According to DigitalSpy, the latest promotion from Telewest's broadband cable modem service, blueyonder, will give any new subscribers during January 2002 their first month free.
No doubt this latest move is an effort to stifle BTs new R/ADSL Wires-Only offering. |
ISP Of The Year 2001 - Part 2
By:mark.j @ 11:01:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] After over a week of listening to reader feedback and changing (adding / removing) a few providers in our shortlist of 20 ISPs, we've now got things down to the following 10 (unordered):
1 - Telewest/by SurfUnlimited
2 - Powergen
3 - Vispa Internet
4 - SurfAnyTime
5 - AOL UK
6 - Fast24
7 - Clara.net
8 - Firenet
9 - PlusNET
10 - Cloud-Nine
Every one of the providers above has been suggested by readers in the previous discussion thread or ranks highly in the Your Top ISP list. Any provider listed above should be pleased to know their users have credited them, despite the odd few having problems at one time or another.
Any one of the ten above could win the ISP Review ISP Of The Year Award as it comes down to the final stage. We now want to hear the thoughts of anybody using one of the listed ISPs. We want to see both negative and positive aspects - your opinions and why you think they should win. We will not tolerate ISPs involving themselves in this discussion to sway opinion; any such provider will be removed from the list.
You can do all this in our new discussion thread RIGHT HERE. |
UK Users Frustrated by Poor ISP Quality
By:mark.j @ 10:32:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Somehow we're not surprised by the title above and nor by new research from Support.com, which claims roughly half of all Internet users in the UK have had problems connecting to their ISP!:
Research by Support.com found 51% of UK surfers experience access frustrations at least once a month.
More than a quarter of respondents said the problem was even worse, citing weekly connection problems.
The company believes the figure explains a high rate of customer turnover in the ISP market.
It's nothing we didn't already know; that a significant number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) continue to care less about the quality of service their customers get and more about being able to provide a semi-working ISP service. Excess competition seems to make some of them economically careless.
Much of this is down to a lack of regulation and the Ananova item also highlights Germany, where just 23% of people experience similar problems. Of course in Germany they also have better broadband than unmetered dialup, modems by themselves can often cause problems unrelated to the ISP. |
Variable 3G Broadband Quality
By:mark.j @ 10:22:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's a given that the initial introduction of any new network can cause issues with service quality, today the next generation of mobile phones based on 3G broadband technology has become the latest highlight:
The reason is that as their traffic load changes, the range of coverage fluctuates, making it difficult for operators to provide quality-of-service guarantees to corporate customers.
The boundaries of each 3G cell may shrink or expand according to the number of users accessing it concurrently -- a concept called cell breathing. This means that firms paying for mobile bandwidth may not be certain they will even obtain a connection. To make matters worse, many mobile operators do not have the necessary expertise to overcome the challenges involved in building, testing and implementing 3G networks.
"In a GSM network the cells are the same size, but with 3G they change according to where people are in the network. You may find yourself in the boundary of a cell if few people are using it, but if there are many people using it the range of that cell is affected," said Rob Dobson, chief executive of network optimisation firm Actix.
If it's not one thing then it's another; 3G has a long road ahead of it, more @ ZDNet. |
UK Broadband To Follow South Korea?
By:mark.j @ 10:16:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The UK Governments secretary for industry, Patricia Hewitt, has confused officials following her visit to South Korea in which she "made the case for heavy government investment in high-speed internet infrastructure".
Typically the government has ruled this out many times before, most recently with the Broadband Stakeholders Group (BSG) report:
At the same time, she warned that "extra public funding would be hard to secure" adding that broadband would have to "take its place in a list of competing priorities alongside things like health and transport".
Despite several requests for clarification, the DTI failed to respond by press time.
Ms Hewitt also urged BT and the UK's cable operators to "follow the example of their Korean counterparts by cutting prices and aggressively marketing services", according to the FT.
According to The Register's item, BT responded with the usual explanation of being attacked by Oftel every time they lower prices (anti-competitive reasons).
We can't help but feel angry at Oftel for continually allowing BT to use the same old excuse, perhaps somewhat worse is that it's partly true =( - damn politics. |
Viruses Cost Business £9bn During 2001
By:mark.j @ 10:06:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The independent researcher, Computer Economics, has issued a new report lifting the lid on the problem of computer virus’s.
Apparently Viruses aren't only more complex and affecting more people because of the Internet surge, but they actually cost businesses LESS than last year! (£9bn = 2001 / £18bn = 2000):
Companies suffered financially while their systems were down, had to pay the clean-up costs after being hit by viruses and had their reputations damaged by inadvertently passing on the problem to other firms.
Anti-virus retailer McAfee said the situation had been exacerbated by the development of "hybrid threats".
Hybrid threats are a new type of virus-hacker combination that infect computers and leave open a back door for hackers to steal data or make use of users' computers for large-scale internet attacks that can cripple web-sites or knock them off-line.
Sadly the Ananova item doesn't specifically highlight why viruses were more costly during 2000 compared with 2001. However we can surmise that this is because the increased attacks during 2001 hit unprepared residential Internet users, business had already taken measures following 2000's LoveBug attack. |
News - January 9,2002
Korea and Japan Plan 4G Broadband
By:mark.j @ 3:24:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Before much of the world has even seen a 'real-life' 3G broadband wireless mobile phone, both Japan and Korea (South) are already working on 4th Generation technologies!:
The two countries have agreed to form a working group to develop new technical standards later this year.
4G networks promise to deliver seamless services to mobile phone handsets, including movies on demand and video conferencing.
The plan was announced after a meeting of the Korean Communications Minister, Yang Seung-taik, and the Japanese Home Affairs Minister Toranosuke Katayama.
The Ananova item shouldn't be too surprising given the rate at which both countries, especially Japan, push and consume new technologies. |
Tiscali's Fujitsu-Siemens ISP Deal
By:mark.j @ 3:19:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] A new deal between Tiscali and the Fujitsu-Siemens group means that the European ISP will now be able to integrate its ISP software into all Fujitsu consumer PCs sold across 14 European countries:
The agreement will also see Tiscali bundle VoIP, messaging and content such as music and entertainment services in an effort to turn Fujitsu customers into Tiscali ISP subscribers.
The pan-European deal follows an earlier bundling deal in Germany, where Tiscali software was integrated into Fujitsu modems. According to a Tiscali spokesperson, the company is currently in discussions with other PC manufacturers about similar deals, but declined to name them.
The news may be good for Tiscali's corporate mugs; however we can't help but feel that most of their UK subscribers would prefer to see the money spent on improving already troubled services. More @ netimperative.com . |
BTs Broadcast (TV) Set-Top Box Talk
By:mark.j @ 3:06:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] No sooner than Pace (technology manufacturer) had announce a cut in its second-half sales forecasts, which resulted in a 6% share price drop, then they announce special discussions with BT regarding set-top box hardware.
No doubt related to BTs ambitions to push into the broadcasting and media (TV) sector, Pace has long been know for their ITV Digital boxes and Internet modems/hardware etc.
Apparently BT is hoping to take advantage of this and even Pace's CEO, Malcolm Miller, predicts the Telco will launch its broadcast service(s) by the end of this year! Of course if BT hopes to succeed then it’ll need to cover more areas than both NTL and Telewest; it's a tall order.
|
New Article @ ISP Review
By:mark.j @ 10:54:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] In order to kick off 2002 we've put up a new 3-page article that examines the problem of SPAM (Junk E-Mail), which is something almost everybody reading this will be familiar with.
The article investigates the causes and why it can't, and never will be, stopped:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/articles/spam |
BTOpenworld Sponsors Tate Online
By:mark.j @ 10:46:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BTs ISP group, BTOpenworld, has issued a new press release regarding their sponsorship of Tate Online, which is of course related to the Tate Art centre.
So if you honestly think a light going on and off, a cow in two pieces and a messy bedroom is art then by all means read on..:
IS IT HALL OR HIRST DRAWING NEW CROWDS FOR TATE ONLINE?
Whether it’s the lanky Texan, Jerry Hall, controversial Brit art icon, Damien Hirst, or simply the Tate website’s recent makeover that is behind Tate Online’s sudden major visitor growth is open for debate.
But since the announcement of BT’s sponsorship of Tate Online, in association with BTopenworld, the site has increased its previously strong, but steady flow of daily traffic by as much as 60 per cent per day, new figures reveal.
Before the announcement, the site had enjoyed around 55,000 unique visitors a month since its launch in 1998 – a respectable average that made it one of the most popular arts websites in the world.
After the announcement, fronted by supermodel Jerry Hall, monthly unique visitors to Tate Online jumped up, and stayed up, at around 120,000 a month.
Sandy Nairne, Director of Programmes at Tate, commented: “After several successful years we decided to add new features to our growing site to take advantage of new technology, such as digital broadcasting, so our regular virtual visitors could get far more out of their Tate Online visits. The fact that these new features have added a new audience is an added bonus.”
Hirst’s new Pharmacy installation, announced simultaneously on Tate Online and at Tate Modern, may also be part of the draw attracting new online art enthusiasts. The installation is a good example of the new approach to exhibiting art that Tate Online promised its visitors in August.
Catherine Hawley, senior vice president of BTopenworld, said: “With Hirst’s Pharmacy, online visitors can virtually ‘walk’ around the installation as they would at Tate Modern. They can also hear the story behind Pharmacy’s creation from Hirst himself, as well as take part in events and special projects as they’re happening live in the gallery. With cutting edge broadcast technology, we can really give virtual visitors a fresh but complimentary take on art.”
Whether it’s Hall, Hirst or the new website developments that are bringing Tate Online to a wider virtual circle, it is the online gallery itself that is sustaining interest. Some of the innovations that Tate, with BTopenworld, have introduced to Tate Online include Explore Tate Britain - a virtual floor plan that allows visitors to wander through the different sections of Tate Britain at their leisure. Visitors can now also search 20,000 images by subject as well as by chronological order, by artist and art type. Additionally, BTopenworld’s broadcasting capabilities allow visitors to view stored video and audio material of exhibitions and watch events live, as with events organised around the Pharmacy installation.
Hawley added: “As one of the leading art galleries in the world, Tate really is pushing the digital boundaries to show how technology can both enhance the experience of art and bring it to a much wider audience."
Perhaps 20 years down the line we'll all look back and laugh at those silly people who actually used their hands to create something, god I hope not. |
Positive iomart Broadband Sale
By:mark.j @ 10:21:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The FT is reporting a 16% rise in the value of shares for the business ISP iomart after it sold its xDSL broadband services to Centrica.
Iomart, which has struggled to compete with BT Group in supplying high-speed DSL data services to businesses, said it was exiting the business to concentrate on its NetIntelligence suite of security products. Full press release follows:
iomart sells Broadband Business to Centrica plc
The transaction for a consideration of £2.0M in cash includes 2750 customers in the UK, customer service facilities in Glasgow and Stornoway, the associated network infrastructures and 40 employees.
iomart chief executive officer Angus MacSween, said: “The purchase of iomart’s Broadband Services Division provides Centrica with a solid foundation on which they can build. Centrica will provide the necessary resource and funds to ensure that they quickly become a leading UK supplier of compelling and competitively priced broadband products.”
"Broadband has yet to make an impact in the UK," explained Centrica Telecommunications Managing Director Ian El-Mokadem. "It's not unpopular with customers but it has not yet been offered to people at the right price and in the right way. Once that is done, I'm convinced broadband will be hugely popular."
"Until now most customers have only had a limited choice if they want broadband - and none of these has been free of problems," said El-Mokadem. "We have a strength to develop compelling broadband products through One.Tel and British Gas Communications, which are already trusted by hundreds of thousands of people for their home phone, mobile and Internet services."
With the launch of its broadband services in the summer of 2000, iomart was one of the first independent companies to provide broadband via BT Wholesale’s ADSL network. The company quickly built a reputation for service and reliability and in terms of DSL connections deployed, is now considered one of the top 3 UK providers, with over 2750 business and residential customers.
MacSween, commenting on the sale stated, “This deal concludes the transformation of iomart into a services business, focusing on providing secure network, Internet and e-mail services, and away from telecoms and infrastructure related products. In particular, our NetIntelligence suite of products is proving attractive to Corporates and other large organisations providing them with the levels of management control and Internet security that they require.”
There’s not a single mentioned of how, if at all, the customers for iomarts ex-R/ADSL services will be affected, although hopefully they won’t see any real changes. |
UK Gov Misses e-Commerce Deadline
By:mark.j @ 10:17:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The legislation that's supposed to lay down online consumer rights, the e-Commerce Directive, will definitely miss the deadline set by the European Union for implementation:
The EU deadline for all member states to comply with the Directive is 17 January 2002, but it emerged today that the UK government quietly announced late last year that it will not comply with it until summer 2002.
A spokesman from the DTI said: "We're fully aware that we've missed the deadline. We would hope the Commission is sympathetic."
This doesn't surprise us given the government’s track record with anything 'e'Related. Legal action seems unlikely because only 5 of the 15 member states have actually managed to comply, more @ Silicon. |
BT Cellnet's (o2) Slow GPRS Take-up
By:mark.j @ 10:11:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Apparently BTCellnet aren't too pleased with the progress of their new GPRS (Always-on) Data/Internet services. The take-up has been slow and that doesn't surprise us, until better phones and applications arrive then it's nothing more than faster WAP:
Stuart Newstead, vice president of new business products and partnerships at BT Cellnet, accepted that take-up had been slow but said the company had always maintained that certain conditions are needed for the service to be successful.
"For these new types of services to work there needs to be three things: a good network, good handsets and devices, and good applications. In the past few months, especially with the Blackberry, we have seen these coming together in the business world," he explained.
Katrina Bond, principal analyst at telecoms researcher Analysys, said that operators were reluctant to promote GPRS heavily until the services and devices are more user friendly and reliable.
Note that if you choose to view the full item @ VNUNet then note that they inaccurately refer to GPRS as a broadband wireless technology, which it isn't. Not that we wouldn't like to think of anything on or above 28Kbps as broadband =). |
NTLs Broadband Coverage Update
By:mark.j @ 9:55:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] DigitalSpy has some news on the next set of places to receive NTLs Cable Modem broadband services (in no specific order):
* Solent - Cosham, Coxford, Havant, Horndean, Locksheath, Portsmouth
* South-east Kent - Ashford, Dover, Folkestone
* Localised parts of Kensington and Chelsea
* Westminster
Note that these come from the final set of locations mentioned in NTLs original October 2001 announcement (6-month plan). DS also has some news on additional areas:
Additional areas in east London have now been added to ntl:home's rollout plan. The areas are: Barking, Dagenham, Epping, Havering, Loughton/Seven Kings and Redbridge. The rollouts are scheduled for the next four to six months. |
News - January 8,2002
Clara.net Expand Unmetered Coverage
By:mark.j @ 3:31:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The popular UK dialup and broadband ISP, Clara.net, has sent out a small service update regarding an increase in their unmetered AnyTime services coverage:
We have been given a new list of exchanges where we can provide the Freetime Anytime products. Those who have tried to sign up before and were told that their exchange is not supported may find this is no longer the case.
We are continuing to improve coverage for the Freetime Anytime Product. |
Wires-Only R/ADSL Costs & Pricing
By:mark.j @ 3:11:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide has posted an interesting little news item showing the cost(s) of Wires-Only R/ADSL broadband products compared with standard R/ADSL. Typically this comes because of user concerns over the costs and whether anybody will actually save money.
Sadly you can't standardise the monthly charges for xDSL products between ISPs and so we’ll just quote the modem hardware prices and list, which may be of some use:
USB Modem Wires-Only
Speedtouch USB modem and two micro-filter package at £136 including P&P from http://www.dslsource.co.uk. An ideal solution if you dont want to open your computers case and unsure of configuring network hardware.
PCI Modem Wires-Only
PCI Internal Modem £55 inc P&P from http://www.dabs.com. Plus two micro filters from http://www.solwise.co.uk at £6.99 each, allowed £2 for P&P. Perfect for users with a single PC they want to connect to ADSL and are happy installing PCI cards.
Ethernet Modem Wires-Only
Asus 6000EV £138 from http://www.solwise.co.uk with £16 for micro-filters from the same source. Ideal for users wanting to share the connection cheaply with 3 or 4 computers. |
Zen's Personalised Domain Names
By:mark.j @ 11:02:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Zen Internet has issued a new press release regarding their first-in-line offering of personalised domain name extensions. We'd say more, yet our minds have been blown to bits by this mornings news overload =):
ISP Zen Internet are offering first-in-line queuing for new 'personalised plate' UK domain names that are due next week.
The idea of a new domain name for specifically personal use has been around for years. Now it's set to arrive on January 11th as 'dotME dotUK' (.me.uk). Which means, if you scored a winning goal against Greece recently, your personalised domain name could be: DavidBeckham.me.uk
If you're Mr Jim Bloggs, you'll have to stick with JimBloggs.me.uk. The rules say that you either have to BE the person named (or their true representative), or have a reasonable and legitimate claim to the name applied for.
In fact, UK Domain Name Registry Nominet describe the .me.uk name as providing Internet names for individuals in the same way that ltd.uk and .co.uk provide this country's specific names for UK companies.
Zen Internet anticipate that final approval for the .me.uk name will be cleared on January 11th and full availability will begin at one minute past midnight on Monday January 14th. Zen are taking advance orders now for submission in the first few minutes of the new name going live. Registrations will be accepted by Nominet on a first come first served basis.
Orders should be made online, with payment paid in full by credit/debit card, at https://secure.zen.co.uk/orderme
Anyone whose application is unsuccessful will be refunded in full or given the opportunity to select an alternative domain name. |
WonkyPig Streamline NTL Prices
By:mark.j @ 10:58:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] In doing somewhat of a U-Turn on previously announced price changes, the ever-changing unmetered dialup ISP WonkyPig has today made a more positive change by streamlining its prices:
Great news for NTL:home users, you can now use your existing NTL telephone line and get 0800 internet access with Wonkypig.
In other words both its BT and non-BT (NTL) offer should now cost £14.99 per month and hopefully this time they'll settle with it. |
SurfAnyTime ISP Scraps Contract Policy
By:mark.j @ 10:49:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Some good news now as the popular (judging by your feedback) unmetered dialup and broadband offering ISP SurfAnyTime has announced the scrapping of their 6-month minimum contract term:
Press Release 08 January 2002
SurfAnytime Ltd. is pleased to announce that from Tuesday 8th January 2002 the standard minimum six-month contract will be withdrawn for all Customers joining after this date. As a result every new SurfAnytime customer will be placed on our new month-to-month subscription.
By this we hope to allow customers the freedom to enjoy the benefits of our service without the inconvenience of a minimum contract period. At Surfanytime we feel that this will give our users greater flexibility and compliment our existing high quality service.
With quality Internet access often costing the earth, Surfanytime can offer quality packages at very realistic prices. We believe there are different levels of Internet access required by the consumer and have catered for this accordingly.
In this age of instability and insecurity among Internet Service Providers, SurfAnytime would like to assure our customers that we are here to stay and are fully committed to customer satisfaction.
Our packages start from £9.99 per month for Off-Peak domestic users and £11.99 for business users. Our 24/7 unmetered silver package starts at £12.99 per month with a superior quality gold package at £15.49 per month.
Lengthy contracts have long been the subject of much frustration with many unmetered dialup ISP customers because of the various changes in service quality that can occur.
Typically this can be seen as a positive move, although existing users will no doubt hope it doesn't lead to an unsustainable surge in new users. |
V21 Implements Unmetered Restrictions
By:mark.j @ 10:44:AM - Comments (7) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Managing Director of unmetered dialup ISP V21 & FREE24-7, Steve Kaye, has announced some controversial new measures to ease the problem of congestion on their network.
The new measures follow an increase of reported connection problems at peak hours, which the provider puts down to excessive use by some users:
Some of you may have noticed over the past few weeks that during peak periods such as just after 6 PM in the evenings you are having difficulty in connecting to the service. Unfortunately, due to the way in which the BT FRIACO network is designed it is not possible for you to receive an engaged signal when all lines to your ISP are busy and you therefore often receive a misleading message such as ‘incorrect password’ or similar. Although the V21 and Free24-7 networks are only operating at approximately 50% capacity, the continued excessive use by a limited number of individuals is causing problems when other users attempt to connect at peak periods. Until now we have held off from implementing any automated measures to prevent this excessive use in the hope that our previous statements and manual interventions would resolve the problem sufficiently. The evidence over the last week has however forced us to reconsider this strategy.
With effect from today we have now implemented an automatic scheme to reduce congestion problems at peak periods in favour of lighter users. The system monitors the usage of all users and also of the overall congestion level. It will then automatically disconnect any user who has been using the service excessively in the preceding 24 hours if the service becomes congested. Any account disconnected in this will be automatically suspended for up to 24 hours whereupon it will automatically be enabled again. V21 will then be collating weekly reports of the users whose accounts have been suspended in this way and talking to those users to suggest more suitable connection methods for them.
We would like to apologise to all users who have had difficulty in connecting recently and hope that you can see we are working hard to resolve the problems, albeit previously behind the scenes. We did not consider it appropriate to make a statement regarding this issue until we had scheme in place to counter the problem and once again provide a reliable service for the majority of our users.
Steve Kaye
Managing Director of V21 and Free24-7
It shouldn't be a surprise to those using V21 for the same amount of time as you'd use a provider costing £5 more; £9.99 per month is not a price that caters for excessive usage and we’ve continually tried to get that message across in some of our articles.
Thankfully at least V21 will issue a warning first, although we'll be interested to see how people react to this change and what physical action V21 takes during the coming weeks. Typically the ISP hasn’t stated what kind of usage the abusers have been doing, making it hard for others to adjust. |
VDSL Boosts BTs Broadcast Ambitions
By:mark.j @ 10:32:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Having yesterday admitted initial plans to offer broadcast (TV) services, it doesn't come as a surprise that the trial of new Very High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) technology may play a part.
The use of VDSL technology could also be a good omen for businesses as BT believes it might help them move away from expensive leased lines. But the Telco warned that it wouldn't roll out VDSL until some business obstacles had been overcome.
VDSL differs from Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) as the data is carried from the exchange to the green street corner cabinets over fibre-optic cable. The data then travels over copper wires to the customer. As the length of copper used is shorter, more data can be carried.
The asymmetric version for residential customers will transmit 14Mbps downstream or three separate broadcast-quality television pictures.
It will also have a greater upload bandwidth of 3Mbps. But the rollout of fibre to the cabinet is expected to take at least two years to complete once started.
"The difficulty is that it has got to be positioned in such a way that it is not seen as competing against ADSL," said a BT technical spokesman. "Basically we are not saying that VDSL is going to replace ADSL. What we are saying is that there is a place for both of them."
Ovum analyst Tim Johnson believes that the real problem lies with demand. "You ask businesses if they want it and they say 'what's that?' A chicken or an egg has to be found to start the process."
ISP Review would also highlight BTs hope of rolling out VDSL in just two years, when R/ADSL, which is technically easier to do, will still take until 2006? |
New BT Board Appointments
By:mark.j @ 10:20:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Yet more staff changes from BT today as four of the company's non-executive directors, Helen Alexander, June de Moller, Sir John Weston and Neville Isdell are to retire from the board on 14 January 2002:
They will be replaced by John Nelson, the retiring chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston Europe, Carl Symon, the former IBM senior executive and MD of global business development for business strategy and technology solutions firm DiamondCluster, and Baroness Jay, the ex-leader of the House of Lords, Health Minister and Minister for Women, along with another appointment yet to be announced.
In a statement, Bland said that the new recruits would “bring a wealth of experience from the financial, business and political worlds which will be invaluable to the BT group as we move forward.”
He also thanked the outgoing foursome for “an extremely valuable contribution to the company during a particularly turbulent period.”
More @ netimperative.com . |
Internet Watch Foundation Chief Quits
By:mark.j @ 10:16:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, David Kerr, has opted to resign from his position at the top of the regulatory body because he's looking for a change:
It was initially assumed that Kerr's deputy, Ruth Dixon, would be appointed as the new chief executive. But it has now been announced that Dixon will not be accepting the promotion.
The chief executive is responsible to the chair, the board and the funding council. Kerr's replacement will enter the running amid ongoing talks over the future governance of the IWF. The regulator is currently in the process of revoking its advisory role, by taking greater responsibility for illegal content on the Internet. A code of practice has been proposed to step up IWF powers and force member ISPs to act on its recommendations.
"I was appointed when the emphasis was on the legal approach towards ISPs and the narrow issue of the possession of child pornography," said Kerr. "My replacement will be coming in at the start of a new era -- the shift of emphasis is reflected in the new policy decisions of the board, which is more focused on the protection of children on the Internet."
A fair few ISPs have criticised the IWF for not taking their own needs and costs into account when passing new regulation. Currently Kerr believes the IWFs new remit won't be resolved before the end of this year. More @ ZDNet. |
AOL Europe Predicting Growth
By:mark.j @ 10:08:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] | Despite some recent profit warnings, AOL Europe has been quick to state that they're expecting a 5 to 8% growth in revenue through 2002. Unless you're an accountant then you won't be interested in the rest of this news item, so we'll leave it =). |
Vizzavi ISP Cuts 100 Jobs
By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Backed by Vodafone in the UK, pan-European mobile and unmetered ISP Vizzavi has cut 100 jobs (1/8th of the total workforce) from its staff because of a radical change to their revenue model. The company’s chief executive, Evan Newmark, was also among those departing.
Currently Vizzavi operates in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, although nobody is completely sure how the UK (specifically) will be hit by this - yet. To date most users of their unmetered ISP services seem to be happy. |
News - January 7,2002
AOL TW To Buy AOL EU Stake
By:mark.j @ 4:02:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Confused? Well you see AOL Time Warner doesn't actually own AOL Europe, strange as it may sound, it's just the way they've done it. However AOL Time Warner is now setting itself up to buy Bertelsmann's £4.7 Billion stake in AOL EU.
Sources close to the companies claimed that AOL Time Warner, the world's biggest Internet and media group, had decided it could comfortably absorb a cash payment which it will pay in two lots.
An AOL spokesperson in London declined to comment. "AOL's shares have been under pressure and there's quite a bit of volatility in the stock, so AOL Time Warner looked at its bank facility and decided it could absorb a cash payment comfortably," said one source.
None of this should affect the physical services of the ISP, it’s only a real issue you’ve got stock in the company. |
BT Dismiss Fixed-Line Sell Off Rumour
By:mark.j @ 3:55:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Reports in a recent edition of The Observer newspaper have claimed that BTs new chief executive, Ben Verwaayen, was considering splitting BT by selling off its fixed-line telephone network.
Many may remember the £25 Billion bid by the German bank, WestLB, for the whole of BTs fixed-line business. After failing to succeed the group stated its intention to try again after BTs de-merger.
Typically BT has once again denied the newspapers findings:
Speaking to ZDNet UK News, a BT spokeswoman was adamant that the company wouldn't even consider such a demerger. "There is no truth in this idea. The fixed-line network is a core asset, and there is no way that we would sell it," the spokeswoman insisted.
One senior BT insider recently told ZDNet UK that such a model could make more sense than LLU. "Rather than letting them install their own kit alongside our equipment, why not just let them share the network?" he said.
BT's official line, however, is that such a move is certainly not on the cards.
Of course in reality BT MUST have discussed it at one point, yet that doesn't mean it's ever going to happen. More @ ZDNet. |
Top 10 Viruses For 2001
By:mark.j @ 3:46:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's correct to say that last year was one of the most troubled for virus infections to date, which isn't much of a surprise given the increased online usage and growth.
Today VNUNet brings us the Top 10 viruses (by infections) for 2001:
1- SirCam.A - 22.7%
2- Badtrans.B - 17.9%
3- Nimda - 17.6%
4- Hybris.B - 7.0%
5- Magistr.A - 6.4%
6- Goner - 4.1%
7- Homepages.A - 2.6%
8- MTX - 2.0%
9- SST.A - 1.5%
10- KAK - 1.3% |
BT Touts Broadband Revolution
By:mark.j @ 3:41:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] While talking in the Sunday Times newspaper yesterday, the chairman of BT, Sir Christopher Bland, was quick to point out his belief for a forthcoming broadband revolution:
"The investment has been made. The planning is almost complete. Revolution is in the air - and it is up to our industry to make it happen."
However, "this year we will see advances in...broadband" as operators "encourage customers to move up the value chain to broadband".
This appears to signal a small change of heart from BT which has blamed the sluggish take-up of broadband on, among other things, the wide availability of affordable unmetered narrowband Net access.
BT seems to be playing it safe, it's obvious to most people that broadband is here to say and thus can only dominate the market. The key piece of missing information is exactly WHEN Sir.Bland believes this might happen?
Right now there’s little sign of it and until coverage is improved then it can only expand so far. More @ The Register. |
NTL Customers Suffer ISP Problems
By:mark.j @ 3:33:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Several problems seem to have struck specific areas of NTLs Internet/ISP related dialup and broadband services this afternoon.
Firstly DigitalSpy is reporting that a blackspot in NTLs coverage could mean that subscribers in the Southampton area (among four other regions) won't be able to receive NTL World services. This is made worse by the operator’s current economic crisis, which is preventing the needed upgrades from taking place.
On the plus side, Leeds, Harrogate and York, which are currently suffering from connectivity difficulties, will have their problems resolved by tomorrow evening. |
UK First To Use Online Voting
By:mark.j @ 3:22:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] While the government had previously ruled out online voting for the next election, today MP Robin Cook gave some hints that could mean exactly the opposite:
Robin Cook says Britain will become the first country in the world to use the internet for voting.
In an interview with the Guardian he says he wants to attract under-40s back to the democratic process.
"The way we treat the public is deplorable. Anybody watching the public being herded around the House of Commons would not come to the conclusion that these are the people who pay for us, that these are the people who elected us," he says.
The Ananova item reports that pilot/trial schemes are set to take place during the spring, leaving the door open for a possible use of such services at the next general election. We'll see. |
ISPs & Websites Duck Legal Costs
By:mark.j @ 3:15:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Much as we've stated before, ISPs and Websites around the UK may need to be more aware of the public discussion groups they leave open.
Following a recent case between the Totalise ISP and the financial website 'Interactive Investor', such groups must identify slanderous posters in order to duck more serious legal and financial problems:
Totalise had demanded to know the identity of an Interactive Investor user who allegedly posted malicious comments about Totalise on a message board.
The user, known as Zeddust, made similar comments on the Motley Fool message board.
Totalise sued Interactive Investor in an attempt to get hold of the details of Zeddust in order to begin prosecution proceedings, but it won exemption from paying nearly £20,000 in legal costs after revealing his identity.
The Silicon item should be a good reminder for those that attempt to make slanderous postings on forums because if asked by a court of law even we'd be forced to hand over your details. This isn't anything too new, it only clarifies what we've been saying for awhile.
Note that being an unregistered user doesn’t make you any more or less safe, a time and your logged IP is all that’s needed for identification. Watch what you write, nobody is safe. |
File Sharing Boosts Broadband
By:mark.j @ 10:10:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Most readers will already know just how popular 'File Sharing' is among broadband users following the problems BTOpenworld experienced towards the end of last year (2001).
Today Forrester Research has confirmed that 'File Sharing' is indeed an important booster/killer application for the technology:
Forrester analyst Paul Jackson believes that file sharing will see the greatest effect from the take-up of broadband in Europe, while the use of MP3, software downloads and online games will also increase significantly.
However, Microsoft, according to Jackson, will attempt to capitalise on increasing consumer awareness of the security dangers associated with constant connections and open file sharing, by pushing Windows XP as a packaged solution.
This doesn't surprise us; we've already noticed the size of general downloads (Video, Music, Game/Software Demos etc.) increase markedly since broadband first arrived. No doubt the demand to get this information in a shorter space of time is a generalised push for the technology.
On the down side Microsoft will push WindowsXP as a secure Operating System. Hopefully people will eventually have enough intelligence to realise that you need more than a reasonably good O/S to stay safe, it's not an all-in-one solution by any means. More @ netimperative.com . |
|
