November 5, 2001 - November 9, 2001
News - November 9,2001
Terra Lycos & Broadband Subscribers
By:mark.j @ 10:05:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] | Even Spain is far ahead of the UK in terms of broadband R/ADSL ISP services and access, its Madrid based ISP Terra Lycos has a whopping 174,000 subscribers to the service! BTOpenworld eat your heart out.. |
Iridium Satellite Service Re-launch
By:mark.j @ 9:59:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The global Satellite telecom network that also includes some rather expensive and limited ISP services is finally about to re-launch:
With its new owners, Iridium quietly relaunched the service this month in a huge area stretching from Pakistan in the east to the islands off the coast of Chile in the west.
Its first customer is the US Department of Defense, which is paying Iridium $72m so 20,000 of its employees can use the satellite phone system. The company is also going head-to-head with Qualcomm, which owns a satellite network, to grab clients in the airline industry. The airlines are looking to satellite networks as a tamperproof way to monitor what goes on inside of planes.
Iridium was not alone in its woes. Several satellite-phone and Internet operators--facing poor sales--have filed for bankruptcy, been acquired or postponed their launches.
More @ ZDNet. |
BT Clarify R/ADSL Position Further
By:mark.j @ 9:52:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We've already reported on BTs halt to the rollout process for broadband R/ADSL exchanges, although we couldn't help but find the following quotes interesting:
"We've equipped a thousand exchanges and have seen lower demand than we would have liked," said Clair Hannah, broadband marketing manager at BT Wholesale.
"There are pockets of the UK we haven't covered, and we don't have any additional rollout planned beyond these thousand exchanges."
"That doesn't mean we won't upgrade any more exchanges, but that in those pockets we will want local businesses or regional development agencies to prove that it is commercially viable for us to do so before we go ahead. Exchanges will be judged on a case-by-case basis."
Much as you'd expect BT hasn't suggested any centralised method in which people could request the need for R/ADSL. Most of our own readers whom plan to upgrade state that they don't wish to pre-subscribe to an ISP before the services are available locally.
We also liked BTs entertaining use of words, such as "pockets of the UK we haven't covered". Since a pocket could be described as a geographic measurement =), we feel it appropriate to point out that in the same style BT has covered barely 30-40% of the UK.
Still if 60-70% of the UK is a 'Pocket' then it's no wonder the operator is still in debt. More @ VNUNet. |
Oftel Favour 'Limited' Access ISP Offers
By:mark.j @ 9:41:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's a well known fact that most surfers in the UK spend barely any time online at all, in fact the average itself is only a few hours per week. Interestingly it was exactly that kind of statistical data that caused the first two or three unmetered ISP generations to fail.
Oftel has now issued a new report that finds just 13% of UK Internet users were online for more than 20 hours per week, with the average user online for 8 hours each week:
MSN marketing manager Stuart Anderson said: “The findings from Oftel are heartening, because they go very much along with what we’ve been told by BT from its own research, which is that a lot of internet users aren’t getting value for money."
“What we’re finding is that a lot of people are going on for less than 10 hours, and are the kind of people just go on to check their email, for whom surfing the web isn’t a major thing. Then there’s the next group up, who do a bit of surfing but for whom it isn’t a big part of their day."
“There seems to be a lot of offering packages in one extreme or the other, but nothing catering for that middle ground.”
We can't help but find the netimperative.com item amusing, this is exactly what ISPs should started to offer during the summer of 1999 when all of this started, yet only now do they listen. On the other hand we'd rather not trust any statistics Oftel throw out, they often seem to be seriously flawed. |
USA Internet Use Plateaus
By:mark.j @ 9:26:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] While it may not be directly related, Internet use in the USA has finally started to hit a plateau as the increase rate hits 1%.
In what could be a good indicator of market saturation to come within the UK, we thought this might be interesting in the wake of Oftel and NetValues contradictive surveys:
This one per cent increase over the last year has been described as "not statistically significant" by the survey's authors and has got boffins thinking about what will happen to Net growth.
Up until now penetration has risen sharply with the increasing popularity of the Net. In 1995 just nine per cent of adults went online. By 1997, that figure had risen to 30 per cent before jumping to 56 per cent a year later. At the end of 2000 63 per cent of adults in the US were online.
With around 127 million adult Net users it seems it's too soon to call whether penetration has hit a ceiling or whether there is still room for growth.
The USA may be 1 or 2 years ahead of the UK, although it's an unwelcome indication of what could be to come for us in the not so distant future. ISPs that manage to survive the next year would be putting themselves in a good position, starting later is risky. More @ The Register. |
News - November 8,2001
Zen Holds Processing of ADSL Orders
By:rich @ 9:52:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Zen is to still take but stop processing ADSL orders until a new faster central bandwidth pipe is installed. As usual the press release in full:
Zen places hold on processing of new ADSL orders
Zen Internet, one of the UK's leading broadband providers are today taking the bold step of placing a hold on the processing of new orders for ADSL. This is being done to preserve the quality of service to existing customers ahead of essential infrastructure upgrades.
As part of its ongoing programme, Zen's technical team highlighted a need to upgrade Zen's ADSL Central Pipe before the end of the year. As a result of this recommendation, a new 155Mbps Central Pipe was ordered in line with projected sales of the service, and this should have been installed and working long before it was fully required.
The BT network ADSL connection currently in use is a single 34Mbps Central Pipe. The quoted 34Mbps is based on ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Method) traffic, used to transfer the IP traffic. The overhead used to carry this transfer out is quoted at around 10% by BT, meaning that in reality the 'Pipe' is capable of transferring 30.6Mbps of IP traffic. We have discovered this overhead to be higher - in the region of 20% - resulting in an earlier than expected need for upgrading. Bandwidth of the Central Pipe is not yet being saturated and, in fact, is running under recommended levels, but the addition of further customers would cause Zen's ADSL service provision to deteriorate.
BT have provided us with a provisional date of 12th December for the 155Mbps Central Pipe installation. Until this installation has taken place, Zen Internet will not be processing any new ADSL orders, as of close of business today (08/11/01). Zen will still be taking orders for its ADSL service, however consumers need to be aware that there will be a lead time of approximately 20 working days to installation. Orders currently in the system will be processed in the usual way.
It is worth reiterating here that ADSL is a contended service and a full speed connection can not be expected all the time. Due to the significant growth in recent months of the ADSL customer base nationwide, we are beginning to see contention come into effect in certain areas where there is high demand - resulting in different customers supplied by the same Service Provider seeing differing results. The increasing popularity of Peer-2-Peer and file transferring programmes has resulted in substantial rises in the amount of data being transferred per user, adding to the increased usage of current bandwidth.
Once the upgrade is in place, performance is likely to improve significantly, and with the further infrastructure improvements already planned, will maintain Zen's position as the leading broadband supplier for business.
|
Mass Euro Telco Cull Predicted
By:mark.j @ 3:37:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Gartner group has predicted that over the next five years half of all European Telecom operators will be toppled, leaving just a handful to dominate the market.
What's interesting is Gartners suggestive use of language when explaining the reasons why this might occur:
The analyst firm said that telcos have focused too much on developing technology to deliver new services instead of considering how to make money from them.
Only five European telcos will emerge as global players, analysts speaking at the Gartner annual European Symposium ITxpo in France predicted.
We can't help but wonder whether offering cheaper broadband could be one of those 'new services'. More @ VNUNet. |
Oftel Survey WRONG - Net Use Growing!
By:mark.j @ 3:23:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It looks as if the Oftel report we mentioned a few days ago was wrong to show a negative line for new Internet connections leading up to August 2001.
The latest survey by NetValue shows an increase of Internet users between June and September 2001, more than 1,000,000, in fact:
According to Net number crunchers, NetValue, there are now more that 15 million home Net users in the UK - a 53 per cent increase during the last year.
Furthermore, there appears to be little evidence that this growth is showing any signs of slowing down.
This is at odds with research published earlier this week by Oftel which found that the number of UK homes connected to the Net had actually fallen in the three months to August.
We had thought Oftels own statistics seemed somewhat unusual; the ISP market simply wasn’t at the stage where growth could suddenly drop into a negative number without anybody noticing.
Since NetValue do this kind of research and analysis as their job, we’re somehow more inclined to believe their stats over Oftels. More @ The Register. |
IMPORTANT ISP Review Site Update
By:mark.j @ 10:27:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We've come up with a new way to do reviews of unmetered and broadband providers. It would include some general details about the ISP and just a paragraph or two on its overall quality as well as our own personal rating.
The new system would also include dynamic data from readers (forums etc.), such as the rating given under our forthcoming new 'Readers Top ISPs' system, which you should be seeing next week (open testing).
The idea being that we'd easily be able to keep up-to-date with the latest changes in any ISP and that YOU, the readers, could also make your opinions known in the official reviews.
This would mean our current method would be gone for good, however in typical democratic style all the MEMBERS to our forum can vote Yes or No to the proposal. Simply visit THIS FORUM TOPIC and cast your vote at the top. |
PlusNET Tout Low-Cost Internet
By:mark.j @ 9:45:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] PlusNET, traditionally one of the more expensive (economically realistic) ISPs around, has today issued a new press release on the subject. In it they discusses this week's Oftel report and make comparisons between their findings and the low-cost options available in PlusNet's unmetered 'Connect' range of services:
Oftel statistics show millions of UK Internet users could be 'wasting money'
87% of UK Internet users 'should pay no more than £6.99 a month' say PlusNet
(Thursday 8th November. Sheffield, UK) Following the latest survey from Oftel, PlusNet, the popular UK ISP, has commented that nearly 87% of UK Internet users could be wasting money on overpriced Internet access. The Government watchdog survey, released this week, reveals that just 13% of UK Internet users are online for more than 20 hours per week. This means PlusNet's 'Connect Lite User', their low-cost, unmetered access product that gives up to 20 hours access every week, is perfect for the majority of UK users. And, at just £6.99 a month, it offers unbeatable value!
'Connect Lite User' makes an ideal starting point for the home user, giving up to 20 hours of Internet usage every week. Unlike some unmetered, fixed cost accounts, PlusNet does not restrict its users to evenings or weekends so you can get online at any time, day or night. With unlimited email addresses, 250MB of webspace for your own website and friendly technical support available around the clock at local-rate, PlusNet offers fully-featured Internet access at a market-leading price.
Further statistics provided by the Oftel survey shows that the average
UK Internet user is now online for 8 hours per week. The consistent rise of this figure has been linked to the increasing popularity of unmetered packages, which remove the uncertainty of per-minute Internet phone costs by charging a fixed price. Unmetered Internet access has played an important role in promoting Internet use in UK homes - the number of users on such packages has risen from 25% to 40% in the last year.
"This survey confirms what we believed when we created our 'Connect Lite User' account." said Alistair Wyse, Product and Service Development Director for PlusNet. "The average user may be online for only 8 hours per week, but they demand the freedom to access the Internet when they want to. These statistics show the majority of UK users should be paying no more than £6.99 per month for their Internet connection. If they are paying more, they are wasting money."
The survey also showed that the number of homes connecting to the
Internet might be starting to level out, following constant growth since the records began in 1999. Wyse continued, "If the market is indeed starting to find a natural level, our Connect products are even more significant for Internet users. It seems that on price and service, other ISPs simply can't compete."
Plus.Net - The Smarter Way to Internet
http://www.plus.net |
R.I.P & Terror Law Drive ISPs Overseas
By:mark.j @ 9:39:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Some of our avid readers may remember how ISPs such as Clara.net were threatening to move parts of their network abroad in an effort to protect customer privacy.
While last reported on at the beginning of this year, it looks as if the same ISPs have once again tried to reinforce that stance following recent issues with the UKs new Anti-Terrorism laws:
Steve Rawlinson, managing director at London-based ISP ClaraNet claims the sweeping powers will force ISPs to locate more hosting infrastructure outside the UK to guarantee confidentiality of communications data for business customers.
"We don't have a problem helping fight terrorism but the police will now be able to pop round whenever they want," he said.
"We have customers specifically asking to locate their sites outside the UK. The numbers are not high but they are significant customers in financial services that conduct transactions their clients regard as confidential," Rawlingson added.
Despite the obvious concern, the government has yet again stated that such intrusions will be governed by R.I.P, which is another piece of regulation with yet more holes.
There doesn't appear to be any physical body designed to protect our civil liberties or the system itself from minor corruption. Sadly with other first world countries around the world starting to use similar systems, ISPs like Clara.net now have seriously diminished options. |
BTOpenworld Tops 60,000 (R/ADSL)
By:mark.j @ 9:28:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Having no doubt seen NTLs results, BTOpenworld have been quick to tout its latest broadband subscription figures as well. According to their latest press release the group has managed to muster 60,000 subscribers:
BTOPENWORLD BROADBAND CUSTOMERS TOP 60,000
BTopenworld, BT's mass market Internet division, more than doubled the number of broadband customers in the period between March and September this year from 25,026 to 52,336.
Meanwhile the figure at the end of October had passed the 62,000 mark.
The total number of business customers has increased from 9,672 in March to 21,344 by the end of September. Consumer figures grew from 15,354 to 30,992 in the same period. In September alone 10,322 broadband connections were sold.
The increase has been boosted by a half price installation offer which BTopenworld launched in September and which will run until the end of the year.
This is being supported by print advertising campaigns aimed at consumers and businesses and will be further re-enforced this month when a new cinema advert breaks alongside the Harry Potter movie.
The advert features a spectacular bob sled ride with members of the German and Rumanian Olympic teams, to illustrate the speed and excitement of broadband
Ben Andradi president and COO of BTopenworld said: "The increase in people signing up for broadband shows that we are continuing to drive forward in this market. We have put a lot of effort into marketing to both consumers and businesses and are delighted to see growth in both markets. This underlines our success in delivering services to both groups."
Ben added: "Extended reach(Rate Adaptive DSL) has allowed us to provide broadband to even more people. Over the coming months we will see other new services which will help extend this even further. Our satellite service for businesses is now up and running and we will be taking part in the trials of self install broadband, while our Teleworker product allows us to reach the hundreds of thousands of homeworkers currently denied a cost effective digital link to their corporate intranet."
BTOpenworld is easily the UKs largest R/ADSL subscription holding ISP, unfortunately it also seems to have nothing but an endless stream of complaints following close behind. |
NTL On Course - Broadband Subscribers
By:mark.j @ 9:23:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] During the start of 2001 NTL announced a target of 100,000 broadband cable modem subscribers by the end of the year, it's latest figures seem to put it well on-track to make the grade.
The cable giant has managed to muster a whopping 79,000 subscribers, leaving 21,000 left to go between now and 2002:
Publishing its third quarter results for the three months to September 30 the company said broadband subscriber number had jumped a whopping 73 per cent quarter on quarter.
The rise follows a joint promotional campaign with cable rival Telewest during the summer, which sought to educate people about the benefits of broadband.
It seems that money was well spent and could be a lesson to other broadband providers that making people aware of the benefits of broadband could pay-off in the long run.
While the news is good, NTL still has a considerable debt mountain to climb and having recently recorded a massive $1.03Bn loss, there's still some ground to make up. |
NetValue Monitors Work Usage
By:mark.j @ 9:17:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] In an effort to build a better picture of online trends, Internet usage research company NetValue is to expand its coverage to monitor Internet use from work and universities:
The merger between Jupiter MMXI and Nielsen/Netratings has left NetValue in the shadow of its larger rivals, however, Lennart Brag, CEO of Netvalue, said the move to work usage would give the company an advantage in its battle for supremacy.
“With the market narrowed down to two competitors, NetValue faces a great opportunity in the audience market in Europe, as well as in the US, through our partnership with comScore,” he said.
The surveying, which will monitor on and offline internet usage, along with secured activities and e-commerce transactions, will make use of comScore’s substantial US panel alongside the existing NetValue base to offer a worldwide map of internet user behaviour and trends.
More @ netimperative.com . |
BTs Finance Director Quits
By:mark.j @ 9:12:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] | Following on from previous rumours, it has now been confirmed by many sources that BTs finance director, Mr Philip Hampton, will quite the company after just a year in the job. Search our previous items form more info. |
News - November 7,2001
BT Trial Fixed Broadband Wireless
By:mark.j @ 4:14:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We've already heard rumours of BTs plan to investigate fixed broadband wireless technologies; this now appears to be confirmed. The debt laden Telco is said to be seriously considering bidding for a number of 28GHz broadband fixed wireless licences:
A BT spokesman told ZDNet UK News that the telco was planning to launch a trial early next year, to see if it would be economically viable to use 28GHz to provide high-speed Internet access in rural areas. If this test is successful, BT is likely to bid for licences allowing it to offer commercial services at 28GHz.
Companies interested in bidding have to apply before October 2002. The government has just begun a second auction of the 28GHz spectrum. It hasn't received any bids yet, but BT's involvement could boost interest in the broadband fixed wireless auction.
"We plan to hold a trial where we deliver broadband by radio to homes in the Cardiff area," a BT spokesman said on Wednesday. "Using the 28GHz frequency could be a good way of getting broadband to areas where ADSL isn't viable," he added.
In a period where BTs name has been dragged across the floor more times than BBC2 puts sport on over more interesting programs, this is finally some good news!
The operator appears to be reaching out toward those in rural areas, although we can't help but wonder whether it'd have been easier to install R/ADSL =). No information regarding the costs of BTs wireless and or satellite ISP services has been released (BT side – not consumer wise). More @ ZDNet. |
Gov To Abuse Anti-Terrorism Laws
By:mark.j @ 4:04:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Just as had been predicted, the Home Office has today confirmed its intention to use (abuse?) new anti-terrorist laws by allowing the collection of data on minor criminals (tax offenders etc.).
In other words if you forgot to get your tax submission back in time then that could be used that as justification to invade your privacy, kind of sick really:
A voluntary Code of Practice has been proposed for inclusion in the government's emergency anti-terror bill, to provide Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with exemption from data protection laws so that they can stockpile traffic data for cases involving national security. Despite reassurances by the home secretary, David Blunkett, that this intelligence would be restricted to terrorist investigations, the Home Office has now said the data will also be made available for criminal investigations.
"The voluntary Code of Practice could provide a way for law enforcement to access this data for criminal investigations, and will be regulated under the terms of RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act)," said a Home Office spokesperson.
With sarcasm mode engaged, we're sure everybody will be pleased that one corrupt law is going to be regulated by another potentially corruptible piece of government plop - R.I.P. Best pay those taxes.. More @ ZDNet. |
Irish Net Users To Strike - Unmetered
By:mark.j @ 3:56:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Sick with the apparent lack of any true nationwide unmetered dialup and broadband ISP services in Ireland, Irish Internet users are now planning a strike:
The "IrelandOffline Blackout" is scheduled to take place on Friday, November 16. The organisers hope that consumers and businesses alike will make their voices heard by boycotting the phone and Internet.
IrelandOffline, a well-organised and increasingly vocal pressure group, believes this Internet "strike" is essential to draw attention to the lack of affordable dial-up and broadband services in Ireland.
It claims that unless something is done now the country risks falling behind in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
Many may remember that during the dawn of the unmetered ISP revolution in 1999 a similar thing was tried because Oftel and BT seemed unable to recognise the problem.
Much as you'd expect the whole thing passed unnoticed, hopefully the Irish will have better luck. More @ The Register. |
Broadband Wireless Auction Flops
By:mark.j @ 3:49:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's now been a month since the government restarted the auction of fixed broadband wireless licenses (Tele2, NTL etc.) and still the 26 unsold licenses from last year remain.
Once again the same excuse has been given, bids should start rolling in just as soon as "businesses have got their plans together". We'll see. |
Powergen/Affinity/WHSmith ISPs Expand
By:mark.j @ 3:43:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Hurricaneseye is the codename for an optical network linking London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, and offering 40 separate points of presence. Originally built by Ipsaris, Hurricaneseye is now owned as a joint venture between Powergen and Affinity.
Hurricaneseye, which provides fixed telephony and convergent billing services, plans to migrate Powergen’s telecoms service and Affinity’s breathe telecom customers to the network, with total annual savings expected to rise to £2m. breathe, which Affinity acquired in August this year, has been used as a showcase for Affinity’s white label offerings.
The breathe service includes unmetered ISP packages and a mobile service with a range of prepay and contract options. As well as developing a profitable end user business, the Affinity sees breathe as a demonstration of how to launch a brand as a virtual mobile telco.
In the same vein WHSmiths is also set to join the two in order to further push its own unmetered access products. With Affinity posting increased revenues and take-up figures, now certainly seems like to best time to capitalise on success.
The company - which provides ISP services for other businesses - anticipates that most of the surplus capacity will be absorbed in Q4 when its major customers, such as Powergen and WHSmith, begin promoting their unmetered access packages.
Hopefully the recent rumours of an early start to market saturation won’t break up their plans. More @ netimperative.com . |
08002Go Re-Launch Details
By:mark.j @ 10:15:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] As posted in our 08002Go forums yesterday evening, 08002Go is set to return 'officially' on the 9th November (Friday) in two forms. The service will re-appear as both 08452Go (Local Call Rate ISP for gamers) and 08002Go, with two new unmetered packages.
Since we couldn't care less about yet another 0845 ISP among hundreds, we'll just move onto the unmetered aspect. Sadly it doesn't look as if the unmetered side will return until mid-December, although the site does give info. on both the Home and Business options:
0800 24/7 Standard Service £10.99 per month This is the return of our now famous 0800 service with a few added extras and the first being that we will keep a much closer watch on how the service is performing for you all.
There will be much more content and more information. The main difference will be there will be less allocation in the first few months and obviously 08452go.com members will get preference to allocation of the 0800 service. So to sum up a good fast service to suit all tastes.
----------------------------------
0800 Business Superior Gold Service 24/7. This is the service all businesses have been waiting for. Its fast in fact it's very fast and reliable with all the features a Business class service should have. Businesses using this service will find it very hard to fault, and some who have tested say its as good as any Lease Line they have used.
Of course our service to Business is a fraction of the cost of a lease line which costs many thousands per month and we are sure once any Business has tried our new service priced at just £65.99 per month they will agree its incredible value.
It's not yet clear whether the 08452Go website will replace the 08002Go one or whether the 08002Go site will re-rout to the 08452Go page. Some would likely find the 08452Go name confusing since it also houses unmetered options; we’ve already seen some evidence of this in the forums.
Overall the website looks somewhat better than the original, although it's the service that matters and we'll have to wait until December before we know how well that part works (unmetered). |
BTOs Special ISDN To ADSL Offer
By:mark.j @ 9:54:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] There's nothing new about BTs ability to upgrade ISDN (2/b2/HH etc.) users to broadband R/ADSL technology, however BTO have now launched a special upgrade deal that's valid until the end of the year:
BTopenworld is running an offer allowing users to upgrade to ADSL for £100, plus any relevant ADSL installation fee.
The fee covers buying out existing ISDN contracts (with BT Retail) and the charge of converting the user's phone line from ISDN to ADSL.
Zeta Tsatsani, senior analyst at Ovum, said: "BT should be looking to be more aggressive in rolling out ADSL. The best strategy would have been to charge no fee, as the revenue possibilities of a larger installed base are greater than the revenues of charging £100 a time."
While it all sounds very nice for those of us, myself included, still stuck with the burden of poorly supported ISDN access, there remains a problem. Most of us aren't covered by R/ADSL technology or we'd have already taken the more expensive rout and upgraded. More @ VNUNet. |
Cisco’s Roaming ISP Router
By:mark.j @ 9:48:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] One for the more technically minded, apparently Cisco has updated their IOS Router Software to allow dynamic international roaming by switching ISPs as international borders are crossed:
Cisco has launched an updated version of its IOS software that adds international roaming abilities to its routers. As a result, a mobile IP-enabled router could be carried in aircraft, trains or other vehicles to provide passengers with almost continuous Internet connections while travelling across international boundaries. The system would automatically switch ISPs as necessary and this process would be invisible to users.
"You can have multiple users using the same device, and apply any traffic and quality of service prioritisation that you wish to have. You could classify all traffic coming from business class as high priority, and that from economy as low priority for instance," said Massimo Lucchina, engineering manager at Cisco's research and development centre.
In an increasingly centralised global market this sort of innovation is likely to be most welcome. More @ ZDNet. |
BTOpenworld Customers Angry - Again
By:mark.j @ 9:41:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's not as if we don't get daily reports of new complaints from those using either BTOpenworlds broadband or narrowband services because we do. In fact BT has been on our complaints page for nearly a year because we've never seen a complaint free week.
Today another news site has highlighted a similar thing and so once again BTO finds itself a place with the negative press. Interestingly the number of complaints has forced Oftel to investigate, which is somewhat out of character for them:
In light of the complaints, telco watchdog Oftel may even get involved: "We have been made aware of problems with BTopenworld, and are monitoring the situation," a spokeswoman said.
Richard Stockley, a criminal-research analyst, told vnunet.com that his download speeds were fluctuating between 10.5Kbps and 28.9Kbps, figures well below what is expected from a broadband service.
Stockley said the technical support team told him that speeds of 30Kbps were adequate. "I don't know about you, but if I told one of my clients I was going to produce a 50-page report and told them to stop whining when I gave them a 25-page summary, my company would lose that tender and I'd be out of a job," he said.
Apparently BTO has agreed that the speeds are somewhat low and will be looking into it, never the less it's a clear indication of the problems an uncountable number of BTOs customers must be experiencing.
Oftel seems to be involved because of a technicality; the whole issue of such slow speeds brings into question the overall viability of broadband services. Typically BTO still hasn’t sent our interview questions back, mainly because they can't stay out of the 'bad press'. More @ VNUNet. |
BTs Rate Adaptive (RADSL) IPStreamS500
By:mark.j @ 9:11:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide has received word that BTWholesale will be adding ‘Rate Adaptive' support to their IPStreamS500 range of broadband ADSL (RADSL) products.
S500 is typically associated with the business 512Kbps Ethernet version of BTs ADSL services, RADSL has so far only been allowed on their Home USB products, until now.
Apparently the changes will take effect from 10th of this month (November) and allow those outside the 3.5Km range of ADSL to get Ethernet S500 RADSL services up to 5.5Km away. As with USB RADSL users; upstream transfers could drop to 64Kbps, although this is unlikely. |
News - November 6,2001
BT Announces Major Network Fault
By:mark.j @ 4:03:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Since a vast array of ISPs across the UK use BT as the supplier for their networking and ISP ports/services, V21s latest update is worrying. The ISP has been quick to E-Mail us the following:
BT have just announced a major fault in the BT IP Network. EVERY ISP is being affected!
Users can obtain an update from Bt on 0800 328 9812.
Given the huge number of problems BT has been suffering over the last two weeks then this is only likely to add further frustration to the customers of BT based ISPs around the UK. Very little is known about the problem itself. |
Have Free ISPs Had Their Day?
By:mark.j @ 3:57:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Ever since the dawn of unmetered dialup ISPs during the summer of 1999 and the eventual introduction of broadband services, we've long touted the inevitable decline of FREE (Local Call Rate / 0845) ISPs.
While it's unlikely they'd all vanish anytime soon due to demand among 'light' surfers still being strong, an analyst from Merrill Lynch has another perspective:
"What's a good revenue source? Access fees. Everyone perceived it as a ridiculous, loss-making model. But it turns out to be a pretty good model," Bradshaw added.
With three of Europe's largest ISPs -- Germany's T-Online, Spain's Terra Lycos and Italy's Tiscali -- scheduled to report results over the next two weeks, analysts will be focusing on numbers from their nascent broadband businesses as a long-term measuring stick.
Speedier, high-cost broadband services, sold on a subscription basis, are in increasing demand across Europe.
While it's nothing we haven't read a thousand times before, ZDNet's item does go into quite some detail on the subject. |
Accidentally Surfing Porn - 40%
By:mark.j @ 3:50:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] With all the SPAM and forced URL redirection we see in E-Mails and websites today it shouldn't come as any surprise that 40% of Internet users claim to have come across pornography while surfing.
At least that's the conclusion from the Consumers' Association (CA) latest survey. Some 7,000 people surveyed reported being shocked to come across pornographic Web sites, sometimes when browsing with their children!
Apparently the CA is working with search engines to crack down on such issues and make the Internet accessible without porn showing up every other screen. It just won't be the same anymore =). |
Blair Boosts Broadband @ CBI
By:mark.j @ 3:41:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] If you were watching the news on TV yesterday then you'll have seen the PM Tony Blair talking @ the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Apparently, while muttering on about god knows what, he also touched on the issue of broadband:
Mr Blair said broadband had the "potential to revolutionise many aspects of our lives".
And he reiterated his desire to use Government demand for broadband services, by way of schools, hospitals, GP surgeries etc, to help drive the roll-out of high-speed Internet services in areas currently devoid of such technology.
Said Mr Blair: "The UK is already one of the most connected economies in the world. Internet use is higher than in any other European country."
Of course Blairs comments are likely to have added to the frustration of many operators and ISPs following yesterdays announcement from BT regarding its rollout policy. We can't help but wonder how he intends to 'drive' the rollout when BT seems to have paused, another contradiction? More @ The Register. |
Tiscali UK Delay Broadband Satellite
By:mark.j @ 3:33:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] One of the most likely competitors to BTOpenworlds Satellite ISP solution, Tiscali UK, has opted to delay its system until 2002 while it completes the integration of its UK business.
Ironically this had been expected since no firm dates had been given and the year is already drawing to a close, it had to be delayed:
The ISP said it would begin taking orders in December ahead of a three-month trial beginning in January.
Once this has been successfully completed and the level of demand assessed then the ISP could make the service generally available in the UK early in the summer.
Tiscali announced in June that it would launch a commercial service aimed at SOHOs and home users in Italy, Germany, France and the UK by the end of the year, with the rest of Europe following on in 2002.
While it's not stated in The Register's item, we know from earlier information that Tiscali UK is planning to price the residential side of the service at around £50 per month. Hopefully it'll stay that way, thus beating BTO with its economic appeal. |
BT Under Fire - R/ADSL Rollout
By:mark.j @ 3:27:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Ever since yesterday’s announcement that BT was suspending the rollout of broadband R/ADSL services pending a review, things have been quite. Typically this never lasts too long and less than a day later the backlash has started.
The first person to comment is Keith Mitchell, CEO of little known ISP XchangePoint:
He said: "There's a lot of demand for ADSL. BT hasn't covered enough exchanges because a few months ago it lowered the price of its ADSL offering, essentially making it economically less viable to rollout."
A BT spokesman disagreed with Mitchell, saying: "There isn't huge demand for broadband. We've spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on converting exchanges to ADSL across urban areas and we only have a few users per exchange."
He added: "We reduced our prices to create demand, yet of all the ISPs BT supplies, collectively they have just 100,000 customers - when the service is available to 60 per cent of all UK households."
The Silicon item shows a slight back peddle on yesterdays news with BT opting for less 'restrictive' language, rollout continues, albeit based on demand - not suspended.
Of course you'd probably be correct in thinking this is just another way for BT to say they won't rollout R/ADSL any further unless it suits THEM. Expect more ISPs to complain over the next few days/weeks. |
M.I.A - Virgin.Net & 08002Go
By:mark.j @ 9:39:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Today’s 'Missing In Action' (M.I.A) report takes a brief look at both Virgin.Net and 08002Go to find out what's going on. Both ISPs were set to re-launch several days ago and have so far failed to surface.
Virgin.Net - We've already covered the vague reason for Virgin's delay, some unspecified technical problems could mean the launch of its unmetered system will be closer to the end of November.
08002Go - While their website still has a message online stating 2nd November as the re-launch date, clearly the ISP that fell from grace so suddenly has encountered a few technical hitches of its own.
In speaking with contacts at the ISP we've learned that the service launch has been delayed until Wednesday, although in ISP lingo that's probably a Friday =). One of our forum mods will be heading out to visit the offices again on Wednesday to see what's up, we'll keep you posted - no Anthrax included. |
UK Lags Behind @ e-Government
By:mark.j @ 9:28:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] No surprises with that subject title, once again new research, this time from Taylor Nelson Sofres, has highlighted the unimpressive nature of the UKs e-Government workings.
Apparently the survey conducted of 29,000 people in 27 countries around Europe has concluded that the UK sits in 19th position in terms of e-Government use:
Just 11 per cent of UK citizens have used government online services in the last six months. The average, amongst the countries surveyed, is 26 per cent.
This figure is all the worse when you consider the number of people actually online in each country. Britain comes a disappointing 12th in terms of the percentage of the population online (34 per cent) but does manage to beat the average of 31 per cent. It is the disparity between the two figures that is most worrying.
Britain is the third worst of the 27 countries regarding the difference between those online and those that use e-government services. It is beaten only by the Netherlands (where 31 per cent of the country use government services but 56 per cent of the population are online) and Korea, where 51 per cent of people are online but only 17 per cent use e-gov services.
The report concludes that one of the biggest weaknesses for putting people off e-Government services is that of security, or lack of. Of course we shouldn't be surprised at that and the results; the Governments e-Strategy has only just begun to get underway. More @ The Register. |
Analysts Respond - BTO Satellite ISP
By:mark.j @ 9:20:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Following the official launch of BTOpenworlds new broadband Satellite ISP service, which is actually quite well priced compared to the competition, market analysts have been quick to criticise. Much as you'd expect they believe the take-up of BTOs service will be low:
Alan Pyne, director at Schema, said: "At those prices, it's difficult to see it as anything other than an amazingly niche market."
"It is steep," agreed Dario Betti, analyst at Ovum. "But satellite is expensive and won't compete with ADSL and cable. It can be used as a filler for those firms waiting for ADSL and cable services to be rolled out in their area, and there are firms ready to pay the cost."
Of course Satellite was never really designed as a mass-market tool for broadband Internet access, mainly due to technical reasons.
However we have little doubt that some residential users sick of their modem and tired with the comparable cost of ISDN are going to switch. The item also ends with some info. on two other Satellite ISPs aiming to compete with BTO, we've reported on them before:
BTopenworld's partner Gilat is also working with rival ISP Tiscali on a similar service, which is expected to launch in the UK, Italy and Germany later this year.
Our broadband page already has some details on Tiscali's offer and there's even a mention of the one from Armiska, which we again have details of. More @ VNUNet. |
News - November 5,2001
Bush Pressures EU To Lift Data Ban
By:mark.j @ 4:00:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Further reason for ISPs in the around Europe to worry surfaced today after President Bush (USA) began calling for the blanket retention of all traffic data for criminal investigations.
Typically this would mean a lifting of the current EU wide ban to block data retention, needed for civil liberty and privacy reasons:
The US President has added his voice to those of the British government and EU law enforcement agencies, who have been demanding powers to intercept electronic communications for terrorist and criminal investigations.
In a letter to the Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, who currently holds the presidency of the EU, Bush spoke of US opposition to the current EU data law that prohibits the retention of personal data beyond the legal period deemed acceptable for billing purposes.
Sadly in a climate where global terrorism suddenly seems that much closer to home, it's likely that any opponents to such ideals will simply be ignored. So no change there then.. More @ ZDNet. |
|
