February 21, 2002 - February 27, 2002
News - February 27,2002
Analysts Question BTs xDSL Cuts
By:mark.j @ 8:59:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Not unsurprisingly yet more analysts, this time in the shape of Bernt Ostergaard (Giga Web) and Lars Godell (Forrester Research), have begun expressing their reservations about BTs targets:
Giga Web analyst Bernt Ostergaard said: "The growth of this stuff in the UK should not be overestimated. I doubt BT will hit these targets of 20 to 25 per cent of the UK population using ADSL by 2006. I believe it will top out at around 10 to 15 per cent."
Lars Godell, European telecoms analyst at Forrester Research, said a study by his company into the number of broadband users in the UK by 2006 shows BT's growth estimates are too high.
Bernt Ostergaard, telecommunications analyst at Giga Web, said BT Wholesale's interest is in protecting profit margins in its leased line and ISDN customers, not in promoting and guaranteeing broadband services that may see its customers moving to ISP competitors.
He said: "BT has been shamed into delivering broadband at an affordable price, but you won't see it bending over backwards to guarantee it."
The Silicon item expresses some very valid points, although the answer for now is in the hands of time itself. |
News - February 26,2002
R/ADSL ISPs Announce Prices!
By:mark.j @ 4:09:PM - Comments (15) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UPDATE: Price for Freeserve added. Vispa added (kind of). BTOpenworld updated. Houxou added.
Typically a mass of ISPs have jumped on the news of BTs price cut and we've already seen five full press releases in the last hour.
Unfortunately ISPr simply can't post everything and so to save time we'll only list the residential R/ADSL wires-only broadband price changes (per month). This is combined with some bits from ADSLGuide, which has some info. from ISPs we don't:
PIPEX Xtreme (again!) - £23.44 inc.VAT
BTOpenworld - £29.99 +vat
Freedom2Surf - £22.50 inc.VAT
PlusNet - £25.99 inc.VAT
Eclipse - £26.73 inc.VAT
Andrews & Arnold - £TBA +vat
Griffin - £22.50 +vat
Timewarp - £TBA +vat
Mailbox - £29 +vat
Centrica/OneTel - £25.53 +vat
Power Internet Ltd. - £22.77 to £27.73 +vat
Zen Internet - £TBA +vat
Freeserve - £29.99 +vat
Vispa Internet - £TBA +vat
Houxou - £29 +vat
Note that ISPs marked TBA are providers whom have announced their intention to drop prices, yet have yet to issue the PR or will await BTs official announcement.
As it stands Freedom2Surf is the cheapest with PIPEX close behind, note that some ISPs may offer other options depending on contract length. Also note that inc.VAT adds the 17.5% tax on top, which gives the price we actually pay, not all ISPs issue inc.VAT prices.
Some of the offers are truly exceptional, if only our local area was R/ADSL enabled! Arrrgghhhh. |
EU Broadband Demand To Boom
By:mark.j @ 3:48:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Demand for broadband technologies around Europe could boom if the latest research from Frost & Sullivan is anything to go by:
The research predicted that the number of broadband subscribers in western Europe will grow from 3.8 million, counted at the end of 2001, to 28.1 million by 2008.
It also estimated that the need for broadband will pick up in 2003 as the worldwide telecoms slump softens and telecommuting booms. Other drivers will include the development of video on demand and voice-over-DSL.
However, the analyst also warned that more competition is needed in the local telephone market to force carriers to upgrade their networks, which will drive better broadband technology into the hands of web surfers.
There's more @ VNUNet and it's a good read if you're sick of seeing BT mentioned in almost every other news item (no it's not going to stop just yet =]). |
Energis Clients Look Toward Rivals
By:mark.j @ 3:45:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Customers of the telecoms and networking group Energis, which includes several UK ISPs, are beginning to look at alternatives because of the groups increasingly uncertain future:
Some Energis customers reported that they were "exploring the 'what if' scenarios", and others are considering transferring to other carriers.
Bill Allan, chief executive at Thus, confirmed that the group was attracting interest from Energis users. "We are talking to Energis customers and they are talking to us," he said.
Freeserve, Energis' biggest customer, would not comment on its plans, but it is understood to be encouraged that Energis is planning to focus on its UK operations, which are crucial to the delivery of Freeserve's offerings.
We'll try to get more on this from some of the groups other ISP clients; that's if they're willing to talk. More @ VNUNet. |
V21 Coughs Up £3,000 For Charity
By:mark.j @ 3:35:PM - Comments (8) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Following on from last weeks item regarding V21's (unmetered dialup ISP) missing donation to Barnado’s charity, it has now been revealed that the donated sum totals £3,000.
The promotion itself will officially end next month (end of March 2002) and no doubt V21 will be hoping that this finally puts a lid on the matter. |
BT Ends Old ADSL Service
By:mark.j @ 3:30:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] First we had ADSL, then RADSL arrived and now Wires-Only, yet according to ADSLGuide BT is to cut the original BTipstream 500 (USB residential 50:1) service come 1st August 2002. Existing users will be supported until the same period in the following year (2003).
It's not yet clear what will happen after this, although with Wires-Only being based on a cheaper method it's no surprise the original system has to go. This should make things less confusing for new users.
NOTE: BT is also cutting the wholesale cost of its IPStream Office service by £20 per month each!:
IPStream Office 500 - £40
IPStream Office 1000 - £60
IPStream Office 2000 - £80 |
BTs DSL Price Cut Mass-Welcomed!
By:mark.j @ 3:22:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] While we'd have expected BTs latest reduction in the cost of R/ADSL to be welcomed by the Government, AOL and Freeserve, it's a surprise to see Telewest giving the operator credit:
"It was getting hard building broadband Britain by ourselves and its great that BT has finally turned up to lend a hand," said Adam Singer, Telewest CEO.
Hardly normal for a competitor, although Mr.Singer does go on to tout their future 1Mbit service as being twice as fast as BTs offering, which ignores the fact that 1 to 8Mbit ADSL variants exist =). More @ Digital Spy.
Of course the government has also welcomed BTs cut with e-Commerce Minister Douglas Alexander saying, "excellent news for consumers and business". Freeserve also said a similar thing and pledged to pass on the extra savings.
On the flip side and Freeserve's chief competitor, AOL UK, was quick to follow suit with chief executive Karen Thomson saying, "This is a very positive announcement, which we welcome. We are presently examining the details, but it's already clear that this takes us much closer to the dawn of broadband Britain."
In the same style Ananova also noted how GartnerG2 analysts haven't wasted any time to say that broadband R/ADSL is still too expensive (oh no =]): "Our consumer research shows... it will still be too expensive to appeal to the majority of current home internet users".
Of course it goes without saying that broadband won't be for everybody, some people will hardly use the Internet and others simply won't need hi-speed access. GartnerG2's analysis is correct, but misses the point that xDSL isn't designed for everybody - yet. |
Oftel Welcome BTs R/ADSL Price Cut
By:mark.j @ 2:54:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Expect a lot of feedback on BTs latest reduction in the cost of broadband R/ADSL over the next few days, however somewhat contrary to expectations, the telecoms regulator Oftel has welcomed the move!:
Commenting on BT’s proposed reduction in its wholesale broadband prices, David Edmonds Director General of Telecommunications said today: "Today’s announcement has the potential to bring about a step change in the take-up of broadband by consumers and small businesses. The cost of broadband is clearly an important factor in take-up and the price reductions proposed are very significant."
"I welcome the fact that BT believes it can reduce its costs and pass these savings on through lower charges to service providers. Service providers have the opportunity to take real advantage of these proposed price reductions."
"Reduced wholesale charges should enable service providers to offer broadband access to consumers at significantly lower prices, which could drive mass take up of high speed services. Clearly any prices charged by BT must be fair and not anti-competitive. BT is well aware of that and has already provided Oftel with cost information."
"We are examining that information as a matter of urgency. But it already appeared from information that was provided to Oftel earlier that there was likely to be scope for a significant reduction in BT's wholesale prices."
The language used in Oftel's latest press release is a good sign that the reduction isn't likely to be stopped, which is what many had feared the regulator would do. |
Virgin.net Concentrates on ISP Business
By:mark.j @ 9:13:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Richard Branson’s big Internet hope, Virgin.net, has opted to do a U-Turn and concentrate on unmetered ISP services rather than its content business, which is now closed:
The company said it would now continue its ISP, including its unmetered 24seven package, but will now farm content from other providers. Only last year, the business was to focus exclusively on content with NTL lined up as the buyer and operator of the company’s ISP and customer services.
However, the deal fell through after months of trying and Virgin had mooted the acquisition of other ISPs to boost its customer numbers, despite rumours that it was itself a takeover target.
The Virgin.net name will now effectively be a shell for the ISP business with the loss of jobs consisting most significantly of head of content David Keen. The business also employed a number of freelancers to provide it with content and to manage the portal.
Many will remember that Virgin.net only recently introduced its new FRIACO based unmetered 24seven ISP package and soon after closed its original offer. More @ netimperative.com . |
Local Gov Minister Tout’s e-Election
By:mark.j @ 9:09:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Nick Raynsford, a local government minister, has hailed the use of Internet technologies to trial online voting (in various forms) with this May's forthcoming local council elections:
He says the aim was a predominantly "e-enabled General Election" - but after 2006, the last date for the next House of Commons contests.
He spelled out the Government's "strategy to reinvigorate the democratic process" to the Association of Electoral Administrators, meeting at Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
Mr Raynsford told delegates: "Most of our electoral law has roots in the 19th century."
We still find it dubious that an official trial can take place during 2002 and yet can't even be ready for 2006's next general election, more @ Ananova. |
BT Announces R/ADSL Price Cuts!
By:mark.j @ 8:47:AM - Comments (32) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] In case you weren't watching the BBC1 Breakfast news program this morning or didn't see the other news items around the web that followed, BT has officially announced its R/ADSL price cuts.
Consumer Wires-Only (Self-Install) R/ADSL broadband wholesale prices will drop from £25 to £14.75 per month, which will come into force on 1st April 2002 (April fools day =])! Apparently BT is hoping to achieve 1,000,000 R/ADSL connections by summer 2003:
SWEEPING PRICE REDUCTIONS AS BT TARGETS BROADBAND MILLION
BT's chief executive today put his foot on the accelerator for broadband growth throughout the UK, with dramatic price cuts to boost demand.
Ben Verwaayen said: "Broadband is the future for Britain and we're putting it at the heart of BT's plans for growth in the UK mass market. This will drive the whole market forward by making broadband affordable, attractive and accessible."
He revealed BT's plans to target one million asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) broadband connections over BT's network by summer 2003, by:
* cutting wholesale line rental for consumer connections from £25 to £14.75 a month, from April 1.
* improving the experience of BT's wholesale customers and end-users through better network performance and service quality.
* boosting marketing, including joint projects between BT Wholesale and more than 40 service providers, to champion the benefits of broadband.
* encouraging all service providers, including BTopenworld, to use the wholesale saving to set new prices for consumers and businesses and to mount their own campaigns to promote broadband.
* searching actively for partnerships to extend broadband to less commercially viable areas.
He said: "This is a stretching programme, but achievable. Through substantial reductions in the cost of providing service we can set prices that will stimulate the market strongly, and make money on it. This is a sustainable business model.
We are committed to making broadband widely available. We are driving for growth across the entire market. To be sure of meeting these targets we need the support of the entire broadband community including particularly content creators and providers."
Paul Reynolds, CEO of BT Wholesale said: "We have now achieved the price that service providers told us they needed to get end user prices below £30. We have made sustained improvements in network service levels in recent months and are taking action on automation to help service providers to improve the customer experience even further.
We expect these new low prices to drive up demand for broadband. Now the momentum for broadband take-up should build. Today's announcement is a first step, but a significant one."
This makes it possible for ISPs to charge between £25 and £30 per month for end-user (residential) access, although we can't help but feel that only a few providers will make proper use of the cut, as is always the case.
The reduction is exactly what people have been waiting so long for and now only leaves coverage as an issue, which is expected to increase with demand. Now we'll just have to wait and see how Oftel reacts, although BT will likely get the cuts through no matter what. |
News - February 25,2002
Record Number of Text Messages
By:mark.j @ 3:34:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Mobile Data Association has said that the number of text messages being sent in the UK, mostly by mobile phones, has risen by 100 Million to a record 1.4 Billion last month!
Apparently we'll be sending an average of 60 Million per day by the end the year, personally I just send one every week to avoid RSI =). |
NTLs 1Mbps Broadband Service
By:mark.j @ 2:55:PM - Comments (19) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's long been known that NTL planned to introduce a 1Mbps (1024Kbps) broadband cable modem (Gold Tier) service, however today DigitalSpy has finally managed to get some official information:
"The '1 Meg' tier will be configured at 1024 down and 256 up. It will not launch in all of our broadband areas at once. We'll let you know more as soon as we can.
The ntl:home Broadband Team"
Also as previously rumoured, the new tier increases the upstream speed to 256kbps. Existing customers on the 'silver' 512kbps downstream speed achieve a maximum of 128kbps upstream.
Unfortunately there's no official pricing yet, hopefully we'll get more on this soon. |
Energis Approached By Buyers
By:mark.j @ 9:42:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The troubled telecoms group Energis, which all but collapsed in value last week, has already been approached by buyers interested in some of its operations:
"We have had some interest in parts of the organisation," spokesman Mark Beeden told Reuters, but he was not aware of any approaches about the company as a whole.
He was unable to comment on any details of the approaches or say which parts of the business were of interest to the possible buyers, adding that Energis would not say more at this stage.
Much as ZDNet points out, the situation is still unclear and we'll have to wait before knowing exactly what kind of impact this will have, especially on the UK ISPs working with them. |
BTs mm02 Halts 3G Development
By:mark.j @ 9:37:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BTs wireless arm, mm02, has opted to postpone the development of its third generation (3G) broadband wireless technology for mobile phones until it can be sure of consumer demand:
The group has earmarked between £3 billion and £4 billion to develop the network.
But it says further development depended on a number of factors, including the availability of handsets which could be used on both 3G networks and the current system, and demand for the service.
An mmO2 spokesman said: "In terms of capital expenditure we will press the button when we have a clear (sense) that there is a clear demand and applications that people want to use."
The Ananova item should concern because it could clear the way for other operators to do the same, although this would end up giving the remaining groups an advantage. We'll have to wait and see how BTs rivals react. |
C&W Cutting Costs - £500 Million
By:mark.j @ 9:31:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Cable & Wireless (C&W) is aiming to cut its spending bill by half as its network-building programme consolidates:
The firm run by Graham Wallace is currently burning cash at a rate of £600m a year - a figure forecast to go up to £900m in the coming year - and is keen to show investors that it will not let its cash pile slip through its fingers.
More @ Silicon. |
Update (2) - BTs R/ADSL Price Cuts
By:mark.j @ 9:23:AM - Comments (7) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UPDATE: The announcement will be made tomorrow morning and the new prices could take affect as soon as Easter.
News taken from an item in yesterdays Sunday Times newspaper has confirmed that BT will indeed announce details of its broadband R/ADSL price cuts this week.
Much as expected the announcement is tipped to come on Tuesday, although it could also be Wednesday. However the Sunday Times also went one step further and stated that the cut is expected to be less than £20 per month, although this is based on obvious estimation from what BT said earlier.
In short there's absolutely nothing in the item that we didn't already know; the only thing it does do is confirm that the announcement will come this week - fingers crossed. |
News - February 24,2002
ISP Review Weekly Update
By:mark.j @ 10:27:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's a very short update this week because I've spent the last month updating a number of things around the site and doing the ISP Of The Year 2001 award, so next week I'll only be semi-active.
In other words I'll do the usual page updates and news items, but nothing else; I need to take a break and plan changes for the future. On a side note and we did also manage to re-do the R/ADSL listings (not 'quite' done yet) and update ISP submissions for other lists.
Focus has now turned toward the next major forum upgrade, the Reader ISP Reviews system and revamping all the sub-sections of the site (much like we've done with the Top10 page etc.). So have a good weekend and hopefully like us you'll be looking for some broadband R/ADSL price cuts next week =). |
News - February 23,2002
Europe Online Satellite ISP = Bankrupt
By:mark.j @ 9:46:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Thanks to one of our readers (David) for letting us know that Europe Online (EON) has officially declared bankruptcy. EON, which you'll note hasn't been listed in our broadband satellite ISP list for awhile, technically stopped being an ISP last year.
Despite this the service did still offer fast Internet downloads, yet mainly concentrated on TV/Multimedia. Economically speaking it was quite good value, yet not anymore:
Europe Online Networks (EON) declared today that they have placed a bankrupty petition with the Luxembourg court. So EON is another Internet-via-Sat provider who failed. EON used transponders on the ASTRA Sattelite-Network.
EON changed its strategy almost every day during the last year, so no new customers could be aquired. Inofficial statements say that EON already "wasted" 50 million euro. EON's financees now obviously didn't believe in its success any longer and rejected further investments.
More news (in German, above is translated) can be found on the Infosat page, although no doubt some people will be sad to see them go, yet it's not a surprise. |
BT CAN Push DSL Price Cuts Through
By:mark.j @ 9:36:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Apparently BT could get around Oftels process for investigating whether the forthcoming R/ADSL price cut is fair or not by implementing it before the review is finished:
BT must announce details of any price cuts 28 days before they are due to come into effect. But if the telecoms regulator Oftel, which will decide whether any price changes are anti-competitive, hasn't made a decision after this time then BT can bring them into effect. Previous Oftel investigations have taken much longer than one month.
The means that BT should be able to bring its new broadband strategy into effect even if it is accused of predatory pricing -- something that Bulldog Communications has already cited as a reason to stop the price cuts.
Oftel told ZDNet UK News that although the 28-day window was to ensure that both the regulator and the industry knew that a price change was imminent, it was not designed as an opportunity for investigation.
ZDNet does a very good job of looking at an issue that's often misinterpreted or overlooked, of course being a site for end-users then it doesn't really matter, we just want the price cut =)! |
Energis Down 90% In Value!
By:mark.j @ 9:27:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Energis, the telecoms company that helps to supply several UK ISPs with dialup (0845 and unmetered) connections, is in serious trouble after it lost 90% of its market value in just two days!
70% was lost on Thursday and a further 25% yesterday didn't help matters, shares closed at just 3pence each:
Its troubles have dragged down the rest of the alternative telecommunications carriers with it, with Thus, Colt Telecom and Cable & Wireless all performing badly, though Colt, in particular, has its own worries after announcing 500 job cuts yesterday.
The telecom sector has been troubled by a series of profit warnings in the last couple of months but the news that Energis ‘expected’ to breach its banking covenants next month, and is unlikely to be able to keep paying its bondholders, could potentially be a nail in the coffin.
Former parent National Grid has declined to step in and help Energis, which can hardly be surprising. The company’s problems may well go beyond simple cashflow issues. Like others in the sector, Energis bought over-priced businesses, and massively invested in infrastructure which it can no longer support. The number of companies that could take on a debt of this magnitude and see the company through to profitability is small.
The netimperative.com item shows just how serious the situation is, although we're not sure if it'll ultimately end up affecting its UK ISP deals or not. Energis tend to be a good alternative to BT for ISPs and that’s a hard thing to find. |
News - February 22,2002
EasyNET's LLU xDSL Pricing
By:mark.j @ 4:11:PM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UPDATE: Andrew let us know that the DSL2000 offer price was a typo (as expected) and actually costs £131 per month not £109.
The World-Of-ADSL is reporting that EasyNET has released the pricing for their R/ADSL broadband services under Local Loop Unbundling (LLU).
Much as expected there's no residential offering available because it's primarily a business service. However most interesting of all is that the packages go up to 8192kbps (8mbit) in speed! We'll list the standard ADSL options below:
ADSL
DSL 500.:
Setup = £295
Rental Charge = £86.66 per month
Download Speed = 512kbps
Upload Speed = 256kbps
DSL 1000.:
Setup = £295
Rental Charge = £109 per month
Download Speed = 1024kbps (1mbit)
Upload Speed = 256kbps (0.2mbit)
DSL2000.:
Setup = £295
Rental Charge = £109 per month
Download Speed = 2048kbps (2mbit)
Upload Speed = 256kbps (0.2mbit)
DSL4000
Setup = £695
Rental Charge = £196.66 per month
Download Speed = 4096kbps (4mbit)
Upload Speed = 256kbps (0.2mbit)
DSL8000
Setup = £895
Rental Charge = £230 per month
Download Speed = 8192kbps (8mbit)
Upload Speed = 256kbps (0.2mbit)
The basic 512Kbps offer may not inspire, yet it's soon clear to see why LLU holds such an advantage once you get to 1Mbit and above. However there appears to be a discrepancy since both 1Mbit and 2Mbit offers cost £109 per month? |
Mac Users Gain Satellite Broadband
By:mark.j @ 4:01:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Users of the Mac system are often a group shamelessly overlooked for support by many ISPs, even in broadband. However all that could be about to change after Isonetric announced the May 2002 launch of its Mac broadband satellite service called Soho.
The package will offer data transmission of up to 4MBps (megbits per second) with a minimum download speed of 512KBps per site and an upload speed of 128KBps.
There are two ways of connecting - either by USB or RJ45, a proprietary connectivity standard. Development of the RJ45 connection for Mac is holding up the release of the service. The company is still busy ironing-out a number of flaws.
Isonetric is already running the satellite service for PC users. It claims to be one of the first to supply satellite broadband products over 100% of the UK.
The information, which was revealed at Macworld 2002, will no doubt be greeting with some optimism by those with Mac's and living outside of Cable or xDSL coverage. There's also some extra info. on the ISP in our broadband section. |
V21 To Cough Up For Charity
By:mark.j @ 3:51:PM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ISP Review forum member Elmer_Fudd seems to have been causing somewhat of a sensation after he posted the following message in our forum two weeks ago HERE:
Going through some old V21 publicity material, I noticed that Steve Kaye pledged to send 10p to Bernardo's for every new user that signed up.
Could you please tell us how much Bernardo's actually got from V21 ? I suppose I can always ask Bernardo's and publish it here, if you're not forthcoming with an answer.
Elmer's comments and those that followed were the very same ones that annoyed V21 to the point of instructing all their "staff including Nick NOT to answer any further questions or complaints" in our forums (not the whole ISP – obviously =]).
Unfortunately the problem didn't go away, at least that was until today when The Register did an item on it =). In short:
Steve Kaye wouldn't say exactly how much money would be handed over but it's understood that it could run into a four figure sum. "We’re talking thousands, not hundreds," he said.
Confirmation of Mr Kaye’s generosity should draw a line under a bitter row that has erupted on ISPReview bulletin board.
Barnardo’s should now be "expecting a sum of money" sometime in the near future and hopefully Elmer can rest in the knowledge that the Charity will be rewarded. |
NTL Sells Australian Subsidiary
By:mark.j @ 3:34:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] NTL could be about to shave a further £308.3 Million off their debt pile if the sale of an Australian subsidiary goes to plan:
NTL Australia, which owns and operates an extensive terrestrial broadcast transmission network, is to be bought by investment bank Macquarie. The bank is also expected to assume outstanding debt totalling £82.3 million.
NTL's chief executive Barclay Knapp says the Australian business had performed above expectations, but the group's priorities lay elsewhere.
Unfortunately the sale shows just how serious NTLs situation is because the Australian wing was actually one of their most profitable outlets. More @ Ananova. |
Hampshire Calls For Broadband
By:mark.j @ 3:29:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It looks as if Hampshire villagers have had about as much as they can take of slow Internet connections and are demanding broadband, can't say we blame them!:
Residents of Tadley, Slichester and the surrounding area have created an online petition and are hoping enough locals sign up to force BT or another broadband provider to wire them up.
To rub salt into wounds, the villages are surrounded by broadband-enabled Reading, Basingstoke and Newbury.
Nigel Grigsby, a local resident who is organising the campaign, said: "The surrounding towns all have cable or ADSL. Here we've got nothing. I've rung BT countless times to find out when we will be getting broadband, but I've got nowhere," he added.
The item above may seem familiar to a number of our readers, myself included, whom live in locations where the only hole in the regional coverage happens to be your own area.
The Web-User item reports that the villagers are now hoping to persuade Tele2 into aiding their cause, although they'll need 100 people before anything comes of that. More HERE. |
Oftel Reports Business Internet Growth
By:mark.j @ 3:20:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] According to Oftels latest press release the number of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) online with the Internet has gone up from 55% during May 2001 to 63%:
Almost two in three small and medium sized businesses now also use a mobile phone, a figure that has been steadily increasing for the past six months.
Carried out during November 2001, the research also revealed that 36 per cent of all SMEs use more than one fixed telecoms supplier and one in three SMEs use an unmetered Internet access package.
And over one third of medium businesses are now using leased lines.
Commenting on these findings, Peter Waller, Director of Operations at Oftel, said today: "Oftel's new research shows that the take up of telecoms services by UK businesses continues to rise. Over 60 per cent of small and medium sized businesses are connected to the Internet.
Almost three in five medium size businesses now connect to the Internet using an alternative to the traditional telephone network, such as cable modems and DSL.
Although small and medium sized businesses' expenditure on telecoms services is relatively small compared to their annual turnover, it is still important that they are able to make well-informed purchasing decisions.
Sources such as the website http://www.telecomsadvice.org.uk continue to provide important information which can help businesses make the right telecoms choice for them." |
BT Restarting R/ADSL Rollout?
By:mark.j @ 3:14:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] You read that right; ADSLGuide has a snippet from one of their sources stating that up to 600 new exchanges could be enabled over the next 15 months, although that's still a drop in the ocean for rural areas:
my lunch time doughnut had a little note in it saying that we may see 100 extra exchanges enabled by end of March 2002, with possibly a further 500 within 15 months.
The first batch (100) would seem to fit with the news we've been seeing of extra public-business partnership programs, although it's interesting to note that this was announced BEFORE the price cuts (demand not taken into account – yet?).
In other words the number could rise if demand for the cheaper xDSL is strong enough; of course BT has yet to announce the cuts, these are now expected next week. |
Zen Offers Dev ASP.NET Applications
By:mark.j @ 9:35:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Zen Internet (ISP) has become one of the first providers to offer developers the ability to create ASP.NET applications and host ASP.NET sites with its new .NETspace packages. Please note that we cut out the extra ramble because the press release was far too big:
Zen tools up for the .NET revolution
Would you like to be able to order 10 different items at 10 different Web sites, without having to fill in your personal or company details 10 different times?
This is just one in a range of possibilities for users made possible by .NET, the first step towards an 'everyday' Web. In plain terms, it's a framework for running applications independently of particular devices and the Microsoft platform for XML Web services, the next generation of software that connects information, devices, and people.
Ideally, .NET services will be delivered to 'always on' users as packages in which the exact boundaries between numerous transactions will become increasingly blurred or entirely unseen. Personally-tailored services will reach the user, automatically adapted from a variety of sources.
Already an official Microsoft WPP (Web Presence Provider) and one of the few ISPs that is also a Microsoft Certified Partner, Zen Internet will be offering developers the ability to write ASP.NET applications and host ASP.NET sites, using their .NETspace hosting package.
As part of the .NET framework, ASP.NET helps deliver dynamic, high-performance Web applications in record time. Developers can choose either the traditional method of manually coding ASP.NET applications, or they can use Microsoft's VisualStudio.Net software, dubbed "the ultimate programmer's toolset", which promises to massively reduce the time it takes to write applications.
Businesses can increase their revenue streams by easily making their own XML Web services available to other merchants. A car retailer, for example, would benefit from a link to a motor insurance quotation service; a travel agency would be interested in a ready made currency converter to incorporate into their Web site.
Priced at only £250 (ex. Vat) per year, .NETspace provides a full set of the necessary hosting components that a developer needs to embrace the full capabilities of ASP.NET.
There are more details about Zen's .NETspace - and secure online ordering - at: http://www.zenwebhosting.com/ |
Urgle Set For Re-Launch
By:mark.j @ 9:27:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's not strictly ISP related, however one of our moderators did ask for it to be posted. Apparently Urgle, which offers free promotion to webmasters from both Personal and Business sectors, is to re-launch next month:
A Great bit of news has just been confirmed, a sponsorship between Urgle and Mill City Internet.
We are moving up the ladder to provide on of the best webmaster resource centres around and with a partnership from Mill City Internet.
The Partnership is in a way that wont change the management and service quality of Urgle, Instead it will change Speed and Performance, Mill City Internet is providing a new dedicated server for which Urgle will be powered, and with as much bandwidth at our fingertips than ever before we will be able to add new services to the urgle listing.
Starting Tuesday, we will be converting everything to our new dedicated server and getting everything setup for a new relaunch on March 1st when we hope Urgle SFTS V2.0 will be ready to launch.
We are eagerly awaiting the relaunch to provide several services which will rival many of our competitors, and provide one of the best experiences that Urgle members alike will have ever seen.
Urgle is the only UK based of it kind providing free promotion to webmaster from both Personal and Business sectors. Before Urgle closed for revamp we had gathered a stagering 3500 active members and now that Urgle is getting Bigger and Better we expect this to top 5000 before our Grand relaunch on March 1st 2002. Pre-Registration is online now at http://www.urgle.co.uk
We hope to see many of our previous members signup again (people who have pre-registered need not signup again) and enjoy the service they enjoyed for over 3 months. |
COLT's Mounting Losses - Jobs Lost
By:mark.j @ 9:23:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] COLT Telecom, the operator behind several UK ISPs, has seen its shares tumble by roughly 14% after it reported Q4 losses of £75.2m compared with £19.5m in the same period for 2000.
The operator has warned of further difficulties for Q1-2002 with revenue growth likely to be down on the previous two quarters:
Colt responded by cutting 500 jobs – around 10% of its workforce.
Over the full 12 months, the company reported losses of a whopping £241m compared with £117m in 2000.
During 2001, the company raised £499m from the sale of 801m ordinary shares and exercised options, leaving Colt with balances of cash and liquid resources of £1.3m in December, compared with £1.65m a year earlier. The company is struggling under a debt mountain thought to total £1.4bn.
More @ netimperative.com . |
News - February 21,2002
Internet Running Out Of Space?
By:mark.j @ 3:04:PM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] European Union has warned that the Internet is fast running out of space for new users and states that governments and industry must work together in order to solve the problem:
EU Commissioner Erkki Liikanen says getting the new system up and running before addresses run out in three or four years is vital.
The new communications system, known as Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), will increase the number of internet addresses.
However, experts say moving to the new system could cost billions of dollars worldwide to replace equipment and software and update existing applications.
It's worth noting that many of the worlds networks are already moving over to IPv6, however the fear is that the process is taking far too long and this could cause serious problems because of its universal nature. More @ Ananova. |
Announcement: Winner - ISP Of The Year
By:mark.j @ 9:58:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UPDATE: We made a nasty mistake with PlusNet's score, this has now been corrected and they're in second place instead of Firenet - sorry for the mistake.
The winner for ISP Reviews 'ISP Of The Year 2001' award is the unmetered ISP SurfUnlimited from blueyonder, Telewests ISP division.
SurfUnlimited, at the time of listening to opinions, rated the highest out of all the reader nominated ISPs and came out on top thanks to a combination of unmatchable (for BT based ISPs) price and support. Note that this award only applies to the previous year ending December 31st 2001.
The runners up are as follows:
2. PlusNet
3. Firenet
4. SurfAnyTime
5. Vispa Internet
Please visit our official awards page (top link) and click the link to the 2001 award inside there for more. You can also view the review for each of the five ISPs in the usual places. |
PC Doctor Helps Save ISPs Money
By:mark.j @ 9:40:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's already difficult for most UK ISPs to operate a competitive unmetered solution and provide good technical support and services, yet a new piece of software could help save some of that cash:
PC Doctor OnCall Technology is looking to introduce a FREE PC Healthcheck tool that both ISP's and end users will be able to benefit from. The ultimate goal is to bring down the cost of the ISP's technical support by empowering subscribers to conduct a FREE PC Healthcheck before they contact their ISP.
The tool is provided free, a report detailing the results of the PC Healthcheck are provided free and all future upgrades of PC Doctor OnCall will be free. The company earns revenues should subscribers find they have a PC with a substantial number of problems which they cannot service themselves. They order a proprietary one click repair solution with a no quibble money back guarantee which also speeds up their internet connection.
This avoids contacting the ISP's technical support when the problem may well be the subscribers computer itself. The key objective of the technology is to streamline the technical burden on ISP's so they can bring down the costs of technical support to an acceptable level. This ultimately will be in the interests of both subscribers and the ISP's.
For further information please visit http://www.pc-doctoroncall.co.uk for a FREE download of the software and a FREE PC Healthcheck. |
BT Push For xDSL Partnerships
By:mark.j @ 9:35:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] In order to save them money, and increase the rollout of broadband R/ADSL, BT is to lobby Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and businesses around Britain in an attempt to help stimulate broadband:
If successful, the move could make it economically viable for BT to install ADSL equipment in more parts of the country.
Having rolled out ADSL to just over 1,000 local exchanges -- mostly in towns and cities -- BT insists that it is not yet economically viable to extend its high-speed services to rural areas. Take-up of broadband has been disappointing in areas where it is available, and BT has concluded that demand will be even lower in areas with fewer homes and businesses.
One such scheme, called Access for Cornwall through Telecommunications for New Opportunities Worldwide (ACT NOW), is already underway. This initiative has seen the European Regional Development Council contribute £5.7m to subsidise broadband rollout and marketing -- and in return BT is spending at least £1.7m to upgrade up to 12 local exchanges.
None of this is surprising, although if BT had any sense they'd offer a special system on their website to gage regional interest. Still if regional authorities can show BT there's demand for R/ADSL then they'll offer it. More @ ZDNet. |
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