February 6, 2002 - February 11, 2002
News - February 11,2002
John Malone To Rescue NTL?
By:mark.j @ 9:40:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Some weekend newspaper reports have suggested that John Malone, often referred to as 'The Cable Guy' and head of Liberty Media, could be the one to rescue NTL by acquiring 51% of their business:
Secret meetings have already taken place between Malone and NTL chief executive Barclay Knapp, according to yesterday's Observer. Knapp needs to make inroads into his company's £12bn debts.
The Silicon item reports that Malone already owns 25% of Telewest, which would be good news because TW and NTL have always been touted for a future merger. |
News - February 10,2002
ISP Review Weekly Update
By:mark.j @ 10:12:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Unfortunately there’s not much to report this week, so much time has been taken up covering the news that we’ve had next to nothing spare for anything else. So what have we been up to other than news? Well..
Firstly the new ‘Reader ISP Reviews’ system has now been decided upon and will be an internal system, which should go live around April. It’s kind of late, but the External one we’d planned to use had barely any features and cost the earth, it’s cheaper to code our own. This process has now begun, so we’re officially developing.
The Top 10 ISPs page should be the next to get a revamp next week; I’ve already got a rough mental image of how it’ll look, although nothing will be coded until Monday. We’ll also try to finalise the look of the awards page, which is still too ‘bitty’ for my liking.
We’ll try to re-do our Satellite ISP listings as well, which should include more details about the Satellite used and location in the sky + fewer general comments.
Next up and we’d like to welcome Nick (Brownie) as a new moderator on our forums; he replaces Ballboy, who went M.I.A sometime ago. Ross, moderator and news guy, has also gone into inactive mode in order to finish off his education.
Finally, and only if there’s time, we’ll completely finish our ‘ISP Of The Year’ testing by next Friday and hope to have some reviews and a winner for the following week. It’s going to be close and all ISPs have done well, we just need to re-test multiplayer speeds one last time to finalise our opinions. |
More MSN Messenger Exploits
By:mark.j @ 9:34:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] These days you'd be forgiven for avoiding any kind of 'Instant Messenger' (IM) software given the number of exploits and security flaws, which seem to get reported almost daily. Unfortunately today is no exception, this time for MSN Messenger:
Among the fun and games one can have with a vulnerable Messenger user are such sports as impersonating the victim and sending spoof messages and spoof e-mail memos to his contacts, and scouring his local drive for interesting files to share around.
In other words, you can do anything with the victim's Messenger client that the owner can do.
It's well worth reading THIS item from The Register in order to keep up to speed with some of the many problems. Sadly there's currently no patch, typical. |
Serious Affinity/SurfAnyTime Outage
By:mark.j @ 9:28:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Dialup providers, especially popular unmetered ISPs such as SurfAnyTime (SAT), all appear to have been hit by a very serious network outage that's affecting everything from dialup to E-Mail. The following update was pulled from the SAT status page yesterday:
09/02/02 16:30
In the last 1/2 hour, our suppliers, have had a major server outage, this is affecting all Affinity ISPs on all their dialup numbers, 0845 included.
Technical staff are currently working to resolve the issue.
Further updates will be notified here.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
Unfortunately no further official update has been made and some people still appear to be experiencing problems. |
Top 10 Viruses - January 2002
By:mark.j @ 9:23:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] VNUNet has published a list of the Top 20 Viruses (On and Offline) for the previous month, the first ten of which are as follows:
1 - Badtrans.B - 61.1%
2 - MyParty.A - 4.3%
3 - Magistr.B - 3.6%
4 - Sircam - 2.9%
5 - Nimda.A - 2.3%
6 - Maldal.G - 1.6%
7 - Magistr.A - 1.4%
8 - Gokar - 1.3%
9 - Klez - 1.3%
10 - Nimda.D - 1.0%
It’s always wise to make sure your scanning software can cope with all of the above. |
News - February 9,2002
Totalise Moves Into Administration
By:mark.j @ 10:06:AM - Comments (13) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Our forum readers have been quick to point out THIS announcement on Totalise's site, the key parts are copied below. Thankfully the ISP aspect of Totalise should run on, we hope:
THE PRESENT
Totalise plc shares that are listed on the Alternative Investment Market were suspended on the 1st February 2002 because the company did not publish interim accounts. These situations are never straightforward and I cannot really comment at this time about the events surrounding this.
Following on from this, Totalise plc has gone into Administration. This is where the company is run by Administrators whose role it is to secure the best possible outcome for involved parties.
A company controlled by myself, has purchased most of the assets and subsidiaries, these will all continue to operate as normal with no anticipated problems.
THE FUTURE
I am pleased with the businesses we have developed to date and regret that their profitability was not enough to support the holding company.
I plan to grow these businesses going forward within Spans Partners Ltd and will find ways for practically all current shareholders to be involved if they wish to be.
I will focus on improving the businesses in the short term and once we are happy with customer service levels, I will work on giving those who currently own shares purchased in Totalise plc at IPO or on the open market a similar shareholding in the new company.
Whilst the situation with the Totalise plc holding company is not good at all, this way I hope that many people will see a return on any investments they may have made in Totalise plc and will continue to support these great businesses.
In addition to this a scheme will be available for Marketing shareholders to gain similar shareholding to that they have in Totalise plc in the new business should they wish to support it. Note that these processes are likely to take several months to organise.
Services previously operated by Totalise plc will operate as per normal. Only the Totalise plc holding company is under Administration. All the ex-businesses of Totalise plc are now operated by Spans Partners Ltd.
Please note:
- Your @totalise.co.uk email addresses will continue to work as normal.
- The www.totalise.net portal will continue to work as normal.
- Your domain names and hosting packages will continue to work as normal.
- Your Internet access will continue as normal.
- Eurekar, Flowers2send, Totalise Hosting and Totalise Telecom will not be affected. |
V21 ISP Updates On New Packages
By:mark.j @ 9:56:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Following several days worth of feedback from its users, the unmetered dialup ISP V21 has today updated its new package listings page; the following update helps explain some of the changes:
The page at http://www.v21.co.uk/helpdesk/more/new_accounts.htm has been updated to take on board some of the comments here over the last few weeks. The key changes are:
V21 Standard account changed to £14.99 per month for 56 hours at 10:1 contention and now includes webspace, cgi-bin, and free co.uk domain name.
New Small Business account type added.
From when these products are launched, there will no longer a 1 month cancellation period. You will be able to cancel at any time up to five days before your next due date and the account will be closed at the end of the paid for period.
It's very important to remember that the 56 hour limit is WEEKLY and works out as 56 / 7 = 8 hours per day, which is a normal max allowance among similar providers.
However while the surfing hours seem fair, the most important thing will be for the ISP itself to improve. Slow speeds, random disconnections and engage tones continue to be complained about. |
TDC ISP DDoS Update & New Package
By:mark.j @ 9:44:AM - Comments (11) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The ISP and networking group once recognised as TheDogmaGroup or 0800OnlineServe, Thedotcomplete, has issued a recovery notice following the recent DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, which had taken them offline:
Thedotcomplete has recovered from the DDoS attack that brought most of the network down last week. The network is functioning to an adequate level, and we have in place, some advance hardware and software to help prevent any further attacks from DdOS.
Visit http://status.thedotcomplete.net
The problems of DDoS now over, TDC also took the unusual step of announcing its latest unmetered dialup ISP offering:
SUPER DEAL FOR BUSINESSES ACCESSING THE INTERNET
Thedotservice.net is now offering a great package, which combines, unmetered access and our highest value and feature packed hosting account which is £14.99.
The account any business to grow and provide one of the most complete business solutions available, and all for £14.99 a month. And with excellent contentention ratio's and high speed ISDN access, you can't go wrong.
This package includes a free.co.uk domain name.
Corporate Hosting
-Unlimited webspace hosted on Windows NT or 2000
-iHTML Support
-Unlimited Sub Directories
-SSL Server
-Unlimited email boxes\unlimited addresses
-Webstatistics
-email routing
-Personal FTP Server
-Web Logs
-Front Page Extensions
-2 Domains registered.
-ISDN Access
-Cold Fusion or Linux Option
-0808 FRIACO Internet access
-Support for ISDN 64k , V90, K56Flex and 56K
-3:1 Contention ratio Business
-2 hour cut-off.
-Unlimited email addresses
-News Group access with over 90,000 + news groups.
-All website requests routed through dedicated access Servers
-0800 free phone technical Support
-All for £14.99 a month.
Signup at http://www.thedotservice.net
We are also taking pre-subscriptions for a 128K Surf time plan, at the same address. This is a limited deal only. Signup now!
We're somewhat puzzled by how they can afford such a low contention of 3:1 on a standard FRIACO unmetered package, mathematically that barely allows you any surfing at all.
Of course this isn’t really a package for surfing, more specifically access to the hosting offer presented above; it’d be unable to cope with longer surfing hours due to the economics of having such a low ratio. |
News - February 8,2002
Totalise Share Suspension - Update
By:mark.j @ 3:38:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's not the first time we've heard reports of the Totalise ISP suspending shares, yet today it happened again:
Speculation about the company’s future has intensified over the last week or so, made worse by Totalise’s failure to communicate with its shareholders.
Some are so concerned at being blanked they are trying to force the company to convene an emergency meeting.
No one from the company was available for comment this morning.
Judging by the language @ The Register we should have some more details by tomorrow. |
Nortel Adds v.92 To Server-Side Modems
By:mark.j @ 3:33:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Thanks to JC for letting us know that Nortel has issued the following news update regarding v.92 support for existing server-side modems:
7-Feb-02 - V.92 with Nortel CVX - V.92 code released for ISPs using Nortel Network's server-side modems in CVX RAS. The code supports V.44 compression, V.92 Quick Connect and Modem-on-hold, but there is no PCM upstream support in the release.
NTL is one of several providers offering ISP services using such modems as connection terminals for customers. NTL had previously stated they couldn't upgrade to v.92 until Nortel issued the update, now there's no excuse. |
SneakServers ISP Vanishes
By:mark.j @ 3:27:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The highly questionable new unmetered ISP, which had offered 128Kbps support with not cut-off for £14.99 per month, has vanished. Visiting the SneakyServers website today simply shows the following message:
The site you were visiting has been disabled.
Only two people appeared to work there and few have been able to gain physical contact with either individual. We’ll keep you posted if this changes. |
BT Enables More Exchanges - xDSL
By:mark.j @ 3:23:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] While we can't vouch for R/ADSL availability checkers at third party ISPs, ADSLGuide is reporting that some new exchanges in the Cornwall area have been updated with the one on BT's broadband page HERE.
This is related to the ACT-NOW project and the new regions are Penzance, Newquay, St Austell and Redruth, which should all be ready by March. Falmouth, Camborne, Launceston, Bodmin, Saltash, Penryn, St Ives and Bude are also on the list to be upgraded further down the line.
Unfortunately it’s just a small drop in the ocean of roughly 8,000 UK exchanges, only just over 1,000 have been enabled so far and that’s mostly for inner-city areas. |
Tiscali Axes 20 Jobs – Adds 30
By:mark.j @ 3:13:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The still troubled Tiscali UK ISP is to axe 10% of its workforce, 20 jobs, as part of a wider reorganisation; ironically it's also supposed to create 30 new ones:
The company is currently in consultation and says that it has yet to make anyone redundant.
In a statement the ISP said: "Whilst there may be less than 20 redundant positions, an equivalent number of new positions have been created across the business."
"These positions will contribute to the effective delivery of our business strategy," it said.
The Register notes that it's not the first time we've seen Tiscali cut its workforce in an attempt to restructure; they did the same thing to roughly 250+ people during 2001 last year. The question is, was it really worth it? |
Quick ISP Review Site Update
By:mark.j @ 10:42:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Just a few quick notes about ISP Review today, as well as updating the complaints page we've also changed the survey. Results from the previous one are as follows:
What intermediate R/ADSL speed would you want?
64/64Kbps - 1.9%
128/64Kbps - 5.4%
128/128Kbps - 8.6%
256/128Kbps - 24.4%
256/256Kbps - 59.6%
Total votes: 1085
Unfortunately for technical and or supply reasons with RADSL we can only petition BT for 256/128Kbps broadband, which is something we'll do in the near future because it's possible and came second best.
However the new survey is much more important because we'll use it in the near future as part of an article looking into surfing hours and expectations. It asks, "Max monthly surfing hours expected from unmetered ISP costing £14.99 PM?".
If you don't know how to work this out then simply tally your average daily hours and multiply that by 30 and select your closest average from the options listed. We'll compare any results with responses from several different ISPs as to their own beliefs. |
Opera Internet Browser v6.01 FINAL
By:mark.j @ 9:47:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The increasingly popular Opera Internet browser has finally released the bug fix update v6.01 (final – no longer beta) for its original v6 release. You can download it HERE.
If you’re sick of MS IE then this makes for a good alternative, although you’ll need to register to get rid of those ugly banners. |
The Welsh Connection - Broadband
By:mark.j @ 9:24:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Wales would seem to have just as many (if not more) problems with broadband as we do. Thankfully one of our readers (Mr_Paris) was able to get an official reply from one of the groups (WDA) involved with helping the rollout and inception:
I can tell you that the WDA stresses great importance to the availability of advanced broadband telecommunication services; indeed, we see it as a prerequisite to Wales' transition to an Information Society and Knowledge Economy.
This is one of the reasons why last year we published the Ubiquitous Broadband Infrastructure for Wales Report, (which is available on the web site www.wis.org.uk), which sets out 12 policy recommendations. Following on from the publication of the policy document, we have been working on the development of a costed implementation plan to implement the policies outlined in the report. In developing this costed implementation plan we undertook a series of workshops and consultations with various stakeholders across Wales.
This Action Plan will shortly be presented to the National Assembly for Wales for their endorsement. The Action Plan does address the needs of small and medium sized businesses in Wales and in particular, includes a strand to support the roll out of satellite ADSL.
I am also in discussions with BT regarding their pilot satellite ADSL service and I am hopeful that Wales will be able to participate alongside Scotland, Northern Ireland and South West of England. I am planning to conclude matters with BT so that Wales can participate in this programme from April.
I can assure you that the WDA has been extremely active in trying to address these broadband issues. Indeed, it was the WDA who pioneered a programme with BT that resulted in ADSL roll out in 10 rural towns across Wales.
I am sure that we will be hearing some positive news from Wales shortly, explaining how we intend to implement the policy recommendations coming out of the Ubiquitous Broadband Infrastructure for Wales report.
We don’t often cover news related to surrounding countries due to it being difficult to find any, but this will no doubt be interesting to our readers from Wales. The reply itself came from the WDA’s Director of Media Technology Programmes. |
Tiscali UK Strike ISP CD-Rom Deal
By:mark.j @ 9:13:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It looks as if the Pan-European ISP Tiscali has struck a new deal with Internet Exchange to distribute sign-up CDs around Europe, including the UK:
The deal will see Tiscali CD-Roms available in Internet Exchange’s 70 UK internet cafes, 30 French sites and a further 30 in Spain, along with its franchise outlets across Europe.
Tiscali’s UK CEO Sergio Cellini, CEO for Tiscali UK said he was delighted with the partnership, which would give the ISP a wide distribution network across the continent.
“This deal represents our continued commitment in building Tiscali's distribution outlets and the geographical footprint of their café's compliments our European presence,” he said.
With complaints still coming in about their service we can't help but think that Tiscali would be better placed concentrating on improvements for their existing customers, but what do we know? More @ netimperative.com . |
Free UK Peering Point - LIPEX
By:mark.j @ 9:08:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] You've no doubt heard of the London Internet Exchange (LINX), but have you ever seen the London Internet Provider EXchange (LIPEX)?:
A UK peering point based in Telehouse, London which is free to join! An organisation set up by London Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the UK so they can peer for free using the latest technology in order provide a faster service to their customers. Started October 2001.
Well it's hardly likely to have everybody jumping for joy, although London based ISPs and the technically minded may find it more useful. Apparently LIPEX are "trying to get the word out" about their service and sent the following message:
I thought you may be interested in the following, it’s a free peering point set-up for the benefit of end users. An open peering policy is actively encouraged and they already have a number of POP's. The service is in its first month and has already attracted a fair amount of interest with members such as barrysworld. You can find out more via the site http://www.lipex.net |
News - February 7,2002
BTOpenworld’s Improved Finances
By:mark.j @ 4:59:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The narrow and broadband providing ISP BTOpenworld has, along with this morning’s speech by BTs new CE, announced improved financial results:
BT’s mass-market ISP business – cruelly referred to as BTopenwound by some for its ability to lose so much cash – reported that turnover for the three months to December 31 increased to £59 million from £38 million during the same period last year.
Its narrowband business generated revenues of £31 million for the quarter – much higher than its broadband business, which pulled in £12 million.
BTopenworld's virtual ISP business made up much of the remaining £16 million of revenue. Losses before interest etc (EBITDA) fell 54 per cent on last year from £50 million to £23 million.
It's nice to see an ISP doing well (economically), especially when we're still getting at least three new complaints about their service each week. More interestingly is that BTO claim to have improved customer service, comments?
Overall it’s been a good day for BT with shares up by nearly 8% and promises of cheaper broadband softening residential users for the future, even if Oftel does end up blocking it and sucking us all into a political vacuum. |
Pipex's Broadband R/ADSL Success
By:mark.j @ 4:48:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Having only just launched their record breaking broadband R/ADSL service for residential users, costing under £30 per month, Pipex has now issued a new press release touting its success and a 5% market share:
7 February 2002 - PIPEX, the UK's first commercial ISP, is pleased to report that its recent ADSL wires-only price reduction - slashed to below £30 (inc VAT) - has woken up the British public. This realistic price point and the free set-up are now showing all the signs of successfully kick-starting Broadband Britain - something that was desperately needed to put the UK back on track if it is to become Europe's best place for high-speed digital Internet access.
Since its ground-breaking price reduction, PIPEX has now become the fastest growing Broadband provider in the UK by some margin. With a daily take-up of more than 300 new connections, PIPEX confidently forecasts that by the end of the month, it will be well on target to have connected over 5% of the UK's total current ADSL installed base - an incredible milestone to achieve in just one month.
These results overwhelmingly demonstrate that demand for Broadband in
Britain is high - but only at a realistic price point. PIPEX expects to see BT's wholesale circuit prices fall by up to £5 during the summer, if not earlier, and predicts significant further BT price drops by the end of year.
However, PIPEX has removed the need for customers to hold back from Broadband in the hope of a better deal later on. We have a minimum wires-only contract period of just 30 days, which means when BT drops the price, PIPEX has the freedom of choice to pass on any cost reduction immediately to all its existing customers.
Furthermore, PIPEX sees no argument in blocking price cuts because of unfair competition regulatory matters currently being looked into by OFTEL. This is simply ridiculous and will create a Broadband competition with no winners - only one loser, the British public.
David Rickards, MD of PIPEX, commented, "This early success should send out a clear message to the market and indeed BT ... demand is there if the price is affordable and realistic".
He concluded "We were Pioneers of the Internet in the early days and have proven in a matter of just days that there is simply no better way to invest in creating a Broadband Britain than making the price affordable. With more haste and less waste, it's time to stop talking and start doing!"
Pipex has indeed managed to do something very special and clearly shows that affordable broadband works and is attracting more people onto such services.
Having said that the economics of pricing so low still leave some doubt, only time can tell, yet if Pipex's offer is a long-term success then so shall it be for others. |
BTs Hypertext Links Case - Update
By:mark.j @ 2:32:PM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We believe that nobody should be allowed to maintain a ‘commercial’ ownership over the links we all see and click around the Internet; however that's exactly what could happen if BT gets their way.
In an update to several items we've posted over the past year, a U.S. federal court will next week hear preliminary arguments to determine if this most elemental of Internet functions is the business property of BT or not.
BT Group believes it holds such a patent covering "hypertext links" -- the illuminated text on a webpage that enables users to surf from page to page with the click of a mouse. On Monday, BT will go to court to try to cash in on it.
Its first target is Prodigy, the oldest online access service, which dates back to 1984 and is now a unit of SBC Communications, the second largest U.S. local telephone company.
The former telecoms monopoly maintains that Prodigy, with its 3.6 million customers, is in violation of a hyperlink patent granted years before the Internet as we now know it even existed.
BT is calling the trial a test case whose outcome will determine whether it can commercialise a potentially lucrative patent. If successful, BT intends to go after other American internet service providers, the lone jurisdiction governed by the patent.
"We believe we have a duty to protect our intellectual property and we would expect companies to pay a reasonable royalty based on the revenues that they have enjoyed through the use of that intellectual property," a BT spokeswoman said.
While BT has previously stated that this wouldn't affect the individual Internet user, nobody’s entirely sure of what their plans might be. |
DTIs Broadband Fact-Finding Mission
By:mark.j @ 2:24:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The DTI has launched a Fact-Finding mission into broadband content development projects across the country, which is estimated to cost a cool £95,000:
The study is to be conducted by digital production firm KPE Europe and OC&C Strategy Consultants, and will aim to draw up an account of content development initiatives, areas requiring government input and investigate how “compelling content is marketed and sold.”
The project will also look at fostering pilot projects to improve the business model for broadband content, along the lines of the Bristol Interactive Cluster, a collaborative effort set up between public sector and broadband companies last year.
The netimperative.com item reports that the key aim is to help increase demand for high-speed Internet services (xDSL, Cable Modems and Wireless etc.). |
Hutchison3G Gains CMG Software
By:mark.j @ 12:59:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Anglo-Dutch IT services company, CMG, has won a contract to supply the new Hutchison 3G UK mobile operator with software for picture messages and data (MMS) to next generation mobile handsets.
The five-year deal is CMG's third contract win for multi-media messaging software (MMS) that allows users to send pictures, video and audio clips, adding to existing contracts with Norway's Telenor and Sweden's Telia.
Hutchison will take CMG's software in the UK, Italy, Sweden Australia and Hong Kong - the territories where it has 3G licences.
CMG's win, announced today, deals a second blow to its UK rival Logica, which lost a lucrative Vodafone deal to Sweden's Ericsson last month. |
BT Rivals Fear R/ADSL Price Cut
By:mark.j @ 12:55:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We can't help but feel that BT is aiming to play a political game with rivals and telecoms regulator Oftel by calling their bluff.
Unfortunately Oftel would most likely rule any of the now confirmed wholesale xDSL price cuts to be anti-competitive, thereby giving BT the political advantage. One such rival, Bulldog Communications, has been the first to argue the anti-competitive angle:
Bulldog Communications, which plans to install its own equipment in BT's local telephone exchanges and sell services to ISPs in competition with BT Wholesale, has already called on Oftel to launch an investigation.
Bulldog believes that any cuts in the price of BT's broadband product would constitute predatory pricing -- an attempt to make it impossible for it, and other telcos, to compete with BT Wholesale.
Under local-loop unbundling (LLU), companies can place their equipment in or near a local exchange and provide services such as broadband to ISPs, who then resell them to customers. LLU was supposed to bring in competition at the wholesale level of broadband, but Bulldog believes that BT is attempting to drive rival DSL operators out of business.
Unfortunately for us consumers the ZDNet item also carries a very valid point for BTs competitors, which only helps weigh in the operators political favour.
Of course in not fully understanding the more 'private' economics of raw xDSL it's hard to be sure of anything. We'll just have to wait another two weeks for the big announcement and hope they have a solution to suit everybody, if not then you'll know it's a political move. |
New Packages F.A.Q - V21 & Free24/7
By:mark.j @ 9:28:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The unmetered dialup ISP V21 has updated its recently announce package page HERE with some new Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Qs) to help explain some of the common questions. Here's a snip from some of the more interesting ones:
5. Can we see our current usage levels to help us decide which package would be best?
Currently no, but we should have this information available for you by 15th February 2002.
6. Will the service improve as a result of these changes?
Yes it will. Once we have details of your chosen accounts we will be able to plan for a known quantity and ensure that adequate resources are in place to cater for the accounts. By creating a variety of different accounts we will better understand the use you are making and you will better understand how the price is derived.
10. What happens if I don't make a decision?
You will be automatically transferred onto the account type which is the closest price match for your current account.
12. What will happen when I reach my limit for weekly access?
This is still be discussed but following is a possible answer.
When you reach 80% of your limit we will send you an email to advise you that you only have x hours left this week.
If you reach 100% of your limit then your 0808 access will be suspended until the end of the current week |
BT Touts Improved Financial Forecasts
By:mark.j @ 9:16:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Slightly ahead of today’s speech and BT has reported some prediction beating third-quarter 2001 earnings, shares have already climbed this morning by more than 5% to 238-1/2p.
Pre-tax profit before exceptionals and goodwill amortisation was £381Million in the three months to the end of December 2001, compared with a consensus of £330Million on analyst estimates between £240 and 380Million.
BT has changed drastically in the past year. In order to cut its huge debt pile, the company sold off assets, set a record with a huge share issue and scrapped U.S. joint venture Concert.
In the same update BTs new Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen, who has established broadband as a key part of his strategy, told reporters that broadband prices would fall "substantially". A more detailed announcement on the new prices would come in two weeks.
In other words we'll only get a small taste of what's to come today, it'll be another TWO WEEKs before the official strategy is announced. Apparently BTs new CE wants to change the culture of BT by encouraging the former state monopoly to be more confident and open in its actions. "We've been under a stone for too long," he said.
So far so good, things are suddenly starting to look up for broadband consumers both residential and business. |
Freeserve & AOL Call For Cheaper DSL
By:mark.j @ 9:07:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Perhaps timed to add further weight to BTs big speech today, two of the UKs biggest ISPs, Freeserve and AOL, have once again called for cheaper residential R/ADSL broadband:
Matt Peacock, communications director at AOL UK, told vnunet.com: "We've had our broadband team ready to go for over a year in the UK and longer elsewhere.
We're completely committed to making broadband work and our customers want it. We just need the wholesale price to come down enough to sell at a mass market price." Peacock said that meant around £20 to £30 per month.
"Price is the principle issue," said Paul Barker, head of corporate affairs at Freeserve. "We'd like to price a service at £29.99 or £24.99 per month. There is certainly demand at under £30 per month."
Of course it's worth remembering that Pipex recently became the first R/ADSL provider to price their service at under £30 per month (inc. VAT!). The VNUNet item also shows how Content doesn't seem to be such an issue; price and coverage are still the two most important things to solve. |
News - February 6,2002
Official ItsGoodToGive ISP Statement
By:mark.j @ 3:52:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] While we doubt all the Ex-ItsGoodToGive unmetered charity ISP subscribers will have stuck around for this, Roger Sloman from the UK Net Suppliers Org has finally issued an official statement, which should set aside some of the confusion for Ex-Customers:
Announcement on IGTG Site
C4L, Net Suppliers Organisation, V21, Boyannet (now Routo) are pleased to announce that they have agreed an arrangement to maintain the It’s Good To Give (IGTG) ISP and basic website functions such as e-mail.
Although the old IGTG 0800/0808 unmetered dialup numbers are no longer operational, alternative services are available from V21. Use this link http://www.v21.co.uk to access the V21 facilities.
Unfortunately it is not commercially viable to try to maintain the charity-based nature of the website, but any proceeds in terms of Gross Margin from such as sales of 0800 24-7 unmetered Internet Access will be remitted to IGTG by the Net Suppliers Organisation until the correct legal procedures to terminate the IGTG operation are complete.
It is anticipated that the website will then be re-launched as http://www.tvtopbox.net and will provide full and convenient Internet Access and the usual website facilities to previous IGTG subscribers, and users of Net Suppliers’ Netbox TV Top Box.
We apologise for any disruption and confusion caused during the break in normal services, but look forward to providing high quality and convenient Internet Access as soon as the formalities are completed.
If you require any further information please call Net Suppliers’ Technical Support staff on 01636 650 222/221 or the Support Staff of C4L or V21 via the links given in this message.
It seems as if they're pushing V21 for use by ex-customers and hoping some will still be around long enough for TVTopBox to launch, which sounds unusual. |
C&W Calls For BT Break-up
By:mark.j @ 3:42:PM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The chief executive of Cable&Wireless, Graham Wallace, has called for BT to be broken up in order for Broadband Britain to become a reality:
The alternative is a return to total monopoly with potential opposition destroyed by economic downturn and an anti-competitive market.
Wallace blames sluggish growth in the ADSL broadband market on high prices caused by BT owning both a retail business and the local loop - the last mile of the telephone network connecting individual users to local exchanges.
"The solution is to separate the natural monopoly of the local loop from the rest of BT's activities. The current model encourages BT to minimise investment and maximise prices - that's what monopolists do," said Wallace.
Easier said than done; comments are best laid bare until tomorrow’s speech. More @ VNUNet. |
Online Voting Targets Young People
By:mark.j @ 3:36:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] With the government preparing to test the first of several systems for online voting in forthcoming local elections, one of the primary aims is to attract the younger generation:
Thirty local authorities have been asked to run pilot schemes in May. More than half will involve new technologies, including text messaging, touch telephones, digital TV and online voting via home computers.
"We are particularly keen to engage younger voters and feel these new innovations will help," Mr Raynsford said in a written comment to Parliament.
"We propose an ever more extensive programme of pilots at future local elections to open up the possibility of an e-enabled General Election some time after 2006."
Problems aside and we're note entirely sure why it'd be so difficult to make the next general election if forthcoming local trials go well, no doubt a politically motivated decision. More @ Ananova. |
BT Stokes Rumours & Cans Media Plan
By:mark.j @ 3:25:PM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BT has already dropped any plans for offering broadcast/TV services in the foreseeable future; however the troubled Telco has clarified this in front of the House of Commons Media Select Committee.
In the same meeting BT also helped revitalise rumours of broadband xDSL price cuts, read on..:
Chairman Sir Christopher Bland told the House of Commons Media Select Committee that it was highly unlikely BT would ever become involved in making or producing content. "BT just doesn't have the skills, background or desire to enter that very competitive marketplace," he said.
He also stoked rumours over the slashing of BT's ADSL prices. "Within weeks rather than months we will be able to announce new pricing and broadband initiatives," he said.
Reports suggested last month that BT would make a foray into pay-TV over DSL lines, but Bland told the committee that his remarks had been "much misinterpreted". Instead the telco will focus on its long-standing partnerships with Sky and ITV Digital.
No doubt the DSL remarks will gain the most interest, of course he's talking about an 'announcement' and not when such changes might actually occur. Hopefully the initial plans will finally be revealed tomorrow, more @ VNUNet. |
Toshiba’s EU GPRS & 3G Phones
By:mark.j @ 3:16:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Toshiba is set to join the slowly turning wheel of mobile phone manufactures launching GPRS and 3G broadband wireless handsets in Europe with their own model:
Toshiba’s European mobile phone arm will launch its first GPRS phones by the middle of the year, with 3G-enabled devices to follow, ‘as network operators roll out 3G networks’, according to the electronics giant.
The European strategy will be controlled from Toshiba’s Camberley base, with separate R&D, sales, marketing and customer service centres established to support operations.
While the netimperative.com item doesn't provide much in the way of information, it’s a safe bet the phone will support new Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS). Personally we'll just wait for the Nokia 7650 thank you very much. |
New Zetnet (Ex-C9 Customers) Update
By:mark.j @ 10:42:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The ISP officially responsible for taking on customers from the hacked out of business Cloud-Nine service, Zetnet, has today issued yet another update.
In this latest one the provider tries to answer some popular questions about the service change, such as contracts and payment issues etc.:
For those of you who don't know. On the 23rd of January Cloud Nine decided (for several reasons) to stop providing any further internet services. Zetnet came in with a bid to rescue the customers who would have been completely without service from the 1st of February.
Zetnet intend to honour all contracts and continue to provide the same or equivilent services as you had with Cloud Nine. In many cases this will be done with little or no disruption that you will notice. There will be a few disruptions which are unavoidable (we have to move some equipment a couple of hundred miles) but we assure you these will be kept to a minimum and we will try to give you as much advance notice as we can.
We are hoping - and our thanks go to BT on this - that we will be able to continue on the same numbers as you had before
The form on the website is there to help us sort out the database into a format which we can process correctly. If you choose not to enter your card details we will contact you some other way. We will not discontinue any services because you have left information out on the form. Although WE know that everything you enter on there IS secure we quite understand if you are reluctant to enter details.
Customers with an annual contract will continue until the date that the original C9 contract expires - if you can give us a clue as to when that was it does help a lot!
Zetnet's policy on annual contracts is to contact the person about 30 days before the account is due for renewal and invite you to renew.
Zetnet process monthly credit and debit cards in the first week of each month (yes we do accept switch - that was an error on the part of the person who put the form together in a hurry)
We do accept standing orders - and if you wish to pay this way we will be in touch as soon as we can with details. NOTE: You should ensure that your bank STOPS any payment to Cloud Nine immediately
As it is already past the first week of February, we have already processed the cards this month - therefore we won't be taking any monies until the 1st week of March. (I felt this was only fair in view of the problems you were all having)
I think that will cover most of the queries, if there are more we will try and get answers up on the web site.
If you haven't filled in the online form yet - please do so as soon as possible. This should only take a few minutes.
This form is located on the Zetnet website and can be reached by clicking on the link below:
https://www.secure.zetnet.com/c9register/
Note: for speed purposes we have put up a "Self-signed" certificate - this will be replaced by a Thawte certificate as soon as we can obtain one - the site IS secure and you can be assured that your details are only available to our accounts department. |
Dreamcast Compatible ISPs
By:mark.j @ 10:37:AM - Comments (7) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Those using the Internet capabilities of the still popular Dreamcast games console will know that following a decision by Sega the ISP part of the service will end on 1st March 2002 (standard internal dialup).
However we've had several reports by readers complaining that they've so far failed to find an ISP able to act as an alternative, which is apparently a little more complex than standard dialups can provide for (nobody said how or why).
So if anybody reading this owns a Dreamcast and has already managed to find an alternative then we know quite a few readers that would be more than happy to hear your suggestions for an alternative. |
BTOpenworld Delays Wires-Only
By:mark.j @ 10:31:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Some BTOpenworld users may have noticed that despite already being late, February has now started and the ISP has failed to issue its broadband R/ADSL Wires-Only announcement, which was supposed to arrive last week (end of January).
Typically one Web-User item has speculated that this could be in relation to the speech by Ben Verwaayen, BTs chief executive, which is due tomorrow and is rumoured to discuss DSL price cuts:
Asked if BT Openworld knew about a price cut and was holding off for that reason, the spokesman answered: "It's other people speculating and we wouldn't get drawn into that."
Unfortunately the ISP doesn't give another 'credible' reason for the delay; hopefully at least some answers will come tomorrow, hopefully. |
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