November 7, 2002 - November 11, 2002
News - November 11,2002
BTs New Chief Broadband Officer
By:mark.j @ 1:42:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BT has today appointed Alison Ritchie to be its first chief broadband officer. Ritchie will be responsible for directing BTs policy on broadband developments across BT Group:
BT APPOINTS CHIEF BROADBAND OFFICER
Ben Verwaayen, BTs chief executive officer, said: "I am very pleased that Alison is to take on this extremely important role for BT. She brings enormous experience and knowledge, and I know that she will aim to put the needs of the customers first. We are one of the first businesses to appoint a chief broadband officer, a decision that underlines just how central broadband is to BT."
Alison Ritchie said: "I am thrilled to be taking on this new role. To me there is nothing more exciting than broadband. I am looking forward to the challenge of uniting efforts across the whole group to make our offer to customers even better."
BT believes that having a member of the top management team solely focused on broadband is a positive step that will ensure successful delivery of all broadband activities.
Alison will assemble a pan-BT virtual team, working within and being accountable for the lines of business, and delivering strategy and improvement plans end-to-end across the company.
Alison, who will continue to be chief executive of BT Openworld, has wide experience across BT Group, including a spell as BTs director of regulatory affairs.
Alison will step aside from the day to day running of BT Openworld for regulatory reasons. Responsibility for managing that business will be handed over to John Butler, currently director of new services and strategy, supported by senior vice president, Duncan Ingram.
Nothing more exciting than broadband? Well.. |
BSG - Broadband Infrastructure Sharing
By:mark.j @ 1:35:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The UK Broadband Stakeholders Group (BSG) has today suggested that shared infrastructure could help increase UK broadband coverage:
Local authorities or private sector organisations, such as large building companies, should be given the job of digging the trenches for fibre optic cabling, so that different telecoms operators can share the same physical infrastructure, said Keith Todd, chairman of the BSG.
At the moment each operator digs its own trenches, which can account for up to three-quarters of the cost of laying new cable.
If this cost can be reduced, operators are more likely to extend their network coverage, according to Todd. "It is unacceptable to leave one third of the country [without broadband access]," he told vnunet.com.
The BSG also suggested that better spectrum allocation would help in a similar way for broadband wireless access and technologies. More @ VNUNet. |
BTs Pre-Equipped Broadband PCs
By:mark.j @ 1:30:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BT has today launched BT Home Computing, which is a new scheme aiming to sell home computer systems with integrated BT broadband hardware + software:
BT LAUNCHES INTO 2 BILLION HOME COMPUTING MARKET
BT today announced its move into the 2 billion UK home computing market with the launch of its new venture, BT Home Computing. Drawing on the strength of the companys longstanding customer service experience, BT Home Computing is a complete package covering PC choice, installation by a BT engineer and ongoing support. It aims to help customers get the most out of home communications without needing to be a technology expert.
With each PC coming broadband-ready as standard, the move into this market represents a further step in BTs strategy to encourage broadband take-up in the home, following its current 33 million advertising and marketing push. BT Home Computing is expected to generate 150 million of the 681 million broadband-related revenues expected by 2004/5, announced by BT earlier this year.
With BT Home Computing, consumers can choose from a range of packages with guidance from the companys sales staff. Eight packages are available, each featuring a broadband-ready PC complete with pre-installed software, virus protection, and security firewalls. Customers can pay for the package in monthly instalments, starting at £35.99 inc. VAT over a three year period at a highly competitive APR of 12.9%*. At the end of the three years, customers own their PC package.
According to MORI research, over 10.6 million people are unhappy with the home PC they currently have, with an astonishing 71% feeling pressurised to buy a more expensive computer than they wanted. BT Home Computing will address these issues by simplifying the process of choosing and using a PC, from the initial purchase through to installation and ongoing telephone and online support.
Angus Porter, managing director of BT Retails consumer division, said: "Choosing and using a home computer shouldnt be the stressful experience it clearly is. In order to help customers get the most out of technology and communications, weve made it easy for them to choose the right PC with minimum hassle, providing customers with all the support they need along the way.
By teaming up with the very best organisations in computing, we are able to enter a completely new market, building on our commitment to build Broadband Britain, and fill an important gap in the home PC market."
BT has developed partnerships with a range of leading companies to deliver BT Home Computing. PCs are being provided by HP and Toshiba and each of the PCs are powered by Intel® processors. UK based computer products distributor, Westcoast, provides logistics support with customer support being provided by Convergys, a leader in customer care solutions. Symantec is providing automatically updated anti-virus and firewall protection and all computers will come installed with Microsoft XP software.
It's not the first time we've seen computers pre-equipped with Internet access hardware and services, but it is the first time we've seen them sold with integrated broadband ADSL kit and support from BT.
Sadly very little is known about the detailed specification of these systems, hopefully they're worth the money. |
Businesses Don’t Train Staff – Internet
By:mark.j @ 1:21:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Results from SurfControl's latest NOP survey show that 83% of retail employees and 79% of those in financial services have never been trained on how to use the Internet and e-mail securely.
The survey was conducted amongst 100 workers from each of the UK's six largest sectors (civil service, accountancy, legal, financial services, retail and manufacturing) and is similar to the results found in several other studies. More @ Europemedia. |
Gov Rejects Broadband Monopoly Fears
By:mark.j @ 1:15:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] A senior Internet and IT policy advisor to the government, Ed Richards, has today rejected last week’s controversial report from Demos.
The report accused the government of allowing a potential broadband monopoly to grow happily inside BT:
"To say we are heading for a broadband monopoly just cannot be supported by the facts."
He explained that in France and Italy the incumbents hold around 70 per cent of the broadband market, and that in Germany the figure is around 98 per cent.
"In the UK it is quite different," he said. "BT has about 30 per cent of the market and BTopenworld has 20 per cent. That's more competition in infrastructure and retail than anywhere else."
However the VNUNet item did note Mr Richards as agreeing to the fact that broadband may have been launched too late, thus worsening the digital divide situation. |
ISPr Launches - Reader ISP Reviews
By:mark.j @ 10:53:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ISP Review has today launched its new and much-delayed (bug testing, how I hate it!) Reader ISP Reviews service:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/reviews.shtml
This is designed to replace our existing static reviews, although you will need to register for it. It's very important that the rules are read and if any bugs are found then please report them to me. Remember it’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. |
New Unmetered ISP? - Aconnect
By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] They're probably not that new, however it's the first time we ourselves have heard of Aconnect, which is rumoured to be another Murphx (NeonHippo) backed reseller. Certainly the services and pricing look identical to some of their older offerings:
For just £14.99 a month you’ll get access to a whole new world of browsing on the Internet free from the worry of large Internet phone bills, set-up fees and hidden costs. Now you can use the Internet when it‘s convenient for you and make it exactly what you want it to be! Check out the FAQ for more details.
Unmetered Internet Access 24/7
Access the Internet 24hours a day, seven days a week. There are no call charges so there’s no need to worry about peak or off-peak times.
7 Email Addresses
An email address for everyone in the family.
10Mb Webspace
Put yourself on the WWW and let the world know who you are.
85,000 Newsgroups
There is a newsgroup featuring every subject on this planet.
Technical Support
First class support from people who know. Calls charged at National Rate. Email support is always free. The Helpdesk is available from 8am to 10pm daily and can be reached on: 0870 013 2525 |
UK ISP FireFly Launches Unmetered
By:mark.j @ 9:56:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] FireFly, the SurfAnyTime (SAT) backed UK ISP, has today announced the launch of their new unmetered dialup services:
Firefly Enterprises Ltd. is delighted to announce the launch of their dialup offerings.
Following the success of FireFly's first ISP launch, surfADSL.com, we can now provide quality flat-rate dialup access.
Who and what is Firefly?
Firefly is an ISP that has been formed on the back of the success of its sister company SurfAnytime Ltd. While SurfAnytime Ltd. continues to partner Affinity Internet Holdings Ltd. to provide standard dial up, Firefly is a fully independent ISP with the power to offer customers what they need.
The last two years have seen SurfAnytime grow from strength to strength - a growth that has been somewhat restricted by powers outwith our control. Firefly will have no such restrictions, and the same award winning team who brought you SurfAnytime aim to use this new found independence to offer an improved level of service.
The following features will be standard with all FireFly flat-rate solutions.
Prices from £13.99
at least 50MB Webspace
SuperNews Newsgroup Access
Unlimited POP3 Addresses
Webmail
Lively Discussion Forums
No lengthy contracts
No 'setup' charge
And lastly, a Customer Service team that make the Customer's interest their priority.
Whilst this service is currently open to BT lines only, we will have the facility to service NTL telephone line customers very soon.
For more details, see http://www.fireflyuk.net
There’s also a £16.49 (240hr max usage) per month package, which differs in that it has a 4 hourly cut-off time instead of the 2 hours that accompany the £13.99 (150hr max usage) service. There’s also a difference of 50 vs 100Mb - website space. |
Monitor ADSL Routers - NetSpeedo
By:mark.j @ 9:44:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] James, the owner of a website know as Cool Toys, sent us an interesting message this morning regarding some software that our ADSL enabled readers (you don't know how lucky you are =]) might find interesting.
I've written an Windows utility (NetSpeedo) for monitoring ADSL routers, that currently works with at least two of the routers that Solwise sell (the ASUS AAM6000EV and the SAR703) and I intend on adding support for as many different routers as possible.
Oh, just to give you an idea of what NetSpeedo currently does, it provides the following information in a standard windows user interface:
Connection Status (Connected/Disconnected)
IP Address (Public)
Connection Duration
CPU Utilisation (NP/PP)
Connection Rate (Up/Down)
Bytes Transferred (Up/Down)
Average Transfer Speed (Up/Down)
Current Transfer Speed (Up/Down)
Minimum Transfer Speed (Up/Down)
Maximum Transfer Speed (Up/Down)
You can use the program to manually or automatically (once so much data has been transferred) restart your router... all the current information can be copied to the clipboard for pasting into an email or whatever too, just in case you want to show your friends how great your adsl line is (read how much you've been using it).
Plus you can use it to keep track of each internet session, recording all the relevant information for that session, into a log file... (it also has the usual auto-load on windows start-up and show the program in the taskbar or system tray options)
Please be aware that we can not vouch for this software in any way, shape or form as BT has chosen not to enable our local exchange with ADSL and thus we can’t test it. Please do let us know if it’s any good, the software is free. |
Energis Finally For Sale
By:mark.j @ 9:35:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Roughly half a year after the telecoms and Internet firm, Energis, was first taken over by its bankers, the company is now finally up for sale:
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Bank of America Corp., two of the 13 banks that swapped their debt for equity in Energis, are already in preliminary talks with potential buyers.
Possible buyers include private equity companies that the banks tried to raise money from before the takeover. They include Carlyle Group, Apax Partners and an investment arm of Credit Suisse Group.
Unfortunately Bloomberg doesn't go into much detail, although any remaining UK ISP contracts should remain unaffected by a purchase. |
News - November 10,2002
ISP Review Weekly Update
By:mark.j @ 11:00:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It looks as if tomorrow, Monday, will be the official launch day for our new 'Reader ISP Reviews' system. We've done as much private testing as possible and been unable to uncover anymore bugs, thus it's best to launch the service.
The initial release will be v1 and we hope that anybody experiencing a bug will report it. There are plans for a second (v2) revision, yet we thought it best to get the initial release out and tested so as not to get too ahead of ourselves.
The system will not list EVERY ISP per category because we don't want to run before we can crawl, however most should be shown. Note that 0845 (Local Call Rate Only) ISPs will be left out initially due to there being so many of them, these may be added later.
Once launched we will begin official work on the next major forum upgrade, which we hope to have done before Christmas, although it'll be close and may not make it. This is of course our planned switch to some completely new forum code, rather than just an upgrade. |
Broadband Users To Pay TV License?
By:mark.j @ 10:30:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] During the last week we've noticed a number of rumours being spread regarding how the BBC and or TV license officials are actively seeking to charge people for a TV license if they own a broadband connection.
Obviously the logic behind this is that such systems can be used to watch live online multimedia TV channels and thus a computer also becomes a TV.
Unfortunately there are a number of serious flaws with this idea, one being that most broadband subscribers don't even watch live video or TV streams via the Internet. Not to mention the problems with classification, such as what is and isn't a definable TV signal, web-cams etc.?
We decided to investigate and couldn't find any official information relating to this, aside from one very brief, yet similar, item in Saturdays Financial Times.
The item referred to how TV license officials were actively pursuing computer owners in possession of a PC-TV card, which in the past has been the only way to watch TV without needing to pay a license.
The interesting part is this, "The BBC said that under the amendments to the 1949 Wireless Telegraphy Act, a license is required if a computer can receive programmes included in a television broadcasting service.
A spokesman said that anyone who has equipment in the home which is capable of receiving television broadcasts must have a license."
Apparently it's not the act of receiving that is the licensable thing, but the possession and use of equipment capable of doing so.
So what does this mean for broadband subscribers? It's hard to say, but logically it shouldn’t extend to Internet access and specifically broadband connections, there are far too many unknowns to justify doing that. |
Internet Attacks Grow By 64% Per Year
By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Symantec, a security company, has stated that Internet attack activity is currently growing by roughly 64% every year. Internet attackers are also using increasingly sophisticated methods:
In the first six months of 2002, companies connected to the net were attacked, on average, 32 times per week compared to only 25 times per week in the last six months of 2001.
At the same time, companies like Symantec hear about between 400 and 500 new viruses every month and about 250 vulnerabilities in computer programs, said Amit Yoran, head of managed security services at Symantec.
The statistics also show that not all business sectors get equal treatment from computer criminals. "The most frequently targeted networks seem to be power and energy companies followed closely by financial services," he said.
One wonders how long it will be before all ISPs realise that they need to provide some sort of integrated virus and SPAM filtering tools into their service. More @ BBC News Online. |
News - November 9,2002
Slow ADSL Connection? Try This..
By:mark.j @ 10:03:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide has an update from the popular broadband ADSL offering ISP Zen Internet, which relates to an issue where some ISP subscribers were experiencing slower speeds where it should be fast.
Note that this may apply to more ISPs than Zen Internet:
BT have completed a series of tests on a number of end users connections that have been experiencing slow download speeds and have discovered the reason that some people are suffereing from sub-standard performance.
The Cause
It appears that the equipment BT have installed to provide the functionality of Remote Access Server (RAS) has two seperate methods for forwarding information to the correct destination.
If the packet size is less than 1458 then Cisco Express Forwarding is used to forward the packet to its destination, whilst above 1458 the hardware will inspect the packet, make a number of descsions and then forwarded it.
This means that when the load of the RAS gets very high (i.e. when lots of people are using it) packets above 1458 take longer to be forwarded to their destination and cause slow download speeds.
The Solution
Whilst BT come up with a full scale solution there are a number of things end users can do to improve their connection.
The best solution change the MTU size to 1458 (ADSLguide have creaded a quick tutorial for this) on all the devices that you use to connect to the Internet. We are creating a script to make sure that Zen provided routers will run with a 1458 MTU and this should be released shortly.
Zen Support also recommend that you set your RWIN or TCP Recieve Window to 12762 or any other number that is a multiple of 1418. Thiw will, hopefully, optimise the performance of your connection.
If you have any queries please contact support via email on support@zen.co.uk |
AOL UK ISP Supports Mac OS/X
By:mark.j @ 9:55:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP AOL, which abandoned support for the Mac operating system OS/X nearly a year ago, yesterday announced that they had once again begun to support it:
However the company has since performed an about turn and when the US version was released in August this year it revealed that the UK version was just weeks away.
AOL has around two million members in the UK, but the company is not prepared to say how many of those are Mac users, though estimates have put the figure at about 50,000. Joss Cole of AOL UK said that the decision to restart development in the UK was based solely on business considerations taking into account both the demand for its services and the success Apple has had in promoting OS X.
The decision may reflect a closer working relationship between AOL and Apple. The two recently collaborated on Apple's new iChat software, which is fully compatible with AOL's AIM online-chat software.
No doubt the weakening of Apple's relationship with software giant Microsoft also played a part, more @ PC Pro. |
Knaresborough Doesn't Get ADSL
By:mark.j @ 9:49:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide reports that the Knaresborough local exchange, which hit its trigger level back in September, has unfortunately been put back on the main list after failing to confirm enough advanced orders to be broadband ADSL enabled.
No doubt some other exchanges will fall foul of the same problem, although hopefully not too many. |
News - November 8,2002
Netscalibur ISP Issues SPAM Warning
By:mark.j @ 2:30:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK business ISP Netscalibur has today issued a new press release warning of the dangers of junk e-mail (SPAM). The ISP found that spam e-mail costs the average UK business roughly £120,000 per year:
Netscalibur, the provider of Internet services to businesses, has uncovered the mounting cost of poor internet security and filtering to business. It is estimated that 'spam email' costs UK businesses £470 per employee every year in wasted time(1) , more than the £434 per employee quoted by the CBI as the cost of absenteeism. This amounts to almost £120,000 for a company of 250. Furthermore, latest figures on the recent Bugbear virus (2) show that employees in Professional Services, Retail and Publishing firms are twice as likely to unwittingly expose their company networks to email viruses.
Netscalibur has bolstered its managed services package to add email scanning and firewall services to its hosting and virtual private networking (VPN) offerings. Netscalibur is working with MessageLabs and NetScreen to provide comprehensive high-quality security services to its customers.
"UK businesses are tiring of the demands that managing Internet communications networks places upon their time and budget, distracting them from their core business." says Simon Harrison, Managing Director of Netscalibur in the UK.
"Netscalibur's managed security services take the hassle out of running reliable, secure email networks for business." Harrison adds.
The new offering is divided into two packages: Mail Scanner, to filter emails containing viruses, porn and spam, and Managed Firewall, to prevent unauthorised network entry; both are run as remote managed services by Netscalibur.
The new security packages offer protection against an increasingly hostile online world. September 2002 saw over 9,000 overt digital attacks against online business, a record high, according to the Security Intelligence Products and Systems database. Over half a million instances of the Bugbear virus were stopped worldwide by MessageLabs within a week of its appearance, it was most prevalent in the UK with 67% of worldwide infections. It is clear that many people still open emails regardless of whether they can verify the source.
Whilst training is important, IT administrators should not expect all staff to be aware of the risks of opening seemingly innocuous emails or registering their details on the Internet. Outside management of security, providing access to top IT industry experts, stops suspect data before it reaches the office server.
"Companies must always focus on their core competency." Harrison states, "Maintaining complex IT systems internally risks diverting the company from its true purpose." |
IBM Reaps BTOs Broadband Benefits
By:mark.j @ 1:28:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Popular computer technology manufacturer IBM has today been touting BTOpenworlds broadband teleworking service; the firm mentions improved productivity and a better work/life balance for UK staff:
IBM SWITCHES ON TO BROADBAND BENEFITS
BT Openworld is supplying IBM with up to 1,400 ADSL broadband internet connections to enable selected employees throughout the UK to work successfully from home.
The BT Openworld Business 500 connections will form the basis of IBM¹s OFlexible Working Program¹, which seeks to improve the productivity, responsiveness and work/life balance of its staff. The programme encompasses all divisions of IBM and has a diverse geographic spread from Aberdeen to Portsmouth.
Tony Harris, president of Business Internet Services at BT Openworld, said: "We are seeing an exponential rise in the number of companies - of all sizes - who are investing in broadband teleworker products to improve employee productivity, whilst offering more flexible working arrangements. Teleworking is one of the catalysts driving broadband uptake throughout the country and BT Openworld has already helped more than 5,000 people to enjoy the benefits of working from home."
Simon Meredith, mobility manager, EMEA, at IBM, said: "Attracting and retaining the best employees goes a lot deeper than providing a fair remuneration package and a challenging environment. Employees are increasingly looking for options that will enable them to spend more time with their families or simply enjoy a lifestyle that is less regimented by the hours they work."
As part of a wide-ranging programme of initiatives, IBM is supplying an increasing number of its professionals with the equipment they need to work productively and safely from home.
"The office has traditionally been a place where people come to collaborate, exchange ideas and information," added Meredith. "However, with the speed, reliability and security of broadband and a Virtual Private Network, people can be just as effective - if not more productive - by working regularly from home."
BT Openworld is collaborating with BT Retail¹s Major Business division on the project, which has been servicing the connectivity requirements of IBM for more than 10 years.
"It is gratifying to see that IBM, like BT Openworld, believes so ardently in the products and services it is delivering into the teleworker market, that it is practising what it preaches by offering the benefits to its own employees," said Harris.
Since the launch of the Flexible Working Programme earlier this year, IBM has enabled more than 1,200 workers to improve their effectiveness at home and reduce unnecessary travel. The broadband teleworker connections allow off-site employees to gain access to the company¹s network, including e-mail, intranet and applications at a speed that is comparable to being in the office. |
Brightmails Monthly SPAM Statistics
By:mark.j @ 1:22:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Brightmail, the group which supplies BTOpenworld and Hotmail with junk e-mail (SPAM) filtering software, has today issued its latest monthly SPAM statistics.
Apparently pornographic SPAM rose slightly by 1% to a total of 12%, yet financially-related messages chose to go in the opposite direction and slowed by 2% for a total of 36%:
Overall, spam levels increased. Brightmail recorded (pdf) 5.285 million unique spam attacks over the course of last month, compared to just over five million in August. A year ago Brightmail's probe network monitored less than 1.7 million such attacks.
Yesterday MessageLabs issued a similar report that, not unsurprisingly, said much the same. More @ The Register. |
Todmorden Exchange Enabled - ADSL
By:mark.j @ 1:14:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] | ADSLGuide reports that the Todmorden local exchange has today been officially upgraded with broadband ADSL support. No doubt several more exchanges will follow in the coming weeks. |
Vispa ISP Launches SMS Service
By:mark.j @ 11:24:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP Vispa has today announced the introduction of a new service, MySMS, which will allow their customers to send SMS messages from the Vispa website:
Vispa is pleased to announce the introduction of MySMS for all Vispa users, a new addition to Vispa users control centre to send SMS messages to your friends from Vispa's web site.
By logging into MyAccount, you will now see our v1 release of MySMS. From this you can purchase SMS credits, currently priced at 6p per message, which for many is cheaper than many mobile networks on many tariffs, with the added bonus of being able to use your keyboard and not a mobile keypad to type messages!
Once messages have been written they will get delivered within seconds to all networks. Messages can appear to come from your nickname or petname, or if you wish to keep traditional from your mobile number. Added benefits are that you can alter the return mobile number details to any mobile of your choosing, so the system can act as a central system for all the family.
The ability to bulk mass messages via a customisable address book is currently being written, an ideal tool for people wanting to tell all their friends about any event in one go, or perfect for businesses looking to inform all their customers about product promotions or general marketing.
The system is ready to go, it's just waiting for you to give it a whirl. You only need a basic Connect Valuetime PAYG account or combine it with one of our Surftime, FRIACO or Broadband offering to take full advantage of the complete solution.
For further details visit http://www.vispa.net or call 08701 624888 and speak to one of our operators. |
Free24-7 ISP Price Increase
By:Keith @ 11:03:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Free24-7.net, which is owned by V21, has increased it’s subscription price from £7.99 to £8.50 per month.
The website also now states that the service has been expanded to cope with up to 80,000 subscribers. Looking at the terms and conditions the contention ratio is 20:1 and it states "You are entitled to access the Internet for a period of no more than 28 hours per week."
UPDATE FROM MARK (Admin): Just to point out that this increase isn't anything new, it's the first time we've reported it, but it’s been in effect for over a month already. |
PacketFront Backs BT Break-Up Calls
By:mark.j @ 10:43:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] PacketFront, the next-generation broadband fibre etc. specialist, has backed a recent report from Demos, which called for the break-up of BT to help promote broadband and better market competition:
Influential think-tank Demos has published a report* calling for the break-up of BT as the only way to ensure competition and future innovation of broadband services in the UK. The report argues that BT's 'local loop' should be placed in the hands of a Government-owned company to ensure maximum competition among broadband service and content providers.
The report's author, James Wilsdon claims that currently, "the UK is sleepwalking towards a broadband monopoly, with little opportunity or incentive for innovation within the network". He urges the Government to launch a full-scale review into the risks and rewards of separation. However, critics predictably including BT, have been quick to dismiss these recommendations as unworkable.
But Martin Thunman, CEO, next-generation broadband specialist PacketFront, has seen first hand the success of broadband driven by structural separation in the 'last mile' network. "This report is very progressive and forward thinking in its call for structural separation", said Thunman. "Already in Sweden we have seen the benefits of allowing multiple broadband service providers to compete on an equal footing in the local loop. The network they compete on is owned by a separate independent organisation. We call them Operator Independent Networks, and this element of competition has been the driver of innovation, quality and value for money in broadband service delivery". |
Megabeam's Wi-Fi -vs- BTOpenzone
By:mark.j @ 10:26:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Megabeam, which offers broadband wireless (Wi-Fi) HotSpot access, looks to be going head-to-head with their rivals @ BTOpenzone by undercutting them on price.
Those signing up with Megabeams service on a two-year contract will be charged under £25 per month, which is somewhat cheaper than BT:
Megabeam announced pricing details for its commercial Wi-Fi service on Wednesday. A 12-month contract bought directly from the company will cost around £587 (918 euros) if paid for up-front, or £650 (1,080 euros) if payment is spread over the year.
Customers who sign up for either option before 31 March 2003 will get a second year's subscription for free, which means that a user who pays in advance will get access to Megabeam's European hot spot network for just £24.50 per month.
In comparison, BT Openzone costs £85 per month for unlimited access, although subscriptions are half-price until the end of 2002. Some experts have claimed that BT Openzone's pricing is too expensive to appeal to many potential users.
The ZDNet item also reports that Megabeam is offering a 25% discount on its weekly and monthly packages until 31st March 2003; finally BTOpenzone has some real competition. |
Key Internet Server Moved For Security
By:mark.j @ 10:16:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Following last months massive DoS (Denial of Service) attack on several of the Internets 13 primary servers, VeriSign, the company that runs two of the machines, has decided to move one of its systems:
But VeriSign, which runs two of the Net's 13 domain name service (DNS) root servers, said Thursday that the timing of the move was coincidental and that the measure was part of a general program to reduce security risks.
The company said that as part of the program, it had moved one machine to a new, undisclosed physical and virtual location. The computer, known as the J root server, was previously located in the same building, and connected to the Internet through the same subnet, as its companion, the A root server.
Root servers store information that lets Net users get around by way of easy-to-remember domain names, such as Amazon.com.
Not surprisingly very few people seem to believe VeriSign's stance of their decision not being related to the recent attack. More @ ZDNet. |
NTL UK's Managing Director To Leave
By:mark.j @ 10:10:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The UKs largest cable operator, NTL, has announced that its Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Carter, will leave the Company at the end of this year:
NTL’s UK Managing Director and COO Stephen Carter to leave at year end
NTL Incorporated, announced today that Stephen Carter, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of NTL UK and Ireland, has decided to leave the Company at the end of this year following NTL’s expected completion of its recapitalisation and emergence from US Chapter 11 and the successful completion of his operational objectives.
Stephen joined NTL from his position as CEO of J Walter Thompson UK Group. Since that time he has focused on integrating CWC Consumer Co into the business, improving operating efficiencies and reducing costs. During this period NTL has also become operating cash flow positive and established a market leadership position in broadband services.
Barclay Knapp, President and CEO of NTL said “Over the past two years Stephen has achieved a great deal at NTL. We are now the clear leader in broadband with 40% market share and our EBITDA margin has increased from 11% in 2000 to 28% in our latest quarterly results. I am sad to see Stephen go and I wish him well. The UK management team and I are now well situated to emerge from our recapitalisation process and re-establish ourselves in the competitive marketplace.”
Stephen Carter said “We have achieved an enormous amount over the last two years, delivering broadband leadership and positive operating cash flow. With Barclay now based in the UK and returning to full-time operations, and with NTL on track to emerge from US Chapter 11 in November I feel the time is right to move on.” |
SatDrive Satellite ISP Talks Fair Usage
By:mark.j @ 10:07:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The UK one-way broadband satellite ISP, SatDrive, which recently restricted the bandwidth on some of its customer accounts due to heavy downloading, has made an interesting post on its own forum.
The post, which can be found HERE (thanks Alan), attempts to clarify their recent 'Fair Usage' announcement:
The SatDrive service has not been designed to accommodate intensive peer-to-peer file transfers and back-to-back downloads of applications such as the new movie DivX file formats. As previously stated the service is intended primarily for users – particularly those outside of ADSL areas and who require web-surfing and email delivery with regular bursts of higher speed web-page or file downloading.
SatDrive is not intended to compete with or mimic flat-rate ADSL. To make an interesting comparison, a typical small business (10 staff) will pay up to £2500 per year for an ADSL connection and on average will use less than 3 Gigbyte per month. SatDrive costs £14.99 offering broadband, would you want to go back to a 56K modem?
The principles of our User Community Fair Usage policy are:
1. We will not cap Gear 1 artificially below 4Mb/s.
The download performance that you experience will continue, as before, to reflect the traffic loads from all Gear 1 users at any instant in time.
2. We will not cap Volume
Gear 1 remains unmetered and is not capped on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
3. We reserve the right to maintain good service standards.
We aim to ensure that Gear 1 average performance is very good value relative to 56k modem dial up or ISDN at 64/128k. If it is deemed necessary we will notify those individual users who appear to be making prolonged and intensive use of Gear 1 to the detriment of all other users.
We'd suggest that SatDrive customers read the entire item, indeed it may also be a good read for those considering a broadband satellite service. |
BT Signs Dell Broadband Deal
By:mark.j @ 10:00:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BT has signed yet another broadband deal, this time with the popular computer maker, Dell:
The idea is that Dell will market ADSL to its existing customers, some of whom will already be broadband-enabled, and new customers - whether buying online or over the phone - will ultimately have an 'add BT Broadband' option as they configure their PCs.
Simon Calver, VP UK and Ireland, Dell Home and Small and Medium-sized Business, said: "The end vision is seamless point of sale inclusion of broadband." However, he stressed that the end service, while enabled by Dell's build-to-order model, is not yet fully set up.
No doubt this will help improve BTs shares once again and could also push broadband coverage further still; however some of BTs rivals such as Freeserve may not be so please. More @ Silicon. |
V21 ISP Launch New Website & Portal
By:mark.j @ 9:53:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP V21 has issued a new press release announcing the launch of their newly re-designed website and member’s portal:
V21 are proud to announce the launch of their new look web site and members portal. All existing members have direct access to additional tools, services and discounts from within the member’s areas.
To coincide with this launch V21 has a special 5 for 3 Offer running.......
For only 3 months payments in advance ( £27.97) new members can enjoy access to the internet for 5 months. That's a saving of £18.98 !
Anyone wishing to take up the V21's November 5 for 3 offer should sign up today at http://www.v21.co.uk |
News - November 7,2002
UK Broadband Still Bottom In Europe
By:mark.j @ 2:49:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] A new European consumer survey by analyst firm Jupiter Research has found that just 7% of UK Internet users have broadband, this compares with 11% in France, 17% in Spain and 29% in Sweden:
The UK does have a higher proportion of overall net users than some of its neighbours but the figures still reflect the slow start Britain has made in going high-speed.
"Pricing, awareness, marketing - the UK was slow on all of them and it is only this year that broadband has become affordable," said Jupiter Research analyst Dan Stevenson.
The government certainly has a long way to go if it is to realise its ambition to make the UK the best place for broadband by 2005. "That is still completely unrealistic," said Mr Stevenson.
The BBC News item notes how the UK is closest to Germany and Italy, which both have 8%. Perhaps worse still is that 29% of those questioned still weren't interested in upgrading to broadband, while 26% said the opposite. |
Global e-Government Use Increasing
By:mark.j @ 1:28:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] New research from Taylor Nelson Sofres shows that the proportion of adults worldwide using the Internet to access government sites has, during the past 12 months, increased by roughly 15%:
Three out of ten citizens (30 per cent) globally said that they had accessed government services online compared with only a quarter (26 per cent) questioned a year ago.
In some countries, increases have been significantly higher than in others. Among the most significant increases in the use of government services online are Australia (from 31 per cent to 46 per cent), Turkey (from 3 per cent to 13 per cent), the Netherlands (from 31 per cent to 41 per cent), and the US (from 34 per cent to 43 per cent).
In contrast, in Japan however, government online usage fell by four per cent (from 17 per cent to 13 per cent of citizens) between 2001 and 2002.
Apparently just 13% of adults in the UK accessed government services online during the twelve months to September. More @ Europemedia. |
BTOpenworld ISP Still Leaks Money
By:mark.j @ 1:24:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Together with BTs overall financial results, the operators UK ISP wing, BTOpenworld, has also increased revenue and narrowed its losses, yet the service continues to leak money:
BTopenworld reported that turnover grew 20 per cent to £67m while its operating loss fell 39 per cent to £22m.
A spokeswoman for the company said they were "really pleased" with BTopenworld's performance, adding that its narrowband operation had now reached EBITDA break even.
The improvement in figures is down to a growth in its broadband products and its core narrowband business, the company said in a statement. At the end of September BTopenworld had 213,000 broadband customers, representing around one in five of all broadband connections in the UK.
The Register reports that BTOpenworld now accounts for just under half of all of BT ADSL broadband connections. It's also reported that BT Retail has signed up roughly 35,000 BT 'No Frills' Broadband ADSL customers.
The official BTGroup site also has a short summary of the main results, note the broadband line:
The highlights of the second quarter results include:
* Profit before tax* up 55 per cent to £496 million
* Earnings per share* up 54 per cent to 3.7 pence
* Interim dividend resumed at 2.25 pence per share
* Turnover up two per cent to £4,661 million
* More than 450,000 broadband end users
* Customer satisfaction well ahead of competition |
Telewest Sees Broadband ISP Growth
By:mark.j @ 1:14:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The UKs second largest cable operator, Telewest, has today issued its Q3-2002 financial results and kindly sent us a press release covering the Blueyonder ISP highlights from this.
Core earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to £281 Million in the 9 months to September, up from £225 Million in the same period last year. Turnover rose by 4% to £1.01 Billion.
Despite the overall service loosing 5.6% of its customers, unmetered dialup and broadband cable modem based Internet access is still growing:
Telewest Broadband operational highlights
* 235,000 broadband internet customers today, 10% taking 1 Mb
* Over half a million internet customers, over 43% taking broadband
* 155,000 customers take all three broadband (internet, telephone and TV) services, representing 9% of our customer base
* Over 80% market share of broadband internet customers within franchise area
Gavin Patterson, managing director, consumer division, said "We are continuing to demonstrate our broadband leadership, with eight out of ten consumers opting for cable over ADSL where the technologies compete head to head.
Our blueyonder broadband internet service is the real McCoy at 512 kb/s and indeed, one in ten of our customers now enjoys twenty times the speed of dial-up with 1 Mb/s.
And with our figures we're not talking about wholesale, retail or resale, what you see is what you get - 235,000 households getting end to end broadband internet from one provider."
Live Life in Broadband
http://www.telewest.co.uk |
BTs Over-Ambitious Financial Targets
By:mark.j @ 10:05:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BTs chief executive, Ben Verwaayen, has today confirmed earlier rumours stating that the firm was "unlikely" to achieve its three-year revenue growth target of 6-8%.
Despite this, Mr Verwaayen still believes that market expectations for the second half of the year would be met:
The news came as BT reported turnover of £4.66bn for the three months to 30 September, up 2% on the same period last year. Pre-tax profits rose 55% to £496m.
The company also revealed that it had continued chipping away at its debt pile, reducing total borrowings by £285m during the quarter to £13.1bn.
BT said it would pay off more debt once it completed the £2.5bn sale of its stake in French mobile operator Cegetel to Vodafone.
This combined with a positive comment toward supporting broadband has helped BTs shares climb by 3.3% in early trade. More @ The BBC. |
BT To Launch Broadband TV Channel?
By:mark.j @ 10:00:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Following on from their recent deals with Sky, BT is now considering another option; that of launching a Sky based TV channel to educate viewers on broadband:
BT, which publishes half-year figures today, would not, however, provide any content for such a channel and has no designs to turn itself into a broadcaster, using the channel purely as a marketing and education tool.
While the company's talks with BSkyB are still thought to be at an early stage, BT is known to be keen to deepen its relationship with the satellite company.
A spokesman for BT said yesterday that the company talked to Sky "all the time about all sorts of things" but declined to comment further.
Hopefully the channel wouldn't just consist of silly adverts where pigs ride motorcycles and perhaps instead concentrate on clearly explaining the technology. More in The Independent. |
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