September 20, 2002 - September 24, 2002
News - September 24,2002
NTL Broadband Hits Cambridgeshire
By:mark.j @ 2:37:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Thanks to a new pilot contract worth £29 Million (over eight years); NTL will soon be able to supply Cambridgeshire with broadband Cable Modem Internet access services.
More than 300 locations ranging from offices, schools and libraries to pubs and post offices would be hooked up initially, out of more than 700 sites which could eventually be connected if the country's first countywide broadband project gets further funding.
NTL said this was the first broadband project to be awarded 'pathfinder' status under the government's Private Finance Initiative. |
ADSL Exchange Problems - Update 3
By:mark.j @ 2:33:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide reports that the current problems with broadband ADSL exchange hardware, which was caused when BT upgraded the DSLAM equipment at several hundred local exchanges, could be improving:
Alcatel over last weekend applied a patch successfully; users are generally reporting that all is working well again. There are still a few people with hardware that does not work. These exchanges should be covered by further upgrades on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, the work taking place between midnight and 6am.
The original upgrade to High Density hardware will recommence on Friday 27th September between 2am and 6am.
End users should expect a short outage on Friday as the upgrade takes place, which we can only hope will finally end, once and for all, this mess of an upgrade by BT. Perhaps they should test such hardware before using it next time? |
Employee Internet Abuse Continues
By:mark.j @ 2:12:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Most employers are busy spending money to prevent their employees surfing porn and or gambling sites while at work, however it looks as if they haven't gone far enough.
Apparently other sites, such as those containing news, are frequently visited and yet not blocked:
recent survey found that workers frequent online news sites more often than things like pornography, gambling, or even shopping sites -- and they consider news one of the most addicting things available on the Internet.
"Initially we saw the most abuse in pornography and gambling sites, now we are seeing more time spent on shopping and news sites," said Harold Kester, chief technology officer of Websense, which conducted the survey.
Some 23 percent of those workers surveyed said they considered news the most addictive Web content, compared with 18 percent who reported pornography, eight percent for gambling and six percent online auctions. Overall news came in a very close second to online shopping, which 24 percent of those surveyed said they considered addictive.
Once again it's worth taking the results with a pinch of salt because Websense is of course a company with commercial interests. Shock horror, they makes software to help companies monitor and manage employees' surfing patterns. More @ ZDNet. |
BTO - Broadband Helps Home Workers
By:mark.j @ 2:00:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BTOpenworld has today issued a new press release announcing the results of their latest research, this time into the impact of broadband services on home workers:
BROADBAND BRITAIN IS A NATION OF HOME LOVERS
Broadband take-up across the UK is speeding up the homeworking revolution, according to recent research by BT Openworld.
The UK's number one business ISP questioned 111 people who regularly work from home but have recently started using high-speed internet services to stay in touch with the office.
Four out of five felt that broadband access considerably improved their working conditions compared to traditional dial-up internet services.
In addition, almost one-third (32 per cent) felt they did a better job and were generally more efficient when working from home.
The number one benefit for 29 per cent of the respondents was improved access to corporate information due to the faster download speeds that broadband technology enables.
The other main advantages included almost real-time email services (26 per cent) and faster internet access to the web and corporate portals/intranets (17 per cent).
Tony Harris, president, Business Internet Services at BT Openworld said: "We're seeing a gradual shift from the office environment towards the home as more people look to improve their work/life balance. Recent research from the Office for National Statistics found that there are now over two million teleworkers in the UK and that this figure is increasing at about 13 per cent, year on year. Rising stress levels, increasing commuting costs and public transport strikes are all factors that are encouraging people to work from home more often.
The key to making it work is to give your staff the tools they need to do the job as easily as if they were in the office. High-speed internet access means business strength communications links straight into the home office, resulting in increased productivity and improved morale," he added.
Not surprisingly this release is well timed to coincide with the new general broadband ADSL advertising campaign, yet it’s cleverly done to avoid looking like a direct advert, even though we all know it is. |
UK Demon ISP Investigates Nominet
By:mark.j @ 1:52:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The THUS Telecom backed UK ISP Demon Internet has today issued a new press release advising customers that the recent decision by Nominet to publish the contact addresses of all UK domain name registrants may not be legal:
Demon to investigate legality of Nominet's 'whois' directory
THUS plc, one of the UK's leading providers of voice, data, Internet and contact centre services, is today advising customers of its Demon branded Internet services, that the recent decision by Nominet to publish the contact addresses of all UK domain name registrants may not be legal.
Nominet UK, the registry for .UK Internet domain names, is revising its policy on the publication of details for UK registrants via its whois directory. From 1st October Nominet will publish the contact addresses of all registrants that it deems to be "trading" or "businesses". These registrants will not be given an option to opt-out of the directory. The full announcement can be read at http://www.nominet.org.uk/ref/whois3.html .
THUS believes that although the Distance Selling and Electronic Commerce Regulations do state that businesses must publish their contact details under certain circumstances and in certain manners, it is not clear that they allow Nominet to publish this information without seeking prior agreement. In many cases the contact details published on websites relate to technical and supports services and may be wholly inappropriate to be listed in a directory as the main contact address for a business.
THUS are investigating the likelihood of the whois system being classified as a directory as defined by the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations. Under this legislation individuals and businesses are granted certain rights:
Individuals and businesses have the option to be ex-directory and; Individuals (including those trading) and businesses can have part or all of their address omitted
THUS is investigating these proposals further and is in the process of seeking clarification on Nominet's proposals from the Office of the Information Commissioner.
Ian Hood, THUS's director of communications & regulation commented: "While we can understand that Nominet would like some degree of conformity with whois services internationally, we do feel we have a duty to question the proposals on behalf of our customers. The right to privacy is an important one - individuals have entirely legitimate reasons for wishing to remain anonymous. For instance we don't object to people's phone numbers being ex-directory. It is important that any changes to the way information is handled are carried out entirely in accordance with the existing legislation." |
Two New UK Affinity ISPs & Staff Cuts
By:mark.j @ 1:47:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Despite two new lucrative Internet access deals with Sainsbury's and WHSmith’s, among many other existing ISPs such as Breathe, Affinity Internet has still been forced to make cuts on its loss-making web division:
The deals, announced today, will see Sainsbury's offering Affinity's internet access and fixed line telephony products to its customers through direct marketing and in-store promotions, and WHSmith extending its current agreement with the firm to cover ADSL services.
The company, which offers virtual phone and web packages to corporates, said it expects the Sainsbury's contract win to have a financial impact on its business from the beginning of next year, but only after it has been forced into comprehensive cost cutting measures at its internet business.
Affinity has been forced to renegotiate its supplier contracts, with network infrastructure costs being lowered by around 20%, and has also raised its prices by 15%. Reductions to administrative costs, overheads and cost of sales and permanent headcount savings have also been implemented. Spokespeople were unavailable immediately to confirm how many employees would be affected.
More @ netimperative.info . |
Telewest Preps X-Box Live Broadband
By:mark.j @ 1:35:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Telewests broadband cable modem ISP wing, blueyonder, has today announced itself as Microsoft's broadband network partner for the European launch of X-Box Live (online gaming service):
Telewest Broadband plays with Xbox(tm) Live
Telewest Broadband has joined forces with Xbox as a broadband network partner for the European launch of Xbox Live.
The eagerly awaited online service will enable gamers with a broadband internet connection to play Xbox games live with friends across the UK, talk to other players during the action and download new levels, characters and statistics.
Telewest Broadband's blueyonder internet services have been chosen by Microsoft to join fellow European broadband leaders in the development of gaming packages for customers over the coming months.
Gavin Patterson, managing director, consumer division, at Telewest Broadband, said: "Online console gaming will blow people's minds, because it combines the thrill of PC multiplayer gaming with the plug-and-play simplicity of consoles.
Telewest Broadband has been at the forefront of high-speed internet access in Britain for over two years and has a track record of ISP and gaming innovation. Combine that experience with our network and we're in pole position to develop a thrilling, gamer-friendly experience."
Console gaming is expected to begin the next stage of broadband development in Britain, as the PC ceases to be the only hardware connected to the internet and multiple consumer devices benefit from an always-on connection, up to 20 times the speed of dial-up access.
Michel Cassius, European director of Xbox platform, added: "Xbox Live is very pleased to be joining with Telewest Broadband to provide plug-and-play solutions for UK gamers."
Microsoft's plans for Xbox Live include consumer beta tests with 3,000 gamers in the UK, France and Germany from 30 October, an open test from 30 November and a retail launch on 14 March 2003. Xbox owners will need a starter pack, estimated to cost £39.99, which includes all the software and peripherals they need to enjoy Xbox Live, plus two free games.
This latest move has already had some questioning whether X-Box live in the UK would thus only be limited to use by Cable Modem broadband subscribers.
However we feel that this would be unlikely, Microsoft is driven by money and only supporting cable users would be a serious error. We’ll ask just to make sure.. |
Urban ADSL Coverage Frustration
By:mark.j @ 1:29:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Speaking of coverage, BBCNews Online has also run an item on BTs new ADSL advertising campaign and the frustration of urban individuals whom suddenly find it's not available to them:
"BT's marketing arm clearly has no idea which exchanges are enabled," said Cathi Darling, who is leading the campaign to bring broadband to the area.
"It is wasting large amounts of money targeting businesses by direct mail when these businesses are unable to respond, however much they may wish to. The only thing holding them up is BT itself," she said.
Lack of broadband is not just a rural problem. Goring is situated in the middle of the UK's Silicon Valley, just a few miles from Reading.
Of course Cathi Darling misses the point because BT needs 'interest' before it can enable an exchange, hence the national campaign.
Not surprisingly BT still refuses to reveal the economic details for how it determines trigger levels. This has left many to speculate that BT set triggers higher than they need to be. |
Microsoft’s CEO Can't Get ADSL Either
By:mark.j @ 1:20:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Microsoft's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, has admitted that not even he can get a broadband ADSL connection.
The statement came out during an audience of Microsoft professionals in London:
"I live in an affluent neighbourhood, six minutes from downtown Seattle, and I can't get it."
So users in the UK who can't get fast Internet access are at least in good company. One might have thought that someone of Ballmer's stature could afford a leased line on his expense account, or buy a small telco to provide coverage, but Ballmer said he has been personally begging the heads of AT&T and Qwest to no avail.
Ballmer was asked what can be done to help broadband rollout in general, and what Microsoft has done. He responded that Microsoft had done its best to promote broadband in the UK: "We invested in Telewest and ntl and it cost us a boatload of money!"
Ballmer suggested that greater competition and a change in regulation could improve the roll-out. More @ ZDNet. |
More Exchanges Hit The ADSL Trigger
By:mark.j @ 1:09:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] According to ADSLGuide the Irby exchange has become the fifth to hit its trigger level of 400.
Another, Wrexham North, has also suddenly shot up from having 97 pre-registrations (400 trigger level) to hitting the mark as well. Typically this sudden boost has caused BT to investigate how many of the registrations are legitimate.
Cheating doesn't help the exchange enable any sooner, if anything it slows things down due to the additional work required to verify what’s real and what’s not. |
Wireless ISP SPTen Expands Coverage
By:mark.j @ 8:46:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The new broadband wireless ISP SPTen is apparently progressing well and has today informed us that they've been able to expand their coverage into Winchester:
We are pleased to announce that the Winchester site has now been completed near the Train Station and overall coverage is now 98% in Winchester, and improved coverage in all surrounding areas.
Please call for improved coverage information. |
PlusNET ISP Updates On Website Outage
By:mark.j @ 8:41:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] No doubt those of you online with PlusNET will already be aware that their portal is now back online. The ISP has also been kind enough to issue us with a status update to clarify what happened:
We'd just like to clarify what happened this afternoon and assure our customers that the server affected was in fact a database one rather than a web server as stated on your pages. This meant that 'logging in' to the Portals and signing up was not possible and therefore we made the decision to take down the Portal temporarily whilst essential maintenance work was undertaken.
Our customer's core services such as email, webspace and so forth were not affected and no data was lost due to our complete resilience of the database platform. We of course kept our customers fully informed via our telephone system and service-status newsgroups.
In total the outage lasted just over 3 hours and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers during this unforeseen outage. |
Slapper E-Mail Virus Author Arrested
By:mark.j @ 8:37:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The suspected author of a new and largely unsuccessful E-Mail virus (worm), known as Slapper, has apparently been arrested:
David Morgan, senior consultant for Internet Security Systems (ISS), revealed the news of the arrest. "Slapper mailed the addresses of infected machines back to an email address in the Ukraine," he said. "This email was checked from a traceable location and, as a result, a 21-year-old male has been arrested by the authorities."
Meanwhile, the Internet Storm Centre (ISC), run by the Sans Institute, has declared the internet back on green alert or situation normal after the worm, which preyed on vulnerable Apache web servers throughout last week, appeared to be dying out.
With around 6,000 machines infected, the ISC last week declared a yellow alert. But Slapper's threat petered out before the worm hit anything like Code Red or Nimda proportions, which affected 400,000 and 86,000 servers respectively.
Very few such individuals are ever caught and so any arrest is positive news. Unfortunately the VNUNet item reports that there's already a new variant of the virus, Slapper.B, out in the wild. |
Freeserve ISP Gains New CEO
By:mark.j @ 8:28:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Freeserves new chief executive has been named by Wanadoo (French owners) as Eric Abensur, the ISPs former chief financial officer. Mr.Abensur has been 'acting' as the ISPs CEO since John Pluthero announced that he was resigning to join Energis.
Due to the UKs more competitive ISP market, it has taken Freeserve longer to reach profitability than its European peers, an ongoing concern among Wanadoo's management.
Analysts were not surprised by the move on Monday. "We see Abensur as a good choice for the job. As a France Telecom insider, he is loyal to Wanadoo's business model and enjoys the full trust of Wanadoo's management. This will make it easier for Wanadoo to execute its UK strategy," Kai Kaufmann, Internet analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said in a research note.
He added that Abensur worked beside the widely-respected Pluthero for 15 months and is very familiar with the more challenging market here.
His biggest objective will be to jumpstart Freeserve's new broadband (ADSL) initiatives, which experienced disappointing customer uptake earlier this summer.
Wanadoo is undergoing a major branding initiative in which it originally intended to have each of its European units operate under the Wanadoo name.
It's still not clear whether or not the UKs well known Freeserve brand will change or not, or indeed how that could affect the E-Mail addresses of the ISPs many customers. |
News - September 23,2002
BTO & BTLookSmart For 2 More Years
By:mark.j @ 2:52:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP BTOpenworld has teamed up with BTLookSmart for another two year advertising and search syndication deal:
BTLOOKSMART SIGNS TWO YEAR DEAL WITH BT OPENWORLD
BTLookSmart today announced a two year advertising and search syndication deal with leading UK Internet service provider (ISP) BT Openworld. BTLookSmart is the international joint venture between LookSmart (NASDAQ: LOOK; ASX: LOK), global leader in Search Targeted Marketing, and British Telecommunications (NYSE: BTY).
The agreement is an extension of an existing contract with BTLookSmart providing web search and directory solutions to BT Openworld. The comprehensive advertising and syndication deal stems from the companies joint initiatives to support the development of new revenue streams and the optimal monetisation of search traffic. BTLookSmart will host and serve BT Openworld’s search and directory service.
The agreement, including sales of space for BidSmart Featured Listings, Performance Listings and graphical advertising, will be controlled and operated by BTLookSmart. The mechanism will allow highly targeted advertising through cross-linking to keyword search and categories. Revenues generated will be shared between BT Openworld and BTLookSmart.
“The extension of our contract with BT Openworld is an endorsement of BTLookSmart’s strengths and expertise in the provision of search and directory services. This syndication deal, coupled with our recent acquisition of UK Plus, shows that we are in a unique position to provide a total managed search solution for ISPs and Portals,” said Kevin Kerrigan, BTLookSmart COO.
“We look forward to continue working with BTLookSmart to provide highly effective search results for our customers as well as effective monetisation of search traffic”, said Mehdi Salam, Director of Sales, BT Openworld.
The announcement comes on the back of a recent deal which saw BTLookSmart becoming the sole provider of search solutions to Associated New Media’s (ANM) online sites including This is London, This is Travel, This is Money and Femail. |
Protecting Children From The Internet
By:mark.j @ 2:45:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] New research conducted by the BBC, the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) and the Independent Television Commission (ITC) has found that protecting children from inappropriate material on the Internet has become increasingly difficult:
More than 500 parents of children aged five to 16 took part in the study. It showed that parents use various informal controls to regulate their children's viewing.
The internet was shown to raise considerable uncertainties among parents. Many said media reports about sites featuring pornography and paedophilia had made them more concerned.
Even when they were confident in their children's ability to regulate their own use of the internet, they still worried about accidental exposure.
The BBCNews item also states that the complexity of tools available to help filter online content was deemed by most to be too complex to install. |
SNP Want Broadband For The Highlands
By:mark.j @ 2:36:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Scottish National Party (SNP) is demanding that the Scottish Executive extend broadband Internet access to the Highlands, something it believes is essential for businesses and communities:
The party argues that remote areas will be passed by if infrastructural development is purely demand-led.
Shadow Transport Minister Kenny MacAskill, said: "In the previous century it was a far-sighted strategy that brought heat and light to the Highlands through the hydroelectric scheme. We should have that same vision and have a strategy to roll out broadband."
The SNP echo’s similar calls from rural communities inside England, yet the government is unlikely to shift on its current policy of ‘do-as-little-as-possible’.
Sadly the best they could expect to see would be a token ‘ACTNOW’ (Cornwall) style scheme. More @ Ananova. |
PlusNET ISP Suffers Web Server Outage
By:mark.j @ 1:41:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP PlusNET is having to carry out emergency maintenance after an unplanned outage on their systems, specifically their web servers.
Thankfully Internet connectivity doesn't appear to be affected, as per their status update on our forums:
Our Portal webserver is currently unavailable due to emergency maintenance work on our primary database servers.
This outage will not in any way affect your connectivity, or your website held with us, it will only prevent your access to our portal pages, please note that no loss of data has occurred.
At this time we have no ETA for when the service will be available, further announcements will be made when further information becomes available.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused during this extended outage.
The websites temporary holding page states that normal service should resume by 3pm today. |
Open Proxy Servers Help SPAMMERS
By:mark.j @ 1:31:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Individuals running open proxy servers, such as those that share the Internet access of one computer with others on a LAN (Local Area Network), are inadvertently giving SPAMMERS (junk E-Mailers) a free tool for E-Mail abuse:
Many proxy servers are installed insecurely, and spammers have discovered tricks to tap into them to send junk mail with little trace -- an occurrence relatively unseen a year ago, experts say.
The problem has grown so quickly that some blocklist owners estimate that between 30 percent and 80 percent of the spam attacks today are caused by open proxies.
"Anybody on the planet can use (open proxies) to connect to mail servers if only you know how to talk to them," said Margie Arbon, director of operations for MAPS RealTime Blackhole List, a spam-filtering service that identifies IP (Internet Protocol) addresses that are the sources of spam. "The amount of spam going through them is scary," Arbon said.
This is also part of the reason why some SPAMMERS can simply drive up to an office with its own wireless LAN network and hijack the systems to send SPAM before driving off.
Certainly ISPs could do more, such as keeping an eye out for open proxy server ports on their network. That said and there's still a limit to what service providers can accomplish, the onus shouldn’t just be on them. More @ ZDNet. |
BTO Warns Satellite ISP Abusers
By:mark.j @ 1:22:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] For £60 per month and roughly £900 to install, you'd expect BTOpenworlds business level broadband Satellite service to come with a little flexibility.
Sadly this may not be the case as BTO has issued warning letters to 40 customers cautioning them on their bandwidth usage. The ISP has also threatened to impose bandwidth limitations on their accounts at peak times unless they cut back on usage:
One reader told The Register: "For BT to restrict the bandwidth of their satellite system, supposedly for business users, to farcical levels at this early stage, is not good news, especially when the service is bloody expensive."
BTopenworld - which has teamed up with Gilat Satellite Networks to provide the service -has around 1,000 users of the two-way broadband service. Installation of the service starts at £899 with subscription running in at £59.99 a month. All prices exclude VAT.
Curiously, insiders have told The Register that BTopenworld is planning to take similar action against heavy users of its ADSL service.
Unfortunately this is one of the reasons why most mass-market broadband satellite ISPs already have limits. Satellites aren't like traditional land-based services; they're physically limited and can cost millions to upgrade.
Unfortunately moves such as this only serve to further damage Satellite's credibility as a realistic alternative to ADSL. On the flip side and there doesn't appear to be any mention of what usage they'll tolerate - typical.
It now certainly wouldn't surprise us if BTO, one of the most expensive broadband ISPs for home users, imposed a usage limit on its ADSL as well. More @ The Register. |
Freeserve Threaten BT Over Advertising
By:mark.j @ 9:49:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] There's never a day when Freeserve isn't latched onto the throats of either AOL or BT, today it's the latter’s turn.
The Wanadoo backed UK ISP is threatening to take BT to the Competition Commission due to the way it's been allowed to sell its new broadband product:
BT will today begin a £10m campaign to advertise that “broadband has landed”. It will spend a further £23m promoting its new “access-only” product, which costs £28 a month.
Freeserve, part of France Telecom, is angry that Oftel, the regulator, is allowing BT to promote its broadband product through its regular “blue bill”. This gives BT regular access to the group’s 20m retail customers — a marketing opportunity worth “tens of millions of pounds”, says David Melville, Freeserve’s company secretary.
Of course and as we've already seen below, the 'blue bill' aspect is now just one of two key concerns. More @ The Times. |
BTs Sneaky Broadband Advertising
By:mark.j @ 9:36:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] On Friday we reported BTs intent to cease advertising its own broadband ADSL services during the new overall broadband campaign, a move that came about due to anti-competitive fears.
However BTOpenwoe has today pointed us toward a sneaky hole in last week’s announcement; apparently many of the adverts direct you toward BTs services and NOT a list of ADSL supplying ISPs.
Click "Personal or Home Use" and you get 2 choices - "I'd like a complete broadband internet connection" and "I'd like a complete broadband package". Click the first, and you are sent to info on BT Broadband (that’s the "BT Retail" service, £27 for ADSL, no mail, no web space service...
Click the latter, and you get good old BTOpenworld. Uh huh... yes, not "here is a list of ISPs offering Broadband Packages" Oh, and it's OK, if you choose Business, you're OK cause you get lead to a BT.com page, a couple clicks later and (yes, you guessed it) it's a BTOpenworld promotion.
But finally, if you still haven't clicked on anything, choose the wholesale link, and you can be sent to the regular BT Broadband Site.
There's a full low-down of this rather underhand tactic on BTOpenwoe. |
News - September 22,2002
ISP Review Weekly Update
By:mark.j @ 10:47:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We're looking to code an updated version of our current ISP Listing system, thus if any of our forum members wish to contribute some ideas to this then please make a post HERE.
We also got back into the lengthy swing of bug testing our 'Reader ISP Reviews' system, most of the bugs are now external (not public) and so the rest of the code appears to be holding up.
Finally and we're hoping to find some time to get back onto the re-design of ISP Review, which is no easy task. We had been holding off on this until the 'Reader ISP Review' system was done, this is due to some of its output helping to shape the new site design. |
Quick ISPr Newsletter Update
By:ross @ 10:38:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] | There will be no newsletter this week while we try to fix some bugs in the newsletter software. Sorry! =) |
0800Dial ISP Limits Unmetered Usage
By:mark.j @ 10:23:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] For some reason a good number of UK ISPs have recently introduced a new so called 'fair usage' policy on their services, the latest to do this is 0800Dial:
We would like to inform you of two improvements to our Internet Access that will enhance our service to you.
The first is the implementation of a Fair Usage Policy. This Policy limits excessive usage and will be implemented to maintain a fair and consistent level of service for all subscribers. It will also reduce congestion at peak hours.
The second is the revision of the customer service hours. The Customer Service and Billing team will now both be available Monday to Friday from 9am to 8pm. The dedicated number for the team will be 0870 010 9107. Calls to this number at charged at National Rate.
To cut a long story short, the 4 hour cut-off has apparently become 2hourly and users are now limited to 150hours of surfing per month.
Changing services in such a way seems to be a popular trait with unmetered dialup ISPs; however many now believe that it’s an intentional marketing tactic. Offer amazing services to start with, get the customers and then restrict the usage. |
New Wireless ISP - Denham Broadband
By:mark.j @ 10:06:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We've been seeing new broadband wireless ISPs pop up all over the place since the government relaxed its regulations, today is no different and the latest entrant is Denham Broadband:
We are a group of enthusiasts who have teamed together to bring broadband into Denham. Unlike conventional high speed connections we are planning to bypass the telephone and cable TV network and therefore we can eliminate a large proportion of the cost involved. This will allow us to roll out the network for a far smaller number of people without pushing subscription charges sky high.
We are planning to roll out a wireless network solution based on industry standard '802.11' equipment. By using high performance antennas we aim to allow connections to the network from anywhere in Denham and access a range of services, including high speed internet connectivity. To get connected you will need to purchase a wireless network card for your PC and connect it to a suitable external antenna. We estimate these items to cost around £100. You will then pay only a small monthly fee which, so long as we get enough subscribers, will be around the same price as similar broadband solutions offered elsewhere in the country.
The representative we spoke to stated that tests were due to start within the next week or so and that they're hoping to launch a full service within 4 - 6 weeks.
Typically there's not much else to go on at this early stage, although you can pre-registering your address on their site. Remember, this is presently only a service for the Denham area. |
The Most Wired Country
By:mark.j @ 9:56:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The UK has placed eight in the ITUs (International Telecoms Union) annual global survey covering which country is the most wired for mobile data:
Hong Kong and Denmark come out as winners, but Dan Gillmor, who travels a lot, in his SJ Mercury log asks how they arrived at this conclusion.
It's a very good question, and the executive summary - for that's all we get - doesn't explain the metric. Who's really 'wired' - or in the ITU's words - "which economy is performing in terms of information and communication technologies (ICTs) while also capturing how poised it is to take advantage of future ICT advancements", then?
Dan notes that the figures, which put Finland 12th (yes, 12th) and the UK eight, behind the USA in fifth place take account of very subjective, finger in the breeze guesses at future growth. But the 26 other factors that made up the final national score are equally subjective.
More @ The Register. |
News - September 21,2002
NTL Re-Announce Faster Broadband
By:mark.j @ 9:54:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] In an effort to steal some of BTs advertising thunder, NTL has re-announced their new higher speed broadband cable modem service, which has moved from 512Kbps to 600Kbps for the same price (£25 per month).
They also used the opportunity to remind everybody that their standalone service (no TV package required) would begin on 1st October 2002 and be available to roughly 7 million homes reached by NTL's cable network.
None of this is new; it's just NTL trying to surf on BTs publicity wave. |
49% Of Ireland Online
By:mark.j @ 9:48:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Despite a lack of quality unmetered dialup and broadband ISP services, Ireland has still managed to get 49% of the population online:
Of home internet users, 69 per cent stayed online for 30 minutes or less. 33 per cent said they did not stay on longer because they did not need to use it more often. 60 per cent use dial-up modems, while 39 per cent said they used an ISDN connection. 45 per cent of those online had made a purchase over the internet at home.
The survey also revealed that 85 per cent of SMEs have broadband access in Ireland, with 39 per cent saying they thought their connection was too slow. It estimates that the market would support a broadband package costing between E40 - E60 for SMEs and E30-E40 for residential users.
In terms of the costs involved, the Ovum Report claims that making 512kbit/s available (mostly through ADSL and cable) to 85 per cent of the population with a take-up of 65 per cent, would involve a base cost of E450m with as much again needed for ancillary costs. For 2MBit/s (mostly through ADSL, SHDL and cable) this rises to E2bn and for 5Mbit/s (mostly through VDSL and ADSL+) the cost is estimated at E4.1bn.
More @ Europemedia. |
ISPs Could Break The Law – Data Retention
By:mark.j @ 9:36:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It looks as if the government has still failed to resolve a key sticking point in their new Internet anti-privacy snooping law(s).
UK ISPs remain fearful that by doing as the government asks and storing personal data, they themselves could be breaking the law:
But after a meeting in Cardiff earlier this month, data protection commissioners from various European countries backtracked on mandatory measures, and blocked the UK proposals.
The commissioners explained that they had "grave doubt as to the legitimacy and legality" of the measures, and said that the costs of such mandatory legislation would place too much of a burden on telcos and ISPs.
The Home Office now wants to circumvent the EU and bring in data retention laws under the UK Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, but using a voluntary code of practice to which it wants ISPs and telcos to adhere. But because it is not statutory, companies could find themselves breaking other European laws.
More @ VNUNet. |
Tracking Children’s E-Mail Use
By:mark.j @ 9:27:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Kid-e-mail is a new piece of free software that proposes to aid parents by tracking the E-Mail activity of their children. It's expected to launch sometime during November this year:
On its website Kid-e-mail says it can gather some or all of the following information: email address, IP address, date and time of opening, how long the email was open for, the browser used, the language used, client software and ISP etc.
Also "in all but the most extreme cases the unique address of the recipient's machine" will also be provided.
A neat trick, especially when you consider anyone using a dial-up connection almost certainly won't have a unique IP address. Kid-e-mail also says this information is gathered "regardless of the settings on a person's machine".
In a world where parents grow increasingly concerned about their children’s online surfing habits, such a technology could be useful. More @ The Register. |
BTs Alcatel ADSL Problems - Update
By:mark.j @ 9:22:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide has posted the lengthy response they got from BT regarding the recently reported Alcatel exchange firmware upgrades:
Following quality checks that took place as an integral component of the Alcatel High Density Upgrade that commenced on the 12th September, a problem has been identified which does, in some cases, cause end user synchronisation problems. To resolve this situation the following actions have ensued:
1. Further deployment by Alcatel of the High Density Upgrade was immediately frozen by BT Wholesale. Alcatel has analysed the problem as a synchronisation issue for specific modem types, and has today provided a fix for the problem. BT is currently testing the solution and will introduce it into the network if testing is successful.
2. Alcatel have developed a tactical manual means to provide a fix for those customers which have been identified to have this problem. The work to address these known faults will commence at 17:00 today and it is anticipated that this work will be completed by midday Saturday. Initial findings indicate that the synchronisation problems are most likely to occur on Solwise SAR715.
The updated finishes with BT apologising to all ISP and end-users affected by the faults. Perhaps it's time BT reconsidered offering Service Level Agreements (SLA)? |
News - September 20,2002
BT Halts Broadband ADSL Adverts
By:mark.j @ 2:45:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] While some say they may have been pushed by Oftel, BT has never the less decided to stop advertising any of its broadband products for the duration of its £10m broadband awareness campaign.
Rumour has it that the reason for this shift is to avoid claims that some of the operators own business units (BTOpenworld etc.) might unfairly benefit from the blitz:
The move has seen BT adverts taken down from Web sites, and suggests that the telco recognises it could be accused of cross-subsidising different areas of its business -- something it is forbidden from doing under its licence.
According to sources familiar with the issue, the telecoms regulator may have pushed for the move. Oftel, though, has denied playing any such role, and insists BT is free to advertise as it likes.
The ZDNet item states that BT will not be advertising any of its broadband products between 22nd September and 1st October 2002. |
Plcforum Talks Powerline Broadband
By:mark.j @ 2:41:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We've recently been hearing a lot about broadband Powerline (Internet access via a power cable) technologies; today some positive comments have slipped out from last weekends Plcforum General Assembly:
The Plcforum General Assembly meeting was hosted by Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), which is currently trialling a commercial PLC system in Scotland supported by funding from DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and the Scottish Executive.
According to Antony Lole, a Telecom Infrastructure Manager at SSE, the trial is still in its early stages, with just a dozen or so customers connected in the Crieff and Campbeltown areas of Perthshire. However results so far are encouraging, and guinea pigs are seeing good throughputs, in some cases getting a symmetric connection delivering speeds in excess of 1Mbps.
"We're learning how to tweak the equipment to get throughput up and noise down," Lole told us.
While small, it's still a promising start and hopefully a sign of things to come. It remains to be seen whether the technology will ever arrive on a national scale. More @ The Register. |
BPI Tries To Gag EasyInternetCafe
By:mark.j @ 2:23:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is trying to gag the Internet access cafe chain, EasyInternetCafe, in an effort to stop the group talking to the press:
The BPI is concerned that its attempts to reach a settlement with EasyInternetCafe have been hampered by press coverage of the issue.
EasyInternetCafe, though, intends to fight the move. "We have no intention of being gagged," an EasyInternetCafe spokesman said.
EasyInternetCafe fell foul of the BPI by letting its customers download copyrighted material and burn it onto CDs in its stores. EasyInternetCafe claims it co-operated with the BPI when it learned of this, but was shocked when the BPI demanded a fine of £1m to cover copyright infringement.
More @ Silicon. |
|
