April 19, 2002 - April 24, 2002
News - April 24,2002
New Unmetered ISP - Quicksurfer
By:mark.j @ 3:19:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] That's correct, yet another new unmetered dialup ISP has joined the growing fray of services, this one is called Quicksurfer. There are currently two packages, although a PAYG (Pay as you go) and Satellite option will arrive in the future:
quicksurfer anytime : £12.99 pm (2Hr cut off)
quicksurfer daytime : £8.99 pm
Note that there appears to be an error under the 'anytime' service details surrounding the set-up charge in which a monthly fee of £14.99 is quoted. Not to worry because it's still £12.99, they just made a mistake.
Judging by the service offerings we'd say that it's another NeonHippo reseller, however the owner did note one thing of interest to us:
Freecalls, domain name, 7emails, unmetered internet access, totally bespoke system we can tailor the service on a 1-1 basis. i.e if users would like a nighttime service we can build this. If users want a guaranteed 10-1 contention ratio we can do this too.
It's not clear how flexible the customisations can be or indeed how you'd go about getting such a thing set-up, although we assume it'd be via a private E-Mail since information on the website is limited. |
Ireland Cuts Broadband ADSL Prices
By:mark.j @ 2:59:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Irish operator, Eircom, is reported to have cut the retail rental fees for ADSL by roughly 10 Euros for one user, yet connection fees have risen by 30%:
Connection fees have risen from EUR125 to EUR165 ex. VAT, but monthly rental for Eircom's I-stream solo product for individual users is down to EUR89 from the EUR99 fee Eircom had proposed last autumn. That product was delayed following a challenge from Ireland's telecoms regulator, and the new retail prices were published on Tuesday following resolution of the dispute.
Customers on the solo product will connect to the Net at 512kbit/s, or around 10 times faster than a normal dial-up modem, but they will be limited to three gigabytes of downloaded data each month. Eircom said it would charge EUR0.03 per megabyte over that limit. Extra charges also apply, including EUR145 for a special high-speed modem.
It's worth remembering that recent changes, such as the new competition from NTLs Cable Modem service, could well force prices down further in the future. More @ ElectricNews.Net . |
BT & AOL Link-Up (No Frills ADSL)
By:mark.j @ 2:55:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Following earlier announcements, BT has now released some additional details on their 'possible' plans for a link-up with AOL related to their new No Frills BT Broadband product.
Britain's dominant fixed-line telecoms operator said it expected opposition from some of the larger ISPs, such as market leader Freeserve, though it had started talks with U.S. giant AOL about forging a partnership.
"We are talking as we speak to AOL to try to work the opportunity together... rather than fight," BT Retail CEO Pierre Danon said. "We have tried to talk to Freeserve, but they have decided that they would stop talking to us."
Freeserve, which sells broadband access for £30 per month, declined to comment immediately, but said it was looking at BT's plans.
As for the potential partnership with AOL, BT Retail Managing Director Angus Porter said it would face the hurdles of regulatory clearance and the creation of a technical bridge to link with AOL's "unique platform".
"It's quite challenging, but... we and AOL are approaching the discussion with very open minds to see whether we could provide a service, particularly to AOL's existing narrowband customer base," Porter said. It remains to be seen what, if anything, comes from this. |
UK Looses £54Million To DDoS
By:mark.j @ 2:48:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Regular readers will already be aware of the growing number of ISPs to have been hit by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. UK businesses are now reported to have lost an estimated £54 Million to such attacks during 2002 (so far):
Estimates by security firm Webscreen Technologies suggest that such attacks could cost the UK more than £270m by 2005.
In the past big names such as eBay, Yahoo and Amazon have been knocked out in this way. In January this year UK internet service provider (ISP) Cloud Nine was forced to close permanently following a DoS attack, and in the same month ISP Tiscali suffered considerable disruption.
Gary Milo, managing director at Webscreen, said: "It is very easy to remain anonymous when launching an attack as the DDoS networks reside on PCs without the knowledge of their owners. This means that anyone from kids to dissatisfied customers or disgruntled employees now have the power to cause havoc on a global scale."
The VNUNet item is no doubt of some concern to the many businesses and ISPs around the UK, unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any such thing as the ‘perfect’ solution and firewalls are no longer as useful as they once were. |
BTs 'No Frills' Broadband Bandwidth
By:mark.j @ 2:40:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's not as if the controversial new 'No Frills' BT Broadband service wasn't restrictive enough on price; ADSLGuide has also spotted a 1Gb per day bandwidth limit!
While this may sound like a lot, under broadband 1Gb could easily be used up with a good day of streaming media or downloads, thankfully all may not be lost:
BT have responded - added 2pm
BT have asked us to make clear that at this stage there is no penalty or charge for going over the 1GB/day figure. However due to the way that heavy users in the past have impacted services they are trying to be upfront in the area, i.e. that a fast always on service doesnt mean a always downloading at 512kbps service. In other words people need to remember it's a service contended at 50:1.
Sadly this still doesn't quite clear up the issue of what happens to people who consistently break the limit, are they charged extra or thrown off etc.? More when we know.. |
GD Online Championship Update
By:mark.j @ 11:22:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The BTOpenworld backed Games Domain (GD) service has sent along a reminder that registrations for their 2002 online games championship are set to close in 10 days:
QUICK!! REGISTRATION CLOSES IN 10 DAYS FOR THE GAMES DOMAIN ONLINE GAMES CHAMPIONSHIP
Don't miss your chance to walk away with your share of over £20,000
Good at games? Don't miss your chance to compete in the UK's biggest ever games tournament - the 'Games Domain Online Championship 2002'. Hurry! There are only 10 days to go before registration closes on May 3, 2002. This is could be your opportunity to walk away with a share of a total prize pot of over £20,000! To register go to http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk and click on the Games Domain Online Championship 2002 button.
Gamers will compete against each other in three popular categories; football (Fifa 2002 published by Electronic Arts), first person shooters ('Return to Castle Wolfenstein' published by Activision and 'Counter-Strike' published by Vivendi Universal) and chess (Games Domain's speed chess). The competition kicks off online with heats running in May and June 2002 culminating in a LAN based final in July 2002 at a central London venue. |
Nildram Cut Home ADSL Costs
By:mark.j @ 11:17:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Nildram, one of the UKs most familiar ISPs, has today issued a new press release announcing yet another price cut to their entry level ADSL Broadband product:
Nildram sets the pace for entry level Broadband!
Nildram, one of the UK's leading providers of Broadband ADSL Internet access, have announced a bold new price for the popular entry-level version of their 'Wires Only' Home500 service, Home500 Lite.
Home500 Lite provides high performance Broadband ADSL access via Nildram's renowned network, combined with a single POP3 mailbox and Dynamic IP Address allocation, at a new low price of £22.99 inclusive of VAT. This service provides all the benefits of performance, reliability and customer care provided by Nildram's other services, whilst providing a simplified alternative at an industry-leading price.
The new price takes effect from May 1st 2002 and Home500 Lite can be ordered via the Nildram ADSL specific web site at: http://www.getadsl.co.uk . Existing Nildram Home500 Lite customers will also receive the benefits of the reduced price with effect from their next billing date after May 1st.
Iain Ogilvie, Nildram's Marketing Manager comments: "We are seeing an upsurge of interest in Broadband ADSL services and we believe this price reduction will help stimulate the market further."
Nildram's latest cut is yet another example of why BTs new 'no frills' BT Broadband product @ £27/28 per month simply doesn't work. It's easily undercut by primary ISPs such as Nildram. |
BT Deny ADSL Suspension Claims
By:mark.j @ 8:37:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Following all the recent problems with BTs exchange based Fujitsu ADSL line-cards; some had accused the operator of preventing new broadband customers from connecting to the Internet.
BT has today denied this and insists that there's no truth in the reports, the fault is supposed to affect only 'some' local exchanges:
Reports on Tuesday claimed that BT had told ISPs that it could not connect any more customers to its broadband-enabled exchanges until it had fixed the technical problem, but BT has told ZDNet UK that this is not the case.
"BT has not had to suspend broadband connections," a BT spokesman said. "All our local exchanges that use the Alcatel equipment, and some that use the Fujitsu, have no problems at all."
"We're hoping to fix the Fujitsu problem by the end of next week. In the meantime, some new customers may experience a 10-day delay," the BT spokesman added.
The ZDNet item notes that both BT and Fujitsu continue to work toward finding a permanent solution. |
BT Show EXPENSIVE 'No Frills' ADSL
By:mark.j @ 8:28:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BT has today announced details of its new no frills (Direct Access) broadband ADSL product - BT Broadband, which may not be quite what people had expected. BT intends to sell the service for as low as £27 (direct debit) or £28 per month (that's low?), there's also a £60 connection fee and it'll cost roughly £80 for the hardware.
The country's dominant fixed-line telecoms operator said on Wednesday that it expected the stripped-down DSL (digital subscriber line) product to attract 500,000 users by mid-2003, or half the target set by BTs new Chief Executive, Ben Verwaayen.
Overall, broadband access was expected to give a net increase of £490Million pounds in revenue in 2004/05, BT said. Britain's market for Internet access is currently dominated by ISPs such as AOL and Freeserve, owned by France's Wanadoo.
The 'no frills' product, known as BT Broadband, would be widely available in autumn of this year following trials.
Pierre Danon, chief executive of BT Retail, said: "Creating a mass-market for any product or service needs affordability plus innovation. BT Broadband delivers both. As a result, our customers and the competitive market that provides content, applications and services, will benefit.
From this autumn, residential customers will have a new, simpler alternative for surfing the internet on one phone line, while service and content providers will have a wider target market and a simpler, easier and more compelling route to generating revenue."
We're now somewhat confused as to just what's supposed to be so wonderful about the new service, which many fully fledged ISPs can already undercut and indeed do just that. You can read the full press release HERE, although it probably won't help you understand why the product is so expensive. |
Virus Warning: 'Jenna Jameson' Worm
By:mark.j @ 8:13:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The latest E-Mail virus (worm) to cause concern is known as 'Jenna Jameson' (Kagra), which is apparently the same name as a well known porn star.
The worm is yet another attempt by virus writers to infect your computer using social engineering. This one tricks users executing the code by tempting them with links to free pictures of the star:
The virus arrives as an email with the subject line: 'Jenna Jameson pornostar free superfuck+photo addresses'. The accompanying attachment, 'JENNA-JAMESON-FREE-SUPERFUCK.TXT.vbs', appears to be a text file but is really a malicious Visual Basic script.
If the file is executed it opens a text document with a list of links to porn sites, but in the background it infects the user's PC.
Not only is the virus a mass mailer, which sends itself to all names in the Windows Address Book, it will display a message on 12 May which reads: 'Your PC has been hacked by KaGra[ATZI virus ver 2.1]'. On 13 May, it deletes the 'Windows' folder on drive C: or the 'Winnt' folder if the machine is running NT.
Apparently the virus can also spread by floppy disk, which is a return to older methods seen before the Internet was so prominent. More @ VNUNet. |
News - April 23,2002
New Unmetered ISP - The CRISP
By:mark.j @ 3:35:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] What is it with all these weird and whacky ISP names? Well whatever it is there's another one on the way calling itself The CRISP and launching on 1st May 2002:
Just a note to inform everyone that we are a new internet service provider launching on 1st MAY.
Our aim is that problems that have been encountered in the past with other isp's by you the customer, can be overcome with our service.
We are £11-99 per month, 24/7 unlimited, unmetered access with low contention ratios. So if you are interested, please visit the site as we would appreciate your feedback, visit http://www.thecrisp.co.uk and let us know what we can do specifically for you! Thanks all.
Be warned, this is yet another service using (abusing?) the word 'unlimited' in the same sentence as 24/7 and unmetered. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has already slapped a number of ISPs for 'wording' in a similar manor.
With any luck this may actually be a true ISP, as opposed to another re-branded and resold clone, something that’s currently helping to dilute customer choice in the industry. |
Sheffield Trial Internet Voting
By:mark.j @ 3:11:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Sheffield looks set to be one of the few places in the UK to trial Internet based voting (e-Voting) for the forthcoming city council elections:
Yesterday Sheffield City Council unveiled a new Web site, http://EvoteSheffield.com which it hopes will persuade young voters to vote online or via text message.
The site is part of an e-voting pilot and also provides information about how people can vote without having to use a traditional ballot box.
Although tailored for a youth audience, e-voting is open to all registered voters in three selected Sheffield City wards.
It'll be interesting to see if the service can improve voter turn out and reverse some of the apathy from the last general election in 2001. More @ The Register. |
AOL TimeWarner To Sell ISP?
By:mark.j @ 3:04:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Concerns have been growing that AOL TimeWarner could sell its ISP division. Today AOL has moved to play down such fears, which have been sparked by falling shares and slowing growth:
AOL Time Warner spokesman Ed Adler said a spin-off of the AOL operations was "nothing that we are contemplating." Still, some on Wall Street didn't rule out such a move down the line.
Once the company improves operating performance and finds ways to maximise value in the near-term, every option will become a possibility although not necessarily a probability, said Gerard Klauer Mattison analyst Jeff Logsdon.
It's unlikely that such a move would affect the UK / European wings of AOLs ISP service, however you never can tell. More @ ZDNet. |
BTOpenworld Touts Marketing Deals
By:mark.j @ 2:54:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] BTOpenworld has today issued a new press release touting six new ISP marketing deals with top high street names, which are designed to help satisfy the booming demand for broadband Internet services:
BTopenworld has signed up six new companies to cope with demand for broadband
Rymans, Toys 'R' Us, Nationwide, Iceland, mmO2 and Northern Electric will initially distribute more than a quarter of a million broadband registration CDs via their high-street and retail park outlets. In addition, existing marketing partner HMV has increased orders of CDs threefold for each of its stores. This move is a direct result of consumer interest.
Each CD contains optional registration for BTopenworld's broadband and narrowband services, as well as a wealth of educational material about high-speed Internet access. Customers can use the CD to check for broadband availability in their area.
Chris Jones, head of distribution channels at BTopenworld said: "Broadband interest amongst consumers has been extremely encouraging, so we're moving quickly to ensure prospective customers can register as easily as possible. These deals with popular high street names are helping us to increase our penetration as well as educating users on what broadband can do for them. HMV's success demonstrates the interest out there, and we aim to replicate this with our new relationships."
"We think there's a real synergy between Toys 'R' Us and broadband so stocking registration CDs is a logical step," said Mike Coogan, commercial director at Toys 'R'Us. "It will offer a brand new dimension to our customers, opening the door to real-time, collaborative gaming and high quality educational tools. BTopenworld was the logical partner to choose due to its market lead and innovation in this area." |
Sonnet Launch Cheap Business ADSL
By:mark.j @ 2:47:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Sonnet Internet has today sent us their latest press release announcing the launch of an affordable business broadband ADSL package:
Sonnet Internet offers dedicated business ADSL at consumer prices
Sonnet Internet puts its money where its mouth is and launches cut price ADSL for small businesses for only £25 per month (exc VAT)
http://www.sonnetinternet.co.uk
Sonnet Internet, provider of ISP services and applications for small businesses, announces the availability of low-cost broadband ADSL for its customers. Following the recent announcement from BT regarding the reduction in cost for its broadband access, Sonnet Internet has slashed the price of its ADSL packages.
From today, Sonnet Internet is offering its ADSL services from only £25 per, month (exc VAT). All packages include a free domain name, up to 250Mb Wwebspace and 500 email addresses.
Sonnet Internet's ADSL packages include the 'self-install' option, where customers can purchase a modem from recommended resellers through the portal, saving themselves money on the installation fee currently charged by BT. With self-install there is also no need to wait for an engineer to install a broadband modem. Sonnet Internet supplies broadband through the existing telephone line and the customer just plugs in their modem and splitter for access.
Not only does ADSL offer access that can be up to 10 times faster than a 56k modem, but you can also continue to make calls or send and receive faxes on the same telephone line as your 'always-on' Internet connection; a must for any small business, reliant on constant communication with its customers. Sonnet Internet's ADSL packages are supported by Sonnet Internet's usual range of quality business applications and web self-care aimed to greatly aid any small business online.
The ADSL products encompass a range of packages, suitable for businesses with different needs, up to 2MB bandwidth for heavy users.
Danny Sullivan, director of Sonnet Internet, commented: "Sonnet Internet has been committed to offering its customers cost effective, quality business applications from day one. Broadband is essential for today's small business user and hassle free, value for money access is long overdue. We are proud to be leading the way in offering this essential service at such a good price." |
USA = 1st/UK = 5th - Internet Access
By:mark.j @ 2:42:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The latest survey from Nielsen NetRatings has found that China, with 56.6 million domestic users, is now the second largest country on the Internet access chart after the USA:
The dramatic increase has been confirmed by the Chinese Ministry of Information. It says subscriptions are currently rising between 5% and 6% every month.
The US has a home internet population of 166 million. Britain lies fifth in the chart with 29 million.
Japan has the world's third largest number of home users with 51.3 million people. Germany is in fourth place with 32.2 million.
It's nice to see that Britain can still butt heads with the best of them when it needs to, despite being somewhat smaller than some of the opposition. More @ Ananova. |
TW blueyonder Launch 1Mbps Service
By:mark.j @ 2:28:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] DigitalSpy is reporting that Telewests unmetered and broadband ISP wing, blueyonder, has today launched the trial of its new 1Mbps Cable Modem service to 1,500 customers in Scotland:
Customers should register their interest on Blueyonder's 'evenfaster' website. A full consumer release of the service is expected "later this year".
Philip Jansen, Managing Director of Telewest's consumer division, hopes that the new service will entice more customers onto the cable operator's broadband services. He said: "This is the first stage of blueyonder setting another benchmark for internet services in the UK. We are an ISP with ears and intend to use consumer feedback to ensure this service offers an unparalleled multi-media experience.
We all feel the need for speed, but our 1Mb service will be about more than bandwidth alone. By concentrating on the overall quality of the customer experience, the trial will help us deliver a service that leaves ADSL providers dead in their copper tracks."
Note that final pricing has yet to be decided, although Telewest states that it won't be double the price. |
Freeserve Joins Thomson Directories
By:mark.j @ 9:12:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Freeserve has teamed up with Thomson Directories in order to integrate local listings (household directory) into its online search service:
A section on the site called My Local Area will enable users to register a particular location to find more detailed information on local entertainment events. A Search Nearby section allows them to find local businesses in order of how close they are to a user’s home address.
Rehman added that the deal with Freeserve (http://www.freeserve.com) will see ThomsonLocal.com’s services integrated into the ISP for more than a year.
More @ Revolution. |
NTL Sued For Misleading Investors
By:mark.j @ 9:07:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] NTLs directors, including its CEO, Barclay Knapp, are being sued by investors for misleading them over the true financial state of the company.
On top of that the troubled operator is reported to be ready for a merger with rival Telewest, but only once its debt restructuring has been completed in July:
The lawsuit, filed on 18 April by law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes and Lerach LLP on behalf of investors that bought NTL shares between 9 August 2000 and 29 November 2002, claims that Knapp, COO Steven Carter, CFO John Gregg and chairman George Blumenthal issued a series of misrepresentations during that period that artificially inflated the price of the company's shares.
The complaint alleges that the directors misled investors by failing to disclose that NTL was unable to effectively integrate its acquisitions, was not funded fully until 2003, would have to restructure its debt, was improperly delaying the write-down of of impaired assets, and that the directors were under-reporting churn rates by failing to report terminations and by continuing to bill customers for accounts which they had brought to an end.
It claims that the defendants "acted knowingly or in such a reckless manner as to constitute a fraud or deceit. Defendants were further motivated?because they owned millions of options to purchase shares of company stock and sought to artificially inflate the price of NTL shares for as long enough time as to allow them to capitalise on the exercise and sale of such options and stock."
More @ netimperative.info. |
Virgin.net Cuts Unmetered Price
By:mark.j @ 8:54:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Virgin.net, arguably one of the top and largest ISPs in the UK, has snubbed recent price rises from BTO, AOL and Freeserve by doing exactly the opposite with their own product.
The popular ISP is, from 22nd April 2002, to lower the price of its 24seven unmetered dialup service from £15 to £13.49 per month:
Virgin.net, however, believes that such price rises are unnecessary.
"I'm surprised by the recent announcements on price increases," said Peter Tuomey, sales and marketing director at Virgin.net, in a statement. "We are dropping our price by simply passing on cost savings that we have worked hard to deliver over the past few months. We will now share this benefit with our customers while at the same time continue to deliver the highest possible quality of service," Tuomey claimed.
Some observers have claimed that ISPs will raise the cost of their unmetered Internet access packages as a way of persuading customers to move to broadband.
Finally a major ISP with the ability to see that all such providers are not equal, do not offer the same services or restrictions and thus do not need to unilaterally agree on price increases! More @ ZDNet. |
News - April 22,2002
EU SPAM Ruling Angers ISPs
By:mark.j @ 3:13:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] A European parliamentary committee has dropped E-Mail from the list of technologies (Fax and SMS messages etc.) which should be protected against unsolicited advertising (SPAM):
The committee's position on spam has angered the Internet service providers industry but pleased direct marketing organisations. "The amendments agreed in the committee take no account of convergence of technologies," said Jo McNamee, European affairs manager with EuroISPA, a lobbying group.
"Why should you need prior consent to send an SMS message to someone's mobile phone, but no prior consent to send an e-mail to the same phone," McNamee said.
"Legal certainty would require knowledge of 45 different laws around Europe. The idea the committee has come up with is ridiculously complicated legally," McNamee said.
It's nice the way so many governments are not only happy to sell our personal privacy down the river, yet also agree that we should all suffer from unwelcome commercial exploitation. More @ CW360. |
Unmetered ISP - 08002Go - Returns
By:mark.j @ 2:59:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The unmetered dialup ISP, 08002Go, which controversially disappeared off our screens at roughly the same time as Net In A Nutshell (Nutshell) for similar reasons is set to return on 1st June 2002!
The following message was posted on our forum by 0800/08452Go's Managing Director, Dennis Cawley, at 1:38pm this afternoon:
We would like to take this opportunity to let you know that our much-awaited return of our exceedingly popular 08002go service is starting back on the 1st June 2002.
Our service was so very popular with just over 800,000 users last year we have decided to bring the service back due to the ever-increasing demand from the public.
Should you wish to come back to us, then just go to our homepage on www.08452go.com. There you will find the main sign up pages, click on the sign up page for either the 08452go membership (no credit card required) or 08002go 24/7. For a regular monthly fee you will be given six options for the 24/7 services, which you can choose from.
Once you have chosen the service level that you require, enter your details, pay for the service you want by entering your credit or switch card details to our ‘Secure Server Site’ and you will be automatically connected to your service on 1st June 2002. By signing on early you will guarantee instant membership/connection for June 1st 2002.
Alternatively if you wish to stay on our www.08452go.com service don’t pay anything just fill out the membership details and immediately use the 0845 service once you have joined. Or you can simply join both services if you wish.
Please note the http://www.08452go.com and the 0800/24/7 Friaco service both give you access to our full range of gaming servers.
On the 08452go gaming servers we are holding regular weekly competitions on this site at weekends giving away fabulous prizes (see site for more information).
We also have an associated site for the more SPORTS minded which is www.sports-isp.com, which offers the same 24/7 service and our 0845 standard rate service but has all sorts of real time information relating to all aspects of sport.
Don’t forget with all of our services you get unlimited e-mail addresses and unlimited Bandwidth.
If you are one of the many thousands of people who have been waiting patiently then as promised, here is your much-missed service back and we would like to thank your for your patience, WELCOME YOU BACK!
Interestingly the official 08002Go website has stated that the, "service is fully subscribed this month" for the past 6 months or so.
The website (08452Go) notes that packages will cost from £6.99 (Another Gio Internet?) upwards and service selection will be taken from 29th April 2002. Of course it's hard to judge how people will react to the news, although this may entertain a few of you (from their website):
"We sucessfully ran this service last year, It was extremely popular, due to our no-nonsense approach, fast connection speeds and lack of engaged tones." |
75 BILLION Text Messages Worldwide
By:mark.j @ 2:39:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Ouch, the Mobile Data Association (MDA) has said that the total number of text messages being sent around the global has risen by 50% to 75 Billion!:
The continuing rapid growth of the medium has forced it to revise its forecast for the entire year.
The association is now predicting 2002's total to be 360 billion, up from the 250 billion reached in 2001.
The Ananova item notes that the UK holds 1.3Billion of the total, which is a rise of 100 Million over February. We can't help but wonder how networks will end up coping with the next generation of multimedia messaging. |
ISPr Site Update - New Reviews
By:mark.j @ 8:48:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We've just added five new ISP Reviews to the site for Business Serve, CharityDAYS, Easynet Dial, MacAce.net and Moose Internet. They're linked in the same place as usual:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/reviews/reviews.shtml
Note that we had planned to do some of Brightview's providers (Madasafish etc.); unfortunately I lost the test account details until only just this morning. We'll get around to those and four or five others ASAP. |
SAT/Affinity ISPs & Billing Problems
By:mark.j @ 8:33:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The unmetered dialup ISP SurfAnyTime (SAT) has helped us understand the reason for a few of the complaints we've had regarding some of their billing issues.
If you've had any such problem then note that this is supposedly because Affinity (ISP suppliers) are migrating to a new billing platform and have been seeing a number of problems, which are being dealt with.
This could well affect more ISPs than just SurfAnyTime, thus anybody with an Affinity supported ISP should keep an eye open. If you do have such problems then note it to the support staff of your ISP ASAP, just to be safe. |
NTL Preps New Cable Modem
By:mark.j @ 8:27:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] DigitalSpy has another brief update on ntl:home's new branded Cable Modem adaptor, which is expected to start rolling out to 'new' customers sometime this week. NTL also issued some additional information:
"In addition to the introduction of the new modem, we have extensively revamped the content and packaging of the Welcome Pack. This is now packaged in a DVD style case with Broadband Installer V1.1 and Quickstart guide for PC and Apple Macintosh.
Similarly the equivalent item for the Set Top Box Broadband service has been revamped, and again will be progressively introduced into service." |
News - April 21,2002
Clara.net Add New 155Meg ADSL Pipe
By:mark.j @ 8:54:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] We note from one of Clara.net's most recent announcements that their new 155meg Central Pipe for ADSL connections is finally up and running:
The previous Central Pipe gateway router which had been showing high latency since 17:30 last night was replaced this morning and continued to exhibit the same issues. A ticket was opened with Cisco who could not identify what was causing the problem so the decision to migrate ahead of schedule to our new pipe was made.
Customers connections to the old Gateway were terminated and should now reconnect to the new Gateway/Central Pipe. There was a brief period when IP addresses were being assigned incorrectly but that has now been resolved and all customers appear to be connecting normally.
We apologise for the degradation in service over the past 24 hours. Thanks to Ollie, Andy, Mark and Faye for helping getting the new service up and running. |
AlphaPhe.Net ISP Launch 4th Package
By:mark.j @ 8:50:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The recently launched unmetered dialup ISP AlphaPhe.Net has announced the introduction of a fourth package for 'the professional/business user who needs a little more':
ALPHAPHE.NET LAUNCHES PACKAGE 4 - For the professional/business user who needs a little more
Are you frustrated because you want to use the net for much longer, without session time-outs or downgrades? Are you a businessperson who needs more time online each day without interruptions? Need the most extensive online communication and file management service? AlphaPhe.Net has the solution - Package 4, giving you more web space, unlimited domain hosting, much more uninterrupted time online, and other very useful features (displayed below), primarily aimed at the business and heavy user.
Package 4 includes all of the package 1,2 and 3 features PLUS:
Greater INM rating flexibility.
Unlimited domain name hosting.
100MB of webspace.
Fax to Email service - receive a fax from someone as an email attachment.
Email to Fax forwarding - emails can be forwarded to a chosen fax number.
User specified email filtering - only receive the emails you want to receive.
Unlimited sub domains pointing to the same web space.
All this from just £23.99 per month!
For more information relating to package 4 please go to the AlphaPhe.Net web site.
MANY USERS CONTINUE TO SWITCH TO THE POPULAR STANDING ORDER PAYMENT METHOD
It is convenient to pay by credit/debit card, but AlphaPhe.Net users are now realising that they can save £18.00 per year by switching to the numerous other methods of payment, including the most popular, which is the Standing Order method. If you wish to change your method of payment to Standing Order, simply login to the 'Accounts' section of the AlphaPhe.Net site at: http://www.alphaphe.net/account.html and select the 'Standing Order' payment method adjacent to the words 'Payment Method:' at the bottom of this page. You will be able to download an automated standing order mandate, which can then be taken to your bank for payment; it saves you time and money!
FAQ'S AND ONLINE SUPPORT IMPROVED TO ANSWER MOST OF YOUR QUESTIONS
Most ISP's just state a few of the most popular questions, however we have gone one step further and answered the majority of the questions that are likely to arise. This improves overall efficiency; the more questions in the faq section, the less the user is likely to ask our support team and therefore the quicker support tickets are resolved. If you have sent in a support ticket recently you will have realised just how quick we respond to your queries! To view our FAQ's please go to http://www.alphaphe.net/faq.html and for online support just go to http://www.alphaphe.net/support.html
WANT SOMETHING BACK FOR RECOMMENDING ALPHAPHE.NET TO YOUR FRIENDS?
The AlphaPhe.Net team have come up with this clever idea, similar to the reward points that major retailers provide to their loyal users. The concept is quite simple to understand; you will receive ABC (AlphaPhe Barter Credits) for recommending us to your friends and from subscribing to AlphaPhe.Net. If you are a current user you will have already gained ABC's from registering to AlphaPhe.Net. To view your current ABC balance please login to:
http://www.alphaphe.net/account.html . These ABC's can be used to reduce your INM rating, in addition you will shortly be able to exchange your ABC's for computer peripherals, domain registration, and even mobile logos and ring tones - so don't forget to tell others that you are enjoying the AlphaPhe.Net service. |
Uovo Help BTs Internet Kiosks
By:mark.j @ 8:46:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Uovo is set to develop a content management system for BTs public Internet kiosks, which will eventually be rolled out to 28,000 terminals across the UK over the next five years from July:
Services on its kiosks will include telephone calls, SMS messages and email, internet access, directory and location-based services and mobile downloads.
Terminals will be based in the high street as well as rail, tube and bus stations, shopping centres, airports and motorway service stations.
Uovo will also develop the user interface for the kiosks’ touch-screens, the content management system and back-end services, including reserving and booking space and generating and managing quotes.
More @ Revolution. |
News - April 20,2002
Alcatel DSLAM Upgrades Delayed
By:mark.j @ 9:23:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide reports that the planned upgrades to Alcatel ADSL exchange hardware (27th April to 2nd May 2002) will be delayed.
No new dates have been issued, although we do know that the upgrades would no longer take place during the daytime; sounds as if some ISPs didn’t like the idea of a 30minute outage. |
3G Rollout Under Threat
By:mark.j @ 9:20:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The government is considering a proposal (Telecommunications Transmitters (restrictions on planning applications) Bill) that could make it harder for operators to get planning permission for 3G base stations:
Frank Field, the MP bringing the bill, says it is an attempt to stop mobile phone companies repeatedly making applications for planning permission, to build new base stations or add to existing ones, even after earlier applications have been rejected.
If accepted by Parliament, the legislation would give local authority planning departments the power to refuse to accept applications on sites where they have recently rejected applications.
The bill would allow planning departments to refuse an application for a mast if "two similar applications have been made within the past three years." Once an application has been rejected, mobile firms would then not be able to submit a similar application for another five years.
It's hard to know what kind of impact such a bill would have on the rollout of 3G broadband wireless mobile phone services, although it's certainly not going to help. More @ ZDNet. |
Eclipse Reveal Buggy ADSL Exchanges
By:mark.j @ 9:13:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Following all the recent news regarding exchanges with faulty Fujitsu ADSL line-cards installed, Eclipse has come up with a clever way to show whether your area is infected or not:
We can't release the list of numbers, but we've done the next best thing and upgraded our availability checker to reflect the affected numbers.
Potential and existing customers can visit http://www.eclipsebroadband.com/checker and enter their number. If the customer's exchange is not affected it will simply display a message giving our normal lead time. If is is affected they will get a tailored message! |
NTL Website Hacked
By:mark.j @ 9:03:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] | It's already been fixed, although for a brief period on Friday afternoon (yesterday) NTL.co.uk found its website gone and replaced with the word "Whoops!". More @ The Register. |
News - April 19,2002
M1Radio Introduce Unmetered ISP
By:mark.j @ 2:53:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Backed by none other than NeonHippo, the popular M1Radio service has launched M1Dial, an unmetered ISP option costing £12.95 per month. As with so many NH resellers, M1 offers the first three months of service for a pleasant £30:
• Unmetered Internet Access 24/7
• 7 Email Addresses
• 10MB Webspace
• 85,000 Newsgroups
• Technical Support charged at national rate
• BT Lines Only |
Gio Internet Finalise 128Kbps Prices
By:mark.j @ 2:47:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Gio Internet has finally announced the prices for its new dual channel 128Kbps ISDN offer, which is set to go live in 7 days time (next week)!:
ISDN Package Name - Time - Usage - Contention - Price
Gio Ignite - 24/7 - Unlimited - 18:1 - £19.95
Gio Ignite Plus - 24/7 - Unlimited 10:1 - £27.95
Gio Ignite Gold - 24/7 - Unlimited 5:1 - £39.95
Gio Opium - 8am-6pm - 70Hours - 5:1 - £25.95
ALL PACKAGES INCLUDE:
*7 Domains - e.g. smith.gioserve.com (+ another 6)
*49 E-mail Addresses (7 E-mail's per domain - e.g. john@smith.gioserve.com)
*50 Megabytes of Web Space
*Support for 64k or 128k
*Web Based & POP3 E-mail (So you can use it via Outlook)
*SMTP Server for Sending unlimited emails
*Advanced Web Based Control Panel for domain/email etc.
*NNTP Newsfeed
*National Rate Support
*2 hour cut off (can redial)
Note that by domains they appear to mean sub-domains, not unique domain names, so 'gioserve.com' will always be on the end. The prices seem quite respectable for what's on offer, although it's probably best to go for the more expensive option with something like this (5:1 ratio). |
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