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February 7, 2003 - February 12, 2003

News - February 12,2003

BT & Yahoo! In Broadband Alliance

By:mark.j @ 1:45:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BT is to offer its broadband customers a premium and personalised Internet package featuring Yahoo! UK Plus, which is the groups own broadband specific suite of consumer services:

Yahoo UK Plus includes a junk e-mail control feature, an instant messaging service and family features such as multiple email accounts, parental controls, digital photo storage, anti-virus software and firewall security.

The companies also announced their intention to offer a more extensive premium Yahoo service for BT broadband subscribers in the coming months. The new service will be specifically designed for the broadband household.

Yahoo and BT have committed to a multi-million-pound, cross-platform marketing campaign to promote the Yahoo offerings along with broadband services from BT. The companies will embark upon a co-marketing campaign which will comprise both on- and off-line advertising.


We thought that the whole reason for BTs ‘No Frills’ ADSL service costing less (even though it doesn’t) was because they did away with content and ISP style services? More @ Europemedia.

Telewest Preps Online Photo Service

By:mark.j @ 1:35:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Telewest's broadband ISP wing, Blueyonder, has today announced the launch of its new online photography service:

Amateur snappers to make an exhibition of themselves

Telewest Broadband today launches an online photography service for its blueyonder internet customers, enabling them to publish their family snaps on the web and make the most of their digital camera.

The blueyonder photos service offers online photo sharing, storage for digital shots, same-day-ordering of prints, personalised gifts such as birthday cards and T-shirts, plus advice from celebrity lensman Adam Lawrence.

Chad Raube, director of internet services at Telewest Broadband, said: "Digital photography and broadband internet access are both taking off in Britain and we estimate around half of our blueyonder broadband customers own a digital camera.

"This service provides our customers with even more practical applications for making the most of their internet connection and, who knows, we may even find the next David Bailey or Annie Leibovitz!"

Dial-up internet customers can access the service via http://www.blueyonder.co.uk and broadband customers via the exclusive blueyonder broadband web site. On registration they will receive 30Mb of free storage space, rising to 100Mb after their first purchase, plus 30 free FujiFilm prints.

The blueyonder photos service is powered by PhotoBox, the UK's leading digital photography web services provider, in partnership with FujiFilm UK and Metro Imaging.

UK ISP Freeserve To Be Sold?

By:mark.j @ 1:31:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Apparently union sources have been quoted in a French newspaper, Le Figaro, as saying that the Wanadoo owned UK ISP Freeserve could be sold in order to raise funds for France Telecom:

News that Wanadoo is considering flogging its Internet operations in the UK and Spain follows confirmation last week that Tiscali has shelled out €9.5m in new shares for Wanadoo Belgium and its 85,000 customers.

A spokesperson for Freeserve declined to comment on today's report, describing it as "rumour and speculation".


Speculation perhaps, but it's clear that the option has at least been considered. What could this mean for Freeserve? If true, then that would depend on the buyer. More @ The Register.

EC Defines xDSL Broadband Market

By:mark.j @ 1:24:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The European Commission (EC) has defined the market for wholesale broadband Internet access, which should allow regulators to check that their countries incumbent operators are providing a fair connection to other Telco's etc.:

The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) trade group today welcomed the decision, saying that the definition of markets for wholesale broadband access and voice call termination on individual networks would be particularly helpful in driving competition and ensuring consumer choice.

Phil Evins, ECTA Managing Director, said that the EC’s recommendation “puts competition at the heart of the eEurope broadband agenda – ECTA wholeheartedly agrees with the Commission that giving consumers a real choice of solutions by competing operators and ISPs is the best way to achieve the ambitious eEurope targets.


The Europemedia item states that incumbent operators still have roughly 80% of the xDSL market via retail lines, which rises to 95% when re-sold connections are added back.

ISP Review & Page Loading Errors

By:mark.j @ 10:35:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It appears as if visitors coming from a small number of UK ISPs, most commonly Freeserve (90% of cases), are experiencing problems viewing our website pages.

This only seems to occur with our site and switching to another ISPs dialup often resolves the problem. This could be to do with the ISPs use of transparent caching or something more sinister, but I daren't don my conspiracy theory cap just yet =).

If you're with Freeserve and experience this problem then let them know about it, mentioned the dialup number you used to connect and the fact that it goes away if you use another ISPs dialup.

Bulldog Touts LLU Broadband Success

By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Bulldog Communications, a UK Telco, has today touted the early success of its local loop (non-BT) based broadband ADSL services, which have shown strong initial sales:

The company revealed on Tuesday that it expects to hit its targets for its Primetime range -- which was launched back in mid-December 2002 and is faster than BT Wholesale's consumer ADSL product.

Despite the fact that Primetime is only available in London, a Bulldog spokeswoman told ZDNet UK that the telco was pleased with the level of interest generated by the product range, having processed several hundred orders since the launch eight weeks ago. "(We are) on track to meet our conservative target of well over 1,000 customers for the premium broadband service by the end of Q1 2003," the Bulldog spokeswoman said.

The Primetime range consists of Primetime 1000 and Primetime 2000, which give 1Mbps and 2Mbps download speeds respectively during off-peak hours -- specifically between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. on weekdays, plus weekends and bank holidays -- and 512Kbps speeds at other times. Until 30 June, though, the higher speeds will be available at all times.


Bulldog's recent wholesale agreement with 20 others UK providers looks set to boost the operators sales further still, more @ ZDNet.

Mozilla Upgrades Web Browser - v1.3b

By:mark.j @ 9:56:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The open-source website browsing software project, Mozilla, has moved its latest code base (v1.3) out of alpha and into beta stage with the release of v1.3b.

The latest update contains a few more cosmetic features and fixes a good number of bugs from alpha testing.

http://www.mozilla.org

New Satellite Service From SkyBooster

By:mark.j @ 9:50:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Germany-based broadband satellite company Plenexis, which is backed by private equity firm 3i, is planning to launch their own broadband satellite ISP called SkyBooster.

Aimed at heavy residential Internet users and smaller firms, the "SkyBooster" service will be available to anyone in Britain. After equipment and installation costs of about £400, it would cost a monthly price similar to the £27 or £30 range of high-speed BT landline access.

Sold through Internet service providers, SkyBooster comes as BT works on satellite-transmitted products to reach people not living near broadband-enabled phone exchanges.

Chris Chaney, UK managing director of Plenexis, said the technology has become affordable as prices for satellite transmission capacity fell by around two-thirds over the past few years.

But this meant many operators in the satellite service sector would not survive and, with 3i's capital behind it, Plenexis aimed to either merge or form partnerships with them.

We'll reserve our judgement until more details are made available.

Anti-NTL Capping Campaign Picks Up

By:mark.j @ 9:43:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Customers of NTLs broadband cable modem service, which recently found their downloading allowance restricted, appear to be just as angry as ever. The various newsgroups, chat rooms and discussion forums of the Internet are alive with talk of rebellion.

There may be a lack of cohesive planning, yet that hasn't stopped large numbers forming into groups to discuss various public and private protests against the operator.

So far very little has come of it, apart from a good number claiming to have cancelled their subscription and or complained to the likes of Oftel, Trading Standards or the Advertising Standards Authority etc.

Opposition to NTLs capping policy looks as if it'll continue to remain strong and no doubt some of the regulatory bodies will have a few choice words of their own to say soon enough.

Telewests Strong Results & NTL Merger

By:mark.j @ 9:31:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Telewest's Managing Director, Charles Burdick, has stated that the company could break even as early as the fourth quarter of this year:

Telewest, which has based its strategy in a large part on solid growth in take-up of its blueyonder broadband internet service, is set to emerge from a massive debt-for-equity restructuring during the second quarter. If that does take place, it is not unfeasible that continued strong operational performance could see the company turn cash-flow positive before the end of the year.

Burdick said: "Our plans show the second quarter of 2004 as cash-flow positive but I have the team focused on internal targets that move that up to the fourth quarter of 2003. If Telewest meets that target, it will be the first cable company in the world to turn cash-flow positive."


However the news, which sent shares soaring by 10%, didn't end there. Burdick went on to say that Telewest and NTL could merge as soon as early next year (2004), provided their respective refinancing programmes go according to plan. More @ DigitalSpy.

News - February 11,2003

O2 Tops 500,000 Mobile Internet Users

By:mark.j @ 1:39:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

O2 has managed to gain more than half a million mobile phone Internet users, double what they had at the start of last year:

The company, which claims to be the UK market leader in online sales, claims to have an online subscriber base in excess of 500,000, with nearly half classed as high-value contract customers.

It also said the website has also been the most successful channel for the sale of value-added services, such as ringtones and sms alerts and other premium rate services. Its online portal achieved almost a quarter of a billion WAP page impressions in the month of December, and 51m web page impressions during the last calendar quarter of 2002.


More @ netimperative.info .

New Unmetered ISP - Electric-Magic

By:mark.j @ 1:33:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Electric-Magic has today become the latest unmetered dialup offering ISP to enter the UK market:

Electric-Magic

Today sees the launch of www.electric-magic.co.uk we are a new ISP providing unmetered access from only £10 per month. This £10 will allow you to access the net for over 150 hours each and every month.

Electric-Magic are also releasing their ADSL service and this will give you unlimited access to the super highway for only £21 per month. Electric-magic is given to you at a magical price with a first class service.

To find out more about us please visit our website;
http://www.electric-magic.co.uk

Broadband File Sharing Skyrockets

By:mark.j @ 1:30:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Jupiter Research has today stated that the use of European file-sharing, especially among broadband customers, is continuing to grow at a phenomenal rate.

Apparently more than 75% of broadband subscribers use Peer-2-Peer (P2P) networks at least once a month. The news comes at a time when some ISPs appear to be placing more restrictions on their services:

This means that networks are being swamped with file-sharing traffic and the amount of bandwidth they use is causing serious headaches for providers.

"Although not the only factor in driving internet users to broadband, file-sharing has proven to be broadband's first killer application," said Jupiter analyst Dan Stevenson.

"As well as being a big problem for record labels and the Hollywood studios alike, internet service providers are beginning to suffer too under the heavy weight that file sharing imposes on their networks," he added.


The BBC News Online item quotes Jupiter Research and its expectation that data limits will increasingly become the rule rather than the exception.

One thing we do deplore about the BBC's item is the way that it starts off by effectively branding all file-sharing as illegal. File-sharing is NOT illegal; it's only illegal if those using it make a conscious decision to join in the sharing of pirated media.

4d Internet ISP Supports Comic Relief

By:mark.j @ 10:06:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

UK ISP 4d Internet has today sent us a brief press release announcing their support for the Comic Relief charity event:

In support of Comic Relief and Red Nose Day 4d Internet ( http://www.4dinternet.co.uk ) are donating 50p from every account sold to Comic Relief. If you would like to find out how you can support Comic Relief see the BBC web site ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/rednoseday/ ).

Oftel/Ofcom Confirms New ISP Charge

By:mark.j @ 10:02:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following on from earlier reports, the UK telecoms regulator Oftel has today confirmed that it intends to charge larger ISPs a fee.

The move accompanies today’s proposals on how Oftel will raise money from the communications industry to fund its work for the year 2003-2004:

These take into account the new regulatory regime that will come into force on 25 July under the EU communications directives. This means that there will need to be separate regimes for before and after 25 July.

Up until 25 July, Oftel proposes to continue with existing funding arrangements, whereby it charges a fee to operators that hold a licence under the Telecommunications Act 1984.

But under the EU Directives all individual licences will be revoked and replaced with general authorisations and conditions imposed where necessary. These will apply not only to operators, as at present, but also to service providers.

After 25 July Oftel proposes that all companies in the electronic communications sector with an annual turnover of £5 million or more should contribute to the regulator’s running costs through an administrative charge. These proposals would mean that a number of service providers – most obviously the larger internet service providers (ISPs) - will be required to pay a fee for the first time. But the proposed turnover limit would also mean that approximately 100 companies who currently pay fees will no longer have to do so after 25 July.

David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications said: "Oftel’s existing funding arrangements have worked well. They are based on the principle that those companies who are subject to regulation should pay the costs of that regulation.

That principle will continue under the new Directives. But the new Directives apply not just to operators but also to service providers. It is, therefore, appropriates that major service providers – for example the ISPs – should be asked to pay towards the costs of regulation, alongside operators.

At the same time, I have no wish to impose unnecessary burdens on the smaller companies in the industry while they are striving to develop their businesses. After 25 July, therefore, we propose only those service providers and operators with an annual turnover of £5 million or more to contribute to Oftel’s funding. These proposals will take about 100 existing small companies out of the fee paying net.

Before the year is out, of course, we expect Oftel’s functions as a regulator to have passed to Ofcom. Ofcom will thus inherit the arrangements I am proposing today but it will tbe for them to decide how to develop them in future within the requirements of the EU directives.


The closing date for comments is the 11th March 2003.

BTO ISP Preps Google Search Service

By:mark.j @ 9:47:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Having recently dropped its joint search venture (BT Looksmart), UK ISP BTOpenworld will now use Google as the search facility on its home page alongside paid-for results supplied purely by Overture:

The move follows the company's decision to cut its ties with the BT Looksmart joint venture in December as part of a wider restructuring of its broadband content operations, although the outfit had only launched into the UK paid-for search market a few months before.

More @ netimperative.info .

BT Suffers ADSL Authentication Bug(s)

By:mark.j @ 9:42:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

ADSLGuide reports that customers on up to 203 broadband ADSL enabled exchanges could have been affected by connection failures that took place late last night.

The cause of the problem isn't clear, although it's hoped that the situation has now been resolved.

EzAccess Ends Free ADSL Activation

By:mark.j @ 9:38:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

UK ISP EzAccess has today issued a small press release announcing the end of their free broadband ADSL activation offer:

Our ADSL EzAccess FREE ACTIVATION will be discontinued from next week.

The offer has increased our broadband market share and also has provided clients with a cheap and affordable way to get on the broadband wagon.

Our £8.99 Dial-Up has been extremely popular, and we have decided to increase capacity to meet demand.

You can view the packages at http://www.ezaccess.co.uk

News - February 10,2003

Music Sales Decline Blamed On Internet

By:mark.j @ 2:47:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Once again the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has blamed the latest drop (3.7%) in music sales on Internet based music piracy via file-swapping (P2P) services:

The group claimed the ongoing problem of illegal copying and free downloading of music from the internet, allied with reduced consumer confidence and competition from DVD and computer games, saw the market's total value dip to £1.19bn compared to £1.23bn in 2001.

The figures' release follows a year in which the industry's ongoing fight against piracy has seen it attempt to shut down a series of popular peer-to-peer websites such as Napster and support the launch of legitimate, record company-backed alternatives.

The BPI's claims appear borne out in a 3% drop in the value of album sales during the year, but revenues generated by singles were hit harder, with a fall of 11% on 2001. The impact of illegal CD burning by consumers also appears less clear-cut with unit sales of CDs rising overall by 1.3%.


Thankfully the UK market still fared better than in other countries, which could at least be partly due to the comparatively low coverage of broadband services.

New initiatives, such as digital music ID tagging, are now being researched to help combat the decline.

Oftel Pushes For Wholesale Midband

By:mark.j @ 2:38:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Oftel, the UK telecoms regulator, is rumoured to be planning a wholesale push for BTs forthcoming Midband ISDN service.

Many of you may remember BTs original announcement from late last year, in which the Midband service was touted as a possible semi-solution to the lack of broadband access in rural areas.

Apparently Oftel is unwilling to allow BT to monopolise the midband market and is planning for a wholesale push. Midband itself has come in for a lot of controversy, with many describing it as a distraction from the real problems of broadband coverage:

Midband, which was announced by BT Retail chief executive Pierre Danon at last November's e-Summit, will give data rates of up to 128Kbps, and although it does not give a constant Web connection, it will provide always-on email.

Trials of Midband are due to start within weeks, but a commercial launch date has not been released by BT.

ZDNet UK understands that some senior figures within Oftel are determined that BT should not be the only midband retailer and that BT Wholesale must make the technology available to other Internet service providers on the same terms as it does to BT Retail.


A decision isn't expected to be made for awhile yet, although BT isn't completely opposed to the idea. Unfortunately Midband is likely to remain controversial until such a time as full and final details are announced. More @ ZDNet.

NTLs Clarification - 2nd 1Gb Limit Update

By:mark.j @ 1:47:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

NTL:Home's Managing Director, Aizad Hussain, has today issued a second update regarding their controversial 1GigaByte download limit on broadband services.

In the new update Mr Hussain apologises for the lack of clear communication and goes on to outline exactly what the restriction means. We've highlighted a few of the key points and associated answers below:

2. Can higher speed broadband customers have a higher daily download limit?

In response to the strong customer enquiry we got on this point, we will be investigating whether we can provide variable limits based on service speed. We expect to have an answer soon.

It should be noted, however, that some customers confused our 1 Giga Byte limit with their kilo Bit speeds. 1 Giga Byte is equivalent to 8 Giga Bits.

Also, in practical terms the slower speeds of the overall Internet often cause average speeds to be lower than the maximum speed allowed. Thus users could have several more actual hours of downloads than would be indicated by strictly dividing the limit by the speed.

3. How flexible will ntl be about these new limits?

We will be very flexible. Our objective is only to limit very frequent or persistent heavy network use that can impact other customers. Therefore we will ONLY contact customers who exceed the daily data limit for three or more days in any consecutive 14-day period.

If you occasionally exceed your data limit, it will not be a problem. Remember our goal is to give freedom and easy usage to our customers. This rule ensures that you have peace of mind and that we are able to reduce the unfair prolonged usage by a small number.

4. When and how will the limits be applied?

For the next 60 days, NTL will monitor network usage and only contact customers who exceed the limit as described above. Our aim is not to disturb customers; rather, our goal is to make customers aware so that they may change their usage patterns if possible. If we successfully alter the usage patterns, there would be no further need for any other adjustments.

5. Will customers be disconnected if they use more than the given limit?

No. Our customers are important to us. We will simply advise customers how to moderate their bandwidth usage. Our research has shown that consumers will be happy with this approach.

6. Is there a plan for very 'power users' who exceed the given limits?

We are considering a range of new services especially for customers who want or need to download large amounts of data - but which will avoid impacting other, ordinary customers. We will work with a forum of users to design these services.


You can find the full list of Questions & Answers (Q&A) HERE.

MPs Call For Anti-SPAM Alterations

By:mark.j @ 1:36:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following last weeks fiasco surrounding the governments own House of Commons anti-SPAM (junk e-mail) filtering service, MPs have today called for a major rethink of the system:

The system was intended to free MPs inboxes from the menace of spam and pornography but it has also been blocking legitimate debate about the Sexual Offences bill.

The Liberal Democrats have called for the government to have a major rethink of the current filtering system. "It is a total disaster and needs to be pulled," said a Lib Dem spokesman.

Others have questioned whether the problems caused by the system is just another technology failure for the government, or whether it actually highlights the inability of filtering engines to work effectively.


The BBC News Online item correctly states that it's probably a bit of both; you certainly can't expect to accurately remove 100% of junk e-mails without legitimate messages getting caught up in the middle.

fairADSLs Service Level Agreement

By:mark.j @ 1:29:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One of the cheapest broadband ADSL offering ISPs in the UK, fairADSL, has today offered what's believed to be one of the first true consumer service level agreements (SLA):

The ISP is offering customers money back if their broadband access breaks down. The customer compensation agreement gives consumers the promise of a 20 per cent refund if they are left without internet access for more than 48 hours.

"We are the first broadband provider in the UK to announce a compensation agreement for consumers," said Bernadette Ebene, director of fairADSL. "This new offer sets us apart from all our competitors."


SLA's are normally the reserve of business packages, with residential consumers tending to be dealt with by most providers (BTO etc.) on a case-by-case basis.

Interestingly a spokesman for Telewest commented that fairADSLs move was brave, especially considering that they don't own their own network. More @ VNUNet.

Demon Tops 20,000 ADSL Subscribers

By:mark.j @ 1:20:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The THUS Telecom backed UK ISP Demon Internet has today reported topping the 20,000 subscriber mark on its broadband ADSL services:

The ISP of telecoms outfit, Thus, said the growth had come "despite strong competition in the SME market".

Indeed, if a survey published last week is anything to go by, then Thus is likely to find that the SME market will remain competitive for some time to come.

For while nine out of ten companies rate broadband as an important issue for business, half want some kind of tax break to help offset the cost. So, it seems that there are punters out there - as long as the price is right.


Not surprisingly shares in Thus have risen by roughly 7%, more @ The Register.

UK Internet Access & Research Study

By:mark.j @ 11:04:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Alastair Robertson from the Management Department at Lancaster University has asked us to help promote their new study into Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adoption and usage:

The focus for the research is to develop our understanding of why some UK households use ICT when other do not, but also how existing ICT households use their existing internet connections. Above this, we are trying to determine if differences in consumption behaviour exist between 56k and broadband households.

We are currently surveying British households so that a database of information is available for analysis by the end of April. A web based survey will be available by the middle of February.


Those of you interested in helping can fill in a questionnaire HERE, but be warned, it's rather lengthy and a more automated version is currently being programmed.

Telewest Touts Edinburgh’s Broadband

By:mark.j @ 10:56:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Telewest has today issued a new press release touting the broadband success of Edinburgh as it tops league of high-speed hot spots:

Edinburgh tops league of high-speed hot spots

New research released today shows that surfers in Edinburgh are living in the fast lane by topping a league table of high-speed, broadband internet take-up.

The research from Telewest Broadband has found that, as broadband internet take-up is booming in the UK, its blueyonder broadband internet service is proving the most popular in Edinburgh.

Chad Raube, director of internet services at Telewest Broadband said:
"Edinburgh, with its tradition for innovation has enthusiastically adopted broadband from the off. We trialled our 1Mb broadband internet service in Edinburgh last year and the feedback we received was tremendous.

By focusing on quality and consistently innovating, blueyonder provides one of the best value residential broadband services in the UK today. Within our franchise areas more people are taking blueyonder than any other broadband provider.
"

Broadband internet allows you to surf the internet up to twenty times faster than a traditional dial-up internet connection, without tying up your phone line. You can download movies and music in an instant, send e-mails with large attachments and game online with your friends.

The South West region, which includes Bristol, and the South East are following hot on Edinburgh's heels.

High-speed hotspots Broadband take-up
% of homes taking blueyonder broadband internet
1. Edinburgh - 8.1
2. South West - 8.0
3. South East - 7.2

IDC Forecasts Wi-Fi Hotspot Growth

By:mark.j @ 9:39:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The IDC has forecast that commercial broadband wireless local area network (Wi-Fi) hotspots are expected to continue their strong growth throughout 2003:

"In 2003 new players will continue to enter the wireless LAN hotspot market. Not only will specialized WLAN companies start deploying public services, but also, incumbent mobile operators and fixed operators are expected to combine WLAN services into their existing mobile offering," said Evelien Wiggers, senior research analyst for IDC's European Telecommunications and Networking research.

Despite the slowdown in the global economy, the demand for mobile connectivity "anytime, anywhere" "has attracted many new WLAN hotspot players," says the report. "The European hotspot market increased by 327% over the last year from 269 locations at the end of 2001 to around 1,150 locations at the end of 2002."

The growth isn't as exciting as it sounds. As the report notes, the market is still tiny. "In 2001 the deployment of WLAN hotspots in Western Europe slowly took off. Except for the Nordic region, where regulations were much more liberated, regulatory restrictions in other parts of Europe initially hampered a successful rollout of wireless public access services," Wiggers notes.


Certainly by the end of 2003 both Megabeam and BTOpenzone hope to have significantly increased their UK Wi-Fi coverage, more @ News Wireless.

3G Will Succeed - Within Ten Years

By:mark.j @ 9:31:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Dr Bernd Eylert, outgoing chairman of the UMTS (3G) Forum, has today stated that European 3G broadband wireless mobile phone services will turn a profit, but not for a few years yet:

"While voice will continue to dominate usage patterns for many years to come, 3G comes into its own as customers demand high bandwidth services like video conferencing, multiplayer gaming and high-speed internet access," he said.

"UMTS networks offer application developers an advantage that 2G and even 2.5G cannot satisfy in the long term.

For the industry, UMTS means more network capacity, more speed and a platform to offer enriched capabilities. For end-users, however, it simply means exciting new services. The growing success of services like picture messaging in the Far East shows that customers' mobile needs and expectations are evolving.
"


Eylert's statement is nothing new, yet interestingly 4G will have arrived by then and nobody seems to have mentioned the trouble that could cause. More @ VNUNet.

News - February 9,2003

Gio Internet Preps Satellite Broadband

By:mark.j @ 4:59:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to one of our readers, Bill, for letting us know that UK ISP Gio Internet appears to have details of a new broadband satellite service on its website.

There are two offers, a One-Way (connect with dialup - download via satellite) and Two-Way solution, although the one-way offer appears to be unusually expensive:

Satellite Broadband £45 / month
Fast Internet Access One Way Satellite System DW3000
Downstream 400Kbs, Upstream 56k*, 64k* or 128k*
Monthly Rental £45.00
Equipment and Installation £499.00

Satellite Broadband £99.00 / month
Fast Internet Access Two Way Satellite System DW4000
Downstream 512Kbs, Upstream 128k
Monthly Rental £99.00
Equipment and Installation £1499.00

*upload via any dial-up service - select desired package see here


It appears as if both of the above services have yet to be promoted in public, although no doubt we’ll be hearing more on them soon enough. The official page can be found HERE.

Making Excuses - NTLs Responce

By:mark.j @ 11:03:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We notice that the NTL owned Nthellworld site has now posted an update from Aizad Hussain, NTL:Home's Managing Director, regarding the operators newly imposed 1Gb download limit for broadband cable modem services.

The update itself is filled with the usual excuses, yet we couldn't help but highlight this last bit:

Other broadband systems (such as ADSL), are also shared systems, and have similar policies. At the launch of BT Broadband almost a year ago, BT announced the same 1 gigabyte limit that we have recently published. See the following link to review BT’s policy:

LINK HERE

So in fact, BT has been doing operating this policy for almost 12 months now whilst charging higher prices. We recognise that some customers are very heavy users and require high levels of usage for their specific needs. We will be working with a representative group of these "power users" to determine the best way to accommodate their needs going forward. Should you wish to be part of that "power user" group please contact me at Aizad.Hussain@ntl.com and we shall be happy to accommodate a variety of our respected and valued customers.


What Mr Hussain intentionally fails to point out is that BTs ADSL service is supplied to nearly a hundred other providers, the vast majority of which have NOT imposed such a limit.

BTs 'No Frills' 1Gb limit is just as deplorable as the one now imposed by NTL, in fact more so because the No Frills service only covers access. Most other providers offer better prices with fewer restrictions.

We can only assume that NTL is playing on a general lack of broadband knowledge to help give weight to their decision. As stated yesterday, both BT and NTL have now officially gone back on the word they gave about not imposing limits during mid-2001.

News - February 8,2003

V21's Latest vISP Offer

By:mark.j @ 10:44:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

UK ISP V21 has issued a small press release announcing a new offer for anybody interested in their Virtual ISP (vISP) services:

V21 VISP Offer

Due to the huge cost implications in becoming an ISP in your own right, UK ISP http://www.V21.co.uk has been helping many companies with a Virtual Internet Solution, where they will run a fully managed service on their behalf.

V21 are pleased to offer potential VISPS the following, throughout the month of February, any VISP who signs up to one of our packages will be entered in to a draw to win the initial set up cost back.

For additional information please check the V21 VISP site.
http://affiliate.v21.co.uk/home/index.asp

Wireless Auction - Welsh Back Down

By:mark.j @ 10:40:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Several members of the Welsh Assembly have apparently given up their fight against the government’s allocation of 3.4Ghz broadband wireless licenses:

Andrew Davies, the Assembly's economics development and e-commerce minister, has caved in after speaking with UK e-commerce minister Stephen Timms.

Davies was not available for comment, but his spokesman told vnunet.com that the Assembly planned no further action.

"We have accepted that there is little we can do to change the situation," he said. "Doing so could delay the roll-out of broadband services and get the industry's back up. We lobbied strongly and will continue to work closely with the RA."


Despite this the Assembly stated that it would continue to monitor any future auctions for different spectrums. More @ VNUNet.

Sony Begins PS2 Network Gaming Trials

By:mark.j @ 10:36:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As spotted by ADSLGuide; Sony has announced the start of their long awaited broadband network gaming (multiplayer) trials, which are designed for owners of the Playstation 2 (PS2) games console:

It's been a long time coming but the Network Adaptor is almost here to take PlayStation 2 gaming to a whole new level. Before the PS2-owning population of Europe can get in on the act with our American and Japanese cousins and join the online revolution, however, we'll be needing the help of British gamers to ensure that everything runs perfectly - and that could include you.

You may have already registered your interest in becoming part of the network gaming trials, but this is the real deal - sign up now, and there's every chance that you could be one of the first people to play PS2 network games such as SOCOM: US Navy SEALs, Twisted Metal Black Online and Hardware: Online Arena. Interested? Of course you are, but there are a few factors you must take into consideration before you all go scurrying off to register.

First, and most importantly of all, you must have a broadband internet connection at home. No broadband, no trial place - it's as simple as that. Secondly, there are only a limited number of places available, although this doesn't mean that we're operating on a 'first come, first served' basis. Trial members will be chosen according to their suitability, something that will be determined once you have filled in the questionnaire at registration. There are no right or wrong answers - we just want to ensure that a large enough spread of user types take part in the trial, so be completely honest. The other requirements are rather self-explanatory, and are as follows:

- You must currently live in England, Scotland or Wales
- You must have access to a PlayStation 2 and memory card
- You must be over 18
- You must have a valid credit/debit card

The latter proviso is there to ensure that you can purchase an online network gaming trial pack from our secure online shop, consisting of the Network Adaptor, Network Access Disc, a copy of SOCOM: US Navy SEALs (online play only) and a USB headset for live communication. The final price has yet to be confirmed, but it's expect to come in at a very reasonable £40.


Apparently you can register HERE on their front page.

NTL Imposes ISP Usage Restrictions

By:mark.j @ 10:29:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Customers of the UKs largest cable operator, NTL, are up in arms today after discovering the following change to the operators User Policy under 2. General Use:

(h) in excess of "normal use" bandwidth limits set out in this section.

ntl: home's broadband and dial-up services are intended for normal recreational or educational use by individuals and families and our pricing and network architecture have been designed accordingly. Customers who use the services more heavily than a normal home user will reduce the performance of the network for other customers.

"Normal use" of the service is defined as up to 1 gigabyte downstream of data transfer daily (which equates to approximately 200 music tracks, 650 short videos, 10,000 pictures or around 100 large software programmes downloaded per day).


We could perhaps understand having such a limit on the dialup service, although 1Gb for a broadband package hasn't exactly pleased NTLs customers.

It's not the first service to limit broadband usage, yet perhaps we should quote from one of our news items, which was first posted on 13th June 2001:

The UKs top three broadband providers; BT, Telewest and NTL, have all agreed that they have no plans to introduce any usage limits for customers of their broadband services.

Since then BT has capped its broadband satellite service, albeit not so openly and now NTL has also gone back on its word. Not surprisingly NTL has touted this latest change as helping to ensure a high quality of service.

Apparently NTL will be chasing customers whose service use breaks their new limits. We could understand an ultra-cheap ADSL service imposing the limit, but it's certainly a surprise to see NTLs Cable Modem offer go the same way.

Hopefully Telewest won't follow suit, something which could well give ADSL providers a new advantage over their cable rivals. One customer has already set-up a campaign website for this very issue:

http://www.dont-pay-ntl.co.uk

News - February 7,2003

BT Confesses Its Broadband Mistakes

By:mark.j @ 1:47:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Speaking on behalf of BT, Pierre Danon (Retail Chief), has today admitted getting the operators initial approach to broadband Internet access wrong:

"As you know, we started completely wrong. It was all wrong and we had to change," said Mr Danon.

"We had to start again," he said, adding that since last year's appointment of chief executive, Ben Verwaayen, broadband had been at the heart of the company.

But Mr Danon said that since BT had slashed wholesale prices and launched a huge marketing blitz last February aimed at pushing high-speed access it was confident of passing its target of 1 million customers by this summer.


Oftels recently updated broadband ADSL Factsheet clearly stated that BT had 600,000+ subscribers, so it's definitely moving in the right direction and has improved, but is it enough? More @ The Guardian.

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