January 15, 2003 - January 21, 2003
News - January 21,2003
European Digital Download Day - 2
By:mark.j @ 9:48:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] European music producers have decided to follow up the success of last years Digital Download Day, which allowed music fans to download several tracks for free from sites that pay royalties (HMV, Tiscali and MSN etc.), by running a second event:
The campaign - Digital Download Day Europe - will allow music fans to download five euros' (£3.40) worth of music for free from sites that pay royalties.
The promotion takes place on 21 March and will be available in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and The Netherlands.
The scheme, which was piloted in the UK in October, is an attempt to fightback against the huge levels of internet piracy.
Having attracted hundreds of thousands of new customers during the last event, no doubt the same groups will be hoping for even greater success this time. Roughly 150,000 tracks are expected to be offered, more @ BBC News Online. |
ActiveWare Resumes Unmetered ISP
By:mark.j @ 9:35:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The previously suspended unmetered dialup ISP, ActiveWare, has today sent in a new press release announcing their resolution of the problems and a return to service:
We're Back!
ActiveWare Consultants are pleased to announce that we have resumed our market leading range of dial internet services as promised. Our change of supplier has secured the following improvements to our service:
* Consistently faster access
* 128K access available
* Quicker authentication times
* Lower contention ratios
* Free Unlimited Email-Addresses
* Free Technical Support
In order to take advantage of our improved service existing customers will have to make the following change to their dial-up settings:
Username: @myactiveware.com
Password:
Dial Up Number: 0808 *******
For technical assistance please contact us on 0800 279 2696 where we will be pleased to assist.
We realize that recent downtime has caused some inconvenience to our customers and as such we will credit all accounts with 2 weeks free internet access by way of compensation.
As always we are keen to hear our customers views and if you would like to discuss this matter further please contact us on 0800 279 2696. |
Freeserve ISP Suffers Security Breach
By:mark.j @ 9:31:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP Freeserve has blamed human error for the serious mistake of sending out welcome letters, which also contained confidential personal details, to the wrong customers:
The "Welcome Packs" were sent to new customers of Freeserve's Anytime service last week. However, the name and address on the front of the mailshot did not match the account details listed inside the envelope.
A spokeswoman for the ISP confirmed the bungled mailing but said that only a "small proportion" of people were affected. She also denied that the login username was included in the pack.
But she did blame the incident on "human error" and added that people would be sent an apology along with a new Welcome Pack.
The Register notes that customer passwords weren't revealed, although it's always worrying when a major service slips up like this. |
News - January 20,2003
Completely Free Broadband ADSL ISP?
By:mark.j @ 3:11:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] As unlikely as it may seem, one of our readers (Paul) has pointed out freebroadband, which plans to offer a free broadband ADSL solution:
Welcome to freebb.co.uk, the Worlds first FREE broadband Internet provider. We are busily working towards the roll out of this incredible new service, which will be available to UK home users from Spring 2003.
You can pre-register your interest here today and we suggest that you do, as this service will be offered on a first-come first-served basis. It is also available to those who already have a broadband connection at home.
For obvious reasons we cannot disclose our full business model prior to launch, but in order to progress to phase two - the provision of free broadband Internet access to our members - we need only 0.15% of the UK online population to register an interest. Registration will close when this amount is achieved, so don't delay.
There will be strict limits on the number of connections that we can accept in the early stages and one of the main factors will be how early you register your interest.
A completely free broadband ADSL service simply isn't possible, unless you happen to run a company called Enron =). We'd advise against subscribing until the service can explain exactly what it intends to offer, the word FREE can often be abused.
Many ISPs call their 0845 dialup service FREE, although you still have to pay the cost of a local call etc. |
Omne Saved By Refinance Deal?
By:mark.j @ 3:01:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Some of you may remember Omne Communications, which had previously offered broadband ISP services for competition with the likes of NTL and Telewest.
Unfortunately during May last year the group fell into administration pending refinancing talks and things have since been rather quite. Today one of our readers posted the following, which has yet to be confirmed:
A letter has been issued, by BDO (The Administrators) to the Stakeholders of Omne Holdings stating a bid has been submitted and accepted pending authorisation, to refinance the Ayrshire Based Cable Co.
£4.9Million big ones have been offered which after clearing debts leaves 4.12M profit to restructure and expand.
People of Ayshire and the North west of England rejoice.
We'd suggest treating this as you would any other rumor, at least until it can be officially confirmed. |
EC Extends Broadband Internet Rules?
By:mark.j @ 2:46:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's being reported that the European Commission may choose to extend its existing broadband Internet access rules to give national regulators increased power to limit the activities of cable companies:
The FT claims to have seen a draft report suggesting the need extend the scope of regulations, that could result in cable companies finding themselves subject to the same restrictions on high-speed internet access that incumbent telecommunications operators have been vocal in protesting against.
The European Commission previously argued that telecoms operators had an unfair advantage over cable companies from their initial position of market dominance. The EC had sought to prevent such operators making their positions unassailable through predatory pricing, but now the Commission appears to be trying to take pre-emptive action before things swing too far the other way.
More @ Europemedia. |
BTOpenworld Preps Broadband Ads
By:mark.j @ 2:42:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP BTOpenworld has just announced its latest product specific advertising campaign, which will feature 'Dave the Engineer' (oh rejoice!) and cover BTOs own broadband services.
Hopefully this time they’ll actually try to explain what broadband is instead of simply associating it with bike driving pigs and giant dragons:
DAVE THE ENGINEER IS BACK IN BT OPENWORLD'S NEW SIX FIGURE AD CAMPAIGN
Dave the Engineer, who shot to fame in BT's high-profile 'Broadband has Landed' adverts last year, is to front BT Openworld's product specific campaign. TV ads will be aired from February 1 to March 31, 2003, and mirrored by specialist magazine and online versions.
The first of the two broadband adverts, 'Loaded', highlights BT Openworld's all inclusive offerings of anti-virus software, spam filters, email and 50Mb of web space. The second, 'Traffic lights', gives a synopsis of the benefits of high speed internet. Both proceed to inform viewers that there is currently £100 off the set up charges for BT Openworld broadband.
The 20second direct-response TV advertisements have evolved from the educational nature of the original broadband campaign. They aim to differentiate BT Openworld's broadband from competitors' offerings and will build on the success of the narrowband advertisements that have been airing since January 2, 2003.
Abbot Mead Vickers is the creative agency behind the TV and magazine side of the campaign. HHM Design created the online ads, placed by agency i-level. By branding consistently across platforms, BT Openworld aims to maximise awareness of its broadband packages.
Stephen Brown, head of marketing operations at BT Openworld, said: "Dave the Engineer is back by popular demand. He was by far the most prominent character of last year's broadband campaign. These adverts build on the awareness of high speed internet and place BT Openworld's products as exciting, all inclusive packages."
Richard Larcombe, account director at Abbot Mead Vickers, said: "These ads involve a familiar character to promote product specific messages for BT Openworld. Last year's campaign raised mass awareness of broadband; these commercials aim to capitalise on that awareness."
The advertisements follow BT Openworld's recent announcement that it has made broadband access cheaper, with free activation and lower prices for ADSL modems and microfilters. Full details are available at http://www.btopenworld.com/broadband . |
Telewest On Home 2Mbit-ps Rumors
By:mark.j @ 2:07:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] There appear to be growing rumors surrounding the possibility of Telewest introducing a 2Mbit-ps broadband cable modem service for residential customers.
Some regional newspapers have also now picked up on it and thus ISPr shot off a quick message to see if Telewest had any response. A pleasantly coy spokesperson responded to say: "Everyone knows that we can go faster, and we definitely want to!."
The individual went on to say that Telewest doesn't "have any immediate plans to trial a 2Mb service" and certainly hasn't "said anything publicly," yet clearly such a service is still active within their minds for the future.
We got the impression that Telewest knew more than they were letting on, but we’ll just have to wait and see. |
NTL Hacker To Loose His Job?
By:mark.j @ 1:50:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] An unnamed NTL employee has been suspended from his job following a three week investigation to find the individual responsible for a New Year's Eve hack of ntlhell.co.uk:
The employee faces a hearing later this week.
The alleged incident, which took place on New Year's Eve, resulted in subscribers of ntlhell.co.uk receiving an email containing the phrase "ntlhell.co.uk is shitntlhell.co.uk" repeated almost 300 times.
Those behind the Web site claim whoever was behind the incident was "very clumsy" and left a blatant 'trail' which led back to NTL.
The Register reports that Bryan Stevens, the owner of ntlhell.co.uk, wouldn't wish to see anyone loose their job over the incident. |
RIAA Wants ISPs To Pay – Music Piracy
By:mark.j @ 1:38:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has today suggested a radical idea for dealing with illegal online music file-swapping; make ISPs pay for the crimes of their customers.
This comes in the wake of worrying comments made by Jay Berman, the chief executive of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), in which he feared the loss of 600,000 music industry jobs if online piracy isn't tackled:
"We will hold ISPs more accountable," said Hillary Rosen, chair and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), in her keynote speech at the Midem music conference in Cannes on the French Riviera.
"Let's face it. They know there's a lot of demand for broadband simply because of the availability (of file-sharing)," Rosen said.
As broadband access in homes has increased across the Western world, so has the activity on file-sharing services. Rosen suggested one possible scenario for recouping lost sales from online piracy would be to impose a type of fee on ISPs that could be passed on to customers who frequent these file-swapping services.
How could such a thing be enforced? How would you determine whether a downloaded file was illegal or not? These are just some of the issues highlighted by Tiscali's EU vice president of media and access, Mario Mariani.
Online music piracy may be a serious problem, yet there are clear limits to what an ISP can and can not accomplish, both legally, financially and technically. More @ ZDNet. |
UK = Europe’s Online Shopping Capital
By:mark.j @ 1:25:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The latest Nielsen/NetRatings research shows that 12.8m UK surfers visited an e-commerce site during December 2002, compared with 9.1m for the same period last year.
Seven out of ten such visits resulted in a sale, the highest conversion rate in Europe:
The busiest sites were trusted brands, with amazon.co.uk once again leading the way with 6.7m visitors, followed by eBay.co.uk with 5m and then argos.co.uk, which, with 2.5m vistors, became the UK's most popular high street brand on the web during the important festive sales period.
Overall, six out of ten UK web users visited an e-tail site during December - more than in any other surveyed European country.
The UK has always been one of the strongest European countries for e-commerce, this despite the once slow pace of broadband. More @ netimperative.info . |
Ex-NTL Boss Picked As Ofcom CEO?
By:mark.j @ 1:19:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] NTLs former MD, Stephen Carter, looks set to pickup the job of Chief Executive at Ofcom, the UKs new super regulator:
If his appointment gets the go-ahead he will join Lord Currie, who was named chairman of the new media/telecoms regulator earlier this year. Mr Carter quit the cableco in November last year.
The Register notes that Mr Carter left NTL for personal reasons. |
Firstnet's Wireless DSL Update
By:mark.j @ 9:55:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] One of our readers, Mark (no, not me), has reported that Firstnet's broadband ADSL equivalent Wireless DSL service (formerly known as Tele2 and Liberty Broadband) will cost £29.99 per month under its new owners.
Mark notes that this is £10 cheaper than Liberty's original £39.99 price tag, although it's worth noting that some have put Liberty's failure down to unrealistically cheap pricing.
No doubt further information regarding business services and pricing will emerge in due course.. |
Bulldog Promotes Own Wholesale DSL
By:mark.j @ 9:42:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Brightview, C2Internet, Clara.net and Nildram could soon be offering an alternative broadband ADSL and or SDSL solution to that supplied by BTWholesale following today's announcement by Bulldog Communications.
Bulldog has apparently managed to turn its LLU (local loop unbundled) broadband ADSL lines into a wholesale product and is currently offering it to 20 distribution partners including the above ISPs:
ISP's Choose Bulldog as Their Alternative Broadband Services Supplier
Broadband services provider, Bulldog Communications, today announced it has signed agreements with 20 service providers to promote DSL-based broadband products using its broadband network. Bulldog's Distribution Partners are specialist ISP's providing broadband business services to individuals, teleworkers, SMEs, corporates and government, incorporating Bulldog broadband access services into their solutions.
Because Bulldog owns its own broadband network, Bulldog's Distribution Partners can select from a unique and extensive variety of both ADSL and SDSL product bundles and features not available through other broadband suppliers. The most requested business products are from Bulldog's ADSL product range; especially those products with contention rates as low as 5:1 and upstream speeds of 400 kbps.
Although ADSL products are more popular overall, the take-up of SDSL services is gaining rapidly. Bulldog's SDSL services allow their Distribution Partners to differentiate themselves from other service providers restricted to just reselling BT's standard portfolio of ADSL services. With SDSL, the customer experiences the same bandwidth, both upstream as well as downstream, making it highly suitable and often preferable for business applications such as teleworking or LAN extensions. The added advantage of being a low-cost alternative to dedicated leased line services is another reason why SDSL is considered by many to be the ideal technology for business customers.
In addition to the unique product offers available, Bulldog's Remote Interconnect Service can help their Distribution Partners to "dramatically reduce the cost and set-up time associated with backhauling DSL traffic into their own networks."
Bulldog also supports its partners with customised operational processes for line qualification, order processing, fault management and resolution, activation, CPE and installation.
Bulldog's broadband services are available on a nationwide basis through any DSL-enabled exchange, either over Bulldog's own DSL-enabled network of 35 exchanges in Central London or BT's network of over 1100 telephone exchanges. This approach provides partners with a one-stop-shop for their customers' broadband requirements; they get convenience, coverage and differentiated services. Bulldog's proprietary broadband network provides coverage to over 350,000 households and over 50,000 businesses through its network in Central and West London.
Daniel Subhani, Managing Director of Pro-Net Internet, commented, "As one of the UK's oldest established ISP's, Pro-Net Internet feels very positive about our strong relationship with Bulldog. The range of market leading services and lack of red tape are already paying dividends for our customers and our business."
John Johnson, Bulldog's Director of Sales stated, "We're excited about working with our new team of capable and enthusiastic Distribution Partners. Our business aim is to give our partners leading-edge specialist technology and expertise at competitive prices and to enable them to deliver an affordable, enriching high-quality broadband experience for their customers."
It’s not yet clear how such ISPs will be able to promote Bulldog’s offerings alongside existing BT based ADSL services, which have greater coverage. |
News - January 19,2003
OnlineServe Cuts Business ADSL Costs
By:mark.j @ 10:26:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The latest UK ISP to announce some form of broadband ADSL price cut is OnlineServe, which has reduced the cost of its business package:
As of the 21/01/03, OnlineServe Internet will be offering FREE ACTIVATION and a FREE ADSL MODEM to all Businesses that signup to our new broadband service available at £24.99 a month.
The Service provides the UK's cheapest BUSINESS BROADBAND OPTION.
With additional extra's:
With the service, you will receive
Internet access 10x faster than traditional dial-up
Download: 512k
Upload: 256k
Contention: 20:1
With the following value added components:
-Unlimited email addresses
-News Group access with over 40,000 + news groups
-Free .co.uk Domain name
-Free 'Commerce Hosting Plan' worth £99.99
-eMail routing
-Control Panel
-High usage
-Personal FTP Server
THIS IS A LIMITED OFFER UNTIL FURTHER NOTCE. |
EzAccess ISP Cuts Dialup & DSL Costs
By:mark.j @ 10:20:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP EzAccess has today issued a new update announcing a special broadband ADSL promotion and new unmetered dialup package:
We have launched one of the UK's best value ISP packages: priced @ £8.99, the package is built to provide great value for the occasional surfer. It includes:
Free unlimited eMail
Free 50Mb Webspace
UNMETERED Internet Access
Free Technical Support
12 : 1 Contention
15 minute idle-out
2 hour absolute disconnection
You can Signup at http://www.ezaccess.co.uk/dialp.htm
We also have a month long ADSL promotion:
Our ADSL Service is the most competitive UK offering.
FREE CONNECTION (worth £49.99)
FREE 100MB Web Space
FREE E-MAIL ADDRESSES
512Kbps Downstream
256Kbps Upstream
FREE .CO.UK Domain name
for £19.99 a month.
Also, a quick note to ask all customers who singed up for 128K Access at £22.99 over the last month, to re-subscribe, as the service is now available.
The promotion will continue until 21/02/03. |
Firstnet Takes Over Liberty Broadband
By:mark.j @ 10:13:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Thanks to Jez for sending us a copy of the new letter being sent out to existing Liberty Broadband (Tele2) customers informing them of the company’s official takeover by Firstnet:
With immediate effect, the Liberty Broadband services are being re-launched under the Firstnet banner as Wireless DSL.
Very little else is mentioned regarding the specifics of Wireless DSL or the exact nature of the takeover, although Firstnet had been handling the service for liquidators and many believed this to be the eventual outcome.
There’s presently no mentioned of Wireless DSL on Firstnet’s website and not surprisingly Liberty Broadband Ltd. Still hasn’t updated its press releases page since the name change from Tele2. |
News - January 18,2003
Freeserve Meets Competition Commission
By:mark.j @ 10:11:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP Freeserve will meet the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal (CCAT) on Monday in a last ditch effort to appeal against a decision by Oftel not to pursue its complaint of anti-competitive practices against rival BTOpenworld:
Ultimately, the CCAT has the potential for a landmark case, as it could set a precedent for companies to appeal rulings made by the regulatory body Oftel.
Freeserve's complaint alleges that BT Openworld had advance notice of BT Retail's 40 per cent cut to wholesale DSL costs and was therefore able to prepare marketing materials well ahead of the competition.
The CCAT found that Oftel was wrong to reject Freeserve's complaint and could force the body to reconsider it under CCAT guidance.
The PC Pro item states that a judgment can be expected sometime during February or March 2003; this should certainly be one to keep a close eye on. |
UK To De-Regulate 5Ghz Wireless
By:mark.j @ 10:07:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The UK government is apparently about to amend the regulations governing the 5Ghz broadband wireless spectrum, which could lead to faster Wi-Fi hotspots:
It is understood that legislation will be introduced in the House of Commons next week that will open up the 5GHz band of the radiocommunications spectrum to be used to operate wireless local area networks.
This move is part of the government's drive to make appropriate spectrum available to the telecoms industry, and follows a similar deregulation of 2.4GHz last year. This made it possible for operators to launch commercial WLANs based on 802.11b.
By deregulating 5GHz, the government will make it legal for operators to run hot spots based on 802.11a, which is much faster than 802.11b -- running at a theoretical maximum of 54Mbps compared to 11Mbps (although the actual bandwidth available is about half this maximum in each case).
The ZDNet item suggests that deregulation could occur within less than one month. |
News - January 17,2003
BT Update - ADSL Exchange Problems
By:mark.j @ 2:36:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide has spotted a final update from BTWholesale regarding the problems experienced by some broadband ADSL users during the recent Christmas period:
BT Wholesale in conjunction with Fujitsu have determined the problem with the FDX DSLAM installed at these exchanges was downstream buffers were becoming overfilled by data for lines that werent up (i.e. not synced/trained). This downstream behaviour is part of a dynamic buffer allocation scheme that is used to optimise 'burst' traffic conditions.
Fujitsu will now be using a different default configuration on new exchanges, this should ensure that we do not see a repeat of these problems. |
AOL TWs New Joint Chairman & CEO
By:mark.j @ 1:27:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's been announced that Richard Parsons will officially replace Steve Case, who recently stepped down, as AOL Time Warner’s joint chairman and chief executive (effective May 16th):
His remit will be to reverse the slide in the company's fortunes since it was formed through a mega-merger in 2001. Since then its share price has fallen by 70%, its online division has suffered from falling advertising revenues and, over the last twelve months, its entire management team has been replaced.
Some now fear that Parsons may hold too much sway over AOL; time will tell. More @ netimperative.info . |
Easybroadband.tv Launched
By:mark.j @ 1:14:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] If you're looking for the latest broadband ADSL products then easybroadband.tv may be of interest to you.
The new store also offers an ADSL integrated set-top box for your TV, making it competitive with similar hardware from NTL and Telewest:
Broadband is more than just a fast connection
As the take up of broadband in the UK starts to reach the sorts of levels that the government has been hoping for, increasing numbers of users are becoming frustrated by the fact that the equipment which they were originally supplied by their ISP is limiting their use of the service.
The vast majority of broadband users have single port modems, allowing them to connect only one device, but that is not what the broadband household needs – at least, not according to Easybroadband Ltd’s Sales Director Jon Williams.
‘Half of the country have PCs in their homes, but an increasing number have more than one PC, not to mention a games machine or a TV set top box, with Internet access capability,’ he explains.
‘There was a lot of talk a couple of years ago about the networked home, with all sorts of devices – even fridges – being hooked up to the Internet. That may not have been realistic, but networked homes are going to become more and more common.’
This will, in part, be driven by the growth of online gaming through games consoles. Sony will soon be launching an adaptor for Europe’s biggest selling games console, the PlayStation 2, and Microsoft’s X-Box has Internet access capability. In addition, several broadband TV devices are planned for 2003.
Having invested in an ADSL line, and paying up to £30 a month for the service, Easybroadband believe plenty of households with PCs will want to connect up other devices as well as their main computer.
‘Why shouldn’t people get the most out of the service they have paid for?’ Asks Williams. ‘The adverts from the providers stress that subscribers can use the phone and Internet at the same time – but they don’t mention the fact that, with the right modem, they can use the Internet on more than one device at the same time and still use the phone.’
One reason for the burgeoning take up of ADSL in the UK consumer market is the supply of ‘Wires only’ services. ‘Wires only’ gives users the freedom to subscribe to ADSL, but choose their own DSL modem, and Easybroadband Ltd are encouraging users to buy Router modems to prepare them for home networking.
‘Some people are concerned that ‘wires only’ will be difficult to install,’ says Williams, ‘but our products are plug and play and we provide comprehensive call centre support, so anyone can get their line converted to ADSL and chose the right modem or router for them from www.easybroadband.tv’.
In addition to ADSL modems and routers, Easybroadband.tv claim to be the first company in the UK to provide the complete equipment to allow subscribers to network their TV as well as their PC.
An ‘always on’ broadband connection to the Internet will allow users to access their email, chat and instant messaging, as well as look up information, or interact with TV shows via the Internet, all while watching the TV.
Once a home has connected to broadband, users begin to realise that the service is not just to replace the old dial-up connection on their PC; it can be networked throughout the home.
And, as Jon Williams says: “If mainstream consumers in Britain pay for Broadband they will want to exploit it fully. Giving them a living room experience, as well as PC-in-the-study use, is the Easybroadband difference.” |
Fast4 ISP Suffering Service Problems
By:mark.j @ 10:56:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UPDATE: Fast4 has sent us a short update stating that, “ the 50 users that connect to the service permanently have been given a locked down contention port, i.e. : the sold 10:1 contention instead of an free for all. Where as the other 4500 customers are all still receiving great surfing.”
This may explain why some people have been complaining, although we’re still waiting to hear more on the billing issues.
Perhaps not surprisingly we've recently been hearing a lot of complaints about the ultra-cheap UK unmetered dialup ISP Fast4 (not to be confused with Fast24).
Apparently a growing number of customers have been seeing problems with engage tones, while others have been billed for several months in advance and not been offered a refund when attempting to cancel. One reader states an increasingly common example below:
I have also cancelled with fast 4 after having had 3 months taken off my card and have only been able to use the service for 1 month. Have been unable to connect since 7.30pm on the 13th Jan.
Cancellation date given was 7th Feb at 23.30pm and they are still refusing to refund me for extra months money taken on sign up plus this months as I am unable to use the service.
Another customer agrees..:
Your experience with Fast4 is exactly the same as mine.
When I asked about them why they took more payments than promised they said I had to write to their Accounts Manager. I will do this and copy it to Watchdog & Trading Standards.
Thankfully the problems aren't universal, with many still getting a good service and correct billing, yet the problem areas continue to expand. One of our readers was able to get the following response:
This is typical of congestion problems. Unfortunately there have been a number of people using the service as a permanent connection which is obviously tying up the service and making it difficult for users to connect at certain times. I'm afraid there is nothing we can do to improve the situation for you at this time.
Regards
Fast4 Customer Services
Tel 0871 225 1055
www.fast4.net
Most people could have spotted the above issues coming from a long way off, although the question now is whether Fast4 will be able to adapt and prove itself to be a viable setup.
Other services such as SafariConnect, FreeDial and Tiscali have also popped into our ISP Complaints page this week. Most surprisingly of all is the fact that many of Tiscali’s customers are still being incorrectly billed; how long ago was it that Tiscali promised to have this fixed? |
Cheaper ADSL Installs Boost Demand
By:mark.j @ 9:59:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It looks as if BTWholesales initiative to temporarily cut the installation charge of broadband ADSL services in half is paying off, at least according to ISP Boltblue it is.
Net4Nowt notes the services latest press release and a comment from the ISPs CEO, Michael Brown: "The phones are ringing off the hook as customers snap up this offer. The appeal of broadband is massive but some people have been put off by the initial set up charges. Were doing everything we can to remove this obstacle and allow as many people as possible to enjoy the benefits of broadband early on."
Rumour has it that other UK ISPs are seeing a similar increase in demand, which can only be good news for ADSL coverage. Boltblue itself offers a number of choices:
There's never been a better time to join the super-fast world of Boltblue Broadband. For a limited period not only are we waiving the installation fee of £65, we're throwing in a USB modem worth £64.99 absolutely FREE! That's an incredible saving of £129.99!*
If you don't need a modem - we'll give you the first 3 months for the price of one. We must be crackers!
All you pay is £27.99 per month (minimum 12 month contract) |
Yahoo! To Enter EU ISP Market?
By:mark.j @ 9:47:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Yahoo!, which is best known for their long-running Internet search engine, is planning to expand and enter the highly competitive European ISP market sometime during 2003.
Very little is currently known about the move, although Yahoo apparently intends to announce partnerships with Internet access providers and enter that way. Sounds like a Tiscali re-run. |
Online Shopping Overtakes Retail Sales
By:mark.j @ 9:39:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The latest research from IMRG has confirmed previous reports that UK online shopping continues to grow faster than high-street style retail sales, especially during last Christmas.
In fact online shopping grew 19 times faster than retail sales over Christmas, taking £949m worth of orders for the three week period:
John Lewis Direct managing director Simon Palethorpe said he thought the growth indicated increased confidence in online shopping.
"We also see it as people who had previously only been buying books and CDs branching out to more ambitious purchases as they become more sophisticated internet users."
He said John Lewis Direct had seen demand at three times 2001 levels.
The BBC News Online item states an IMRG prediction that online shopping will continue to grow during 2003, especially with the increasing popularity of broadband Internet access. |
NHS Gains Broadband Network Via BT
By:mark.j @ 9:32:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Shorter waiting times and more efficient patient care will apparently come from the introduction of BTs new £168m broadband network for the National Health Service (NHS):
FASTER MORE ACCURATE TREATMENT WITH NHS BROADBAND NETWORK
Shorter waiting times and more efficient patient care will result from a £168m agreement between BT and the NHS Information Authority.
The agreement, announced today by Pierre Danon, chief executive officer of BT Retail, enables BT to upgrade the existing NHSnet infrastructure to a broadband platform that will link hospitals and GP surgeries across the country.
It is the one of the largest network upgrades within the public sector and a considerable boost to Britain's broadband capabilities. BT will upgrade all its existing NHSnet connections to more than 7,000 NHS sites throughout England, including GP practices and NHS Trusts.
Pierre Danon said: "We are very pleased that BT's partnership with the NHS is delivering to GPs and hospitals throughout England. This technology will make them more efficient and effective and will allow them to give a far better service to patients. BT's vision is to connect your world completely and this partnership with the NHS demonstrates perfectly how our ICT solutions can bring real benefits to people in important areas like health."
This broadband upgrade supports the new NHS National Strategic Plan for IT and it underpins three major projects outlined in the plan:
* electronic booking systems - allowing GPs to book consultant appointments for patients online, while they wait.
* integrated care records - ensuring patients' details and treatment are available immediately to all healthcare staff who are providing care to that patient.
* electronic transfer of prescriptions - providing an integrated system that will allow the transfer of patient medication records between GPs, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists, dentists and the patient.
The broadband upgrade will mean doctors have immediate access to the information necessary for fast and accurate diagnosis.
The network itself will use the latest secure IP-VPN (Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network) technology and offer 256kbps connections to GP surgeries and 2Mgps services to hospitals and other NHS organisations. |
News - January 16,2003
PlusNET Offers Sub-£20 ADSL Access
By:mark.j @ 1:12:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISP PlusNET has today become the latest mainstream service to drop its residential broadband ADSL prices to a level below £20 per month, something many experts consider to be more than a little risky:
Broadband from PlusNet now under £20 with FREE activation!
PlusNet is proud to announce exciting news that they are now offering Broadband ADSL with free activation, at just £17.01 [£19.99 Inc VAT] per month, making PlusNet the first major UK ISP to offer ADSL for under £20!
In addition, PlusNet are also offering ADSL Modems* from as low as £27 [£31.73 Inc VAT]
With a new low price of £17.01 [£19.99 Inc VAT] / month, PlusNet's ADSL Home Surf is the best Broadband solution for 95% of the UK population, providing email, web, networking, gaming and coupled with the Value-added features that PlusNet are renowned for.
PlusNet are also announcing that all other consumer Broadband ADSL products and Starter Packs have had their activation fees discounted by a further £25 [£29.38 Inc VAT].
Alistair Wyse, Technical Director for PlusNet, had this to say: "We're really pleased to be able to offer this great product at such a low price this year. We're especially looking forward to seeing what kind of an impact free activation is going to have."
He continued, "We're planning for even higher demand; PlusNet Home Surf has always been great value for money, but now, at a new low price of £19.99? a month, and with free activation, we really do believe this is the un-missable Broadband offer of the year!"
For More Information please visit our website, at
http://www.plus.net/specialoffers/
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ADSL Home Surf with free activation is a special offer. Home Surf does not support the use of peer to peer (p2p) software and binary newsgroups.
*ADSL modems are bundled as part of ADSL Starter Packs.
Product Pricing:
ADSL Home Surf from £19.99~ / month (Free Activation)
ADSL Home from £25.49~ / month (Free Activation)
ADSL Home from £22.99~ / month (£29.38? Activation fee)
*ADSL Starter Packs (Modem & Splitters) from £36.55? +P&P
~Prices include VAT. (All other prices as stated.)
We doubt whether PlusNET is really “the first major UK ISP to offer ADSL for under £20”, although it’ll be interesting to see how many of these cheaper offers last the year. |
Telewest Steps Up Restructuring Plan
By:mark.j @ 9:11:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] DigitalSpy reports that the UKs second largest cable operator, Telewest, has moved forward with its restructuring plans:
Telewest has announced that it has reached a "non-binding agreement" with the steering committee of the company's senior lenders as well as the influential ad hoc bondholder committee, for terms of revised banking facilities.
Announced to the London Stock Exchange this morning, the revised facilities amount to £2.155bn comprised of loans, an overdraft, and other revolving credit facilities. Most of the new facilities mature at the end of 2005 with the balance being due on June 30, 2006.
These new facilities are conditional on Telewest pressing ahead with its balance sheet restructuring - in which US cable giant Liberty Media, headed by John Malone - is expected to play a role alongside Telewest's existing bondholders in an ntl-style debt-for-equity swap. Telewest did note that the new facilties would enable the company to maintain operations after restructuring is completed. |
BT To ADSL Enable 10 New Exchanges
By:mark.j @ 9:05:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide reports that BTWholesale has published details of ten more broadband ADSL 'Ready for Service' dates, although it's still a fair wait until they're ready:
Bideford, Devon - 9th April 2003
Caerleon, Gwent - 9th April 2003
Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire - 9th April 2003
Clitheroe, Lancashire - 9th April 2003
Great Yarmouth Town, Norfolk - 9th April 2003
Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire - 9th April 2003
Newhaven, East Sussex - 9th April 2003
Ramsey, East of England - 9th April 2003
Westhoughton, Greater Manchester - 9th April 2003
Yaxley, Cambridgeshire - 16th April 2003 |
Freeserve ISP Abandons Name Change
By:mark.j @ 9:00:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Good sense appears to have prevailed at UK ISP Freeserve after it abandoned plans to rename itself as Wanadoo, the same French group that currently owns it:
The move to bring Freeserve's brand in line with its French parent was floated six months ago and was backed by Wanadoo chief exec Nicolas Dufourcq. Had the makeover - estimated to cost as much as £30m - been given the green light it was scheduled to go-ahead early this year.
But the move was blocked after a three-month evaluation. A final decision not to proceed was made this week.
Such a move would also have meant that Freeserve's 2.5m users would have had the upheaval of changing their email addresses. Many customers and industry watchers believed any move to ditch the Freeserve name would have been pure folly on behalf of the ISP.
For a moment there we almost expected to see one of the UKs largest ISPs involved in a screw up of almost unimaginable proportions. More @ the Register. |
News - January 15,2003
New ISP Review UK Survey (Poll)
By:mark.j @ 3:09:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It's about time for another survey (poll) change and so this month and next we're asking, "Are you happy with your current ISP?". Results for the previous month’s poll are as follows:
What kind of support quality does your ISP offer?
Poor - 25.7%
Excellent - 22.3%
Good - 19.8%
Average - 19.1%
Nonexistent - 12.8%
Total Votes = 917
Out of nearly 1,000 voters some 26% of you felt that the quality of your ISPs support was poor, 19% said it was average and a shocking 13% had none at all.
Thankfully a fair number still found their ISPs support to be Excellent (22%) or Good (20%), although clearly some providers have a lot of explaining to do. |
BA Preps Airline Broadband Trial
By:mark.j @ 2:33:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Internet is currently awash with news that German airline Lufthansa is today testing its in-flight broadband Internet service; however British Airways (BA) has just revealed similar details:
The broadband satellite based technology allows passengers to surf the web and send email at 30,000 feet:
Lufthansa is demonstrating the techology today and BA is set to begin a pilot next month.
Passengers in BA's first class, world club and world traveller plus cabins will be able to pay £20 per flight for access to the internet.
Antenna technology attached to the aeroplane will track the broadband satellite so that passengers can plug their laptops in to a high-speed service offering data rates of around 512Kbps per user.
It should certainly make those long-haul flights somewhat more bearable, now if they can just invent a way to eliminate those annoying kids that kick the back of your seat. More @ VNUNet. |
BT To Bundle Net Radio With ADSL?
By:mark.j @ 1:22:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] PDT, a Manchester-based company, has today taken some time out of the UK to showcase its new portable radio, the GlobalTuner InTune200, at a consumer technology event in Las Vegas.
However this is a radio with difference, it can wirelessly connect to a computer and access any music on the PC or thousands of Internet radio stations. More over, BT is apparently interested:
The radio is likely to be bundled by BT with its broadband service as part of a promotional drive in the UK. PDT says it could be just the thing to persuade more people to sign up for high-speed internet services.
"The idea of internet radio is great, but not the idea of sitting next to the computer to listen to the radio," PDT Managing Director David Holder told BBC News Online. "With the InTune you avoid having to sit at the PC to listen to MP3 music files or radio."
It certainly sounds clever and should appear in the UK from April, although at an estimated £179 the device may be a little too expensive for what it offers. Including it with BTs bundled package would shave some of that cost off. More @ BBC News Online. |
NetBenefit & Freeserve's Domain Deal
By:mark.j @ 1:08:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] NetBenefit, a leading domain and web hosting provider, has today announced the signing of a strategic partnership deal with UK ISP Freeserve.
NetBenefit has essentially been appointed as the sole provider of domain name registration and web hosting services to Freeserve's five million customers:
NetBenefit signs strategic partnership with Freeserve
NetBenefit, the UK's leading domain name registration company, today announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with Freeserve, the UK's No 1 for the Internet, which will make it the sole provider of domain name, web hosting and email services to the ISP's five million customers.
As part of the strategic partnership, there is a dedicated area on the Freeserve homepage and a number of other relevant sections of their site, allowing customers to search and register a domain name via NetBenefit. NetBenefit will also have the opportunity to sell its web hosting and email services to Freeserve customers, including the recently-launched Webstarter Package which offers an affordable solution for small and medium-sized businesses to set up and manage a business-focused website for only £99 per annum.
Commenting on the partnership, Geoff Wicks, CEO of NetBenefit plc, said: "This is a perfect partnership fit that gives NetBenefit the opportunity to work with one of the UK's most successful ISPs and bring our expertise to a customer base of over five million. We view this as a significant opportunity to sell not only domain names through this channel, but additional email and web hosting services in order for Freeserve users to expand their online presence. The alliance will enable NetBenefit to continue to increase awareness of its brand and services and at the same time extend our customer reach into the retail and SME markets."
"Partnering with NetBenefit gives us the opportunity to broaden the range of online services we offer to our customers," commented Jon Gisby, Freeserve's managing director, portals "NetBenefit is highly experienced in the hosting and domain name service area and the backing of an ICANN accredited domain registrar will be a great asset to the Freeserve network." |
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