|
|||
|
|
||
|
News Archive |
||
|
ic24 Extends Unmetered Access Yet Again Originally, it was going to expire at the end of October but as usual, they have managed to offer the unmetered deal for a few extra months. Advertised frequently on national television, ic24 offers totally free 0800 access between 9am and 5pm at weekends. In addition, they introduced a weekday deal in July that offers the same service between 8pm to midnight Monday to Friday. Internet access outside these times is charged as a local rate call. TFI Definition Of Commercial Usage He has provided us with some more information on the issue that should help set the record straight: Commercial usage can best be described as "the setting up of an email address(es) or the hosting of a Website, whereby the Member seeks to elicit personal or business gain via the 0800 Service by the selling of goods or the provision of business-oriented services".Your comments are welcome on the matter as always. TheFreeInternet Tackles Commercial Abusers In an email to its users, TFI pointed out that commercial use of the 0800 service is in breach of their terms and conditions. Any user found to be breaking the rules, “will result in instant termination of the individuals account.” TheFreeInternet offers 24/7 unmetered access for £89.99 per year. Their website now carries the warning, “This service is for personal home use only – commercial users will have their accounts terminated without notice!” In the email they threaten commercial users with criminal prosecutions. No refunds will be forthcoming and, criminal prosecutions for theft in lieu of charges for telephone airtime obtained fraudulently may be instigated where commercial usage is established.But as pointed out at uk.internet.com, “…the company does not include any definitions of commercial use. However, if it is in any way similar to Breathe's definition, anyone using the service for more than six hours a day should be worried.” So you have been warned. We can see many angry emails coming in soon from heavy users who have been cut-off. But the old question remains, just what is classed as “abuse”? TFI have said anyone using the service for “commercial use” will have their account terminated. BT Accused of Blocking Broadband Rollout Neil Holloway, Microsoft's UK managing director, said basically that the competition in the broadband market is being frustrated by BT: "It does seem ironic that one minute the government is saying the local loop is going to be opened up in June/July next year and...the next minute we hear there's not enough room [in BT's exchanges], it's the wrong type of carpet, the air conditioning was wrong on a Wednesday afternoon" he said, and he concluded by saying that "It's not in BT's interest to get everyone else to roll it out. The longer they can delay it the better." Mounting criticisms of both the watchdog Oftel and the BT over local loop unbundling and the rollout of ADSL have been received in recent weeks. This clearly demonstrates the need for Oftel to speed up the development of broadband Internet services as discussed in an interview held on Wednesday. Microsoft are also calling for a merger between the UK's broadband cable operators Ntl and Telewest which are also partly owned by the software giant. Holloway, who is a non-executive director of Telewest sees a merger as 'crucial to allow the cable players to compete with satellite operator Sky', and he commented: "They need economies of scale - if you're going to compete with Sky on delivering digital services there's enough challenge competing in that space, let alone competing with each other". Both Ntl and Telewest have agreed that a merger would make sense but the likelihood of any move in the near future is not yet being considered, as the report states: A deal would need the backing of France Telecom which owns 23 percent of ntl and Dutch cable operator UPS which has a 25 percent stake in Telewest. Analysts have said Microsoft would be key in orchestrating a merger, but Holloway doubted the company would play such a role. He said Microsoft -- which owns 23.7 percent of Telewest and three percent of Ntl -- was not actively pressing for a merger, and did not think one was inevitable: "But from a pure business perspective it makes a lot of sense, it would help speed up competition between cable, ADSL, satellite and wireless." added Holloway. Company Offers Free Internet Via The TV According to a ZDNet article, Freebox will start sending out 40,00 set-top boxes before the end of the year, with plans to manufacture 500,000 per month in 2001. They also promise to give them away to schools at a ratio of one for every 250 pupils. Freebox will offer email, video email as well as being able to play DVDs, CDs and MP3 files. The company claims that it has a successful business model, and is currently in talks with ISPs, content providers, services and advertisers. "Freebox is close to completing deals with a number of companies, and will be announcing deals shortly," a spokesman explained. "Our policy is to make money through arrangements with these companies, not from the man in the street". The spokesman confirms that Freebox will allow unlimited access to the Internet, and that users would not be restricted as to which sites they could visit. "We won't operate a walled garden of content like AOL," he says.Freebox will be taking orders from October. A refundable deposit of £10 is required when registering. We have never heard of this company and would welcome your comments if you have any information on Freebox. BT And AOL Squabble In Public At a fringe meeting of the Labour party conference in Brighton yesterday evening, E-minister Patricia Hewitt headed a meeting about the development of unmetered Internet in the UK. Later, speaking from the floor, AOL's head of corporate communications Matt Peacock praised Hewitt for her support for unmetered access, but then said BT had caused numerous delays to its introduction.Click here to read the article in full. Freeserve Doubles Its Losses The figures are slightly higher than forecast, and is partly due to a huge increase in sales and marketing costs of £13.7 million up from £6.1 million last year. AFX News recently interviewed their chief financial officer Nick Backhouse. In the interview, he said that Freeserve would be making a profit through its unmetered access business from next year. The company is expecting unmetered access to contribute to profits as soon as Friaco is up and running. Other telecom operators and ISPs have complained about the performance of BT in introducing both unmetered access and the broadband ADSL service. ADSL rollout is slower than BT promised, with less coverage of the country than operators had anticipated and is too costly, Backhouse said, agreeing with other BT competitors. But Freeserve did not share the wish of some operators to take legal action either in the UK or Europe to force BT's hand and that of the regulator, OFTEL, commonly accused of being too lenient to BT. "The way forward for us is direct discussions with BT and with OFTEL," he said. "We're their largest user for SurfTime, and we'll be their largest customer for ADSL too." At the time of going to press Freeserve’s share price had dropped 5p to 237p. Freeserve Upgrades Unmetered Service According to the BBC, new modems were due to be installed two weeks ago but was deferred due to the recent fuel crisis. Their installation is now underway. By the end of the week, capacity would be 25% higher, the spokesman said.Here is a selection of reviews on Freeserve recently made by our visitors: “Not a good service. Having problems connecting all day and night. Still no connection despite all that dialling”Maybe the reviews will improve by next week, some how I doubt it. They are regularly voted the worst ISP in the ISP vote section. Millions Miss Out On Broadband Access Thanks To BT According to the newspaper, there will be vast “deadzones” across the country where the broadband high speed Internet service will be "commercially and technically unviable". Businesses and consumers in Cornwall, Wales, the North East and North West, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are set to lose the most under BT's plans.For the full article, click here. Net4nowt Launch IP Telephone Available from www.n4n.net, the Internet Protocol Telephone enables users to make telephone calls from their PC to anywhere in the world at highly competitive prices. For example, calls to Australia are 3p and Germany 1p per minute. Full information on the Net4nowt phone may be found at www.n4n.net.
Latest News From Visual Depth Here it is in full: As promised news is due to be released regarding the future of Visual Depth's Unmetered Service before the end of this month. The news shall be sent in the form of an e-mail to all Visual Depth customers along with the Press. I’m afraid the news does not include any promising news for a replacement service, but does include information regarding current customers contacting us and how to obtain refunds. As previously stated we are in talks with many telecommunication companies and we have been offered many types of deals. However, so far we have been unable to find a telecommunication company who is able to provide a service to allow us to operate under our low prices. We shall continue looking for a telecommunication operator who can allow us to operate such a service at such a low price. However, so far the service could not be operational without customers paying approximately £20 per month. Over the next two weeks we will be working harder than ever to find the correct telecommunication operator for the job to enable us to continue offering such a low priced service. The service we shall operate will be as follows (This is our demands from the operator and may be varied slightly, however shall be kept the same where possible to obtain a high quality service): - Complete Unmetered Access 24-7 for £74.99 per year or £9.99 per monthThe news e-mail shall be sent before the end of this week. Your comments are appreciated as always. Less Than Half Of UK Have Accessed The Net According to figures from the National Statistics Survey released today, just 45% of adults in Britain have accessed the Internet with low-income families missing out the most. Individuals whose households were headed by someone from a professional occupation were more likely to access the Net at 66% while unskilled families came in at just 20%. The family home was also the most popular place to access the Internet at 70% while the workplace was 32%. Men were more likely to have used the Internet than women. 52% of men had used the Internet compared to just 39% of women. But the proportion of adults decreases steadily with age and varied from 69% of those aged 16 to 24 years to only 6% of those aged 75 years and over. Two thirds of adults who had used the Internet were aged between 16 and 44 years. The main uses of the Internet were finding information about goods/services and general browsing, but the most common activity was email with 34% of adults who had used the Internet reported using it mostly to send and receive emails. Madasafish Maybe Jumping Into Deep Water Again TimeZone Lite costs £11.99 per month for unmetered access during evenings and weekends TimeZone Total costs £27.99 per month for unmetered access all day, every day. Other UK providers have proved that the pricing structure of an unmetered service is not the main factor, but rather whether the ISP's infrastructures are able to take the demand when users try to access the service they are not only paying for, but have been promised. Although existing Madasafish members will get priority, they are signing other users up in batches which will hopefully slowly build the pressure on the service, but unfortunatley this may cause long waiting lists. The service is reported to seem to be a re-launch of Freedom, Madasafish's earlier attempt at unmetered access, which got the company into deep water with users. Madasafish customer Phil McAvity told UK Internet.Com: "What was once a fine ISP is jumping on the free access bandwagon at the expense of its service." Source: UK Internet.Com Angry Breathe Users May Plan To Sue Clive Dakers, who had is Breathe account terminated, contacted UK Internet.Com saying that he was going to take the matter to court and was confident of his success. He said: "I have been informed by a solicitor that I would have a case in the courts if I sued Breathe for breach of contract." He also said that Breathe's case was based on the fact that some 500 heavy users had their accounts terminated for endangering other users' access. But on legal advice, users have a strong case to suggest that Breathe's decision was for purely financial reasons. Ian Twin, a spokesman for the ISP denies that the decision was financial saying: "Only people who were not using the service for consumer activity were targeted." Breathe said they acted in this manner to protect other users in their right of access to the unmetered service, and they had not yet received any writs from lawyers acting on behalf of angry customers. Compared to the overall fee the user is paying, some ISPs claim that heavy users can actually cost them almost £1000 a week, and World Online have said that heavy users, despite the strain on resources, were "prime broadband targets, and were more than likely to be the first customers for the service". Source: UK Internet.Com Net4nowt selects Callserve as Internet Telephony Provider Using Net4Nowt’s Callserve powered IP phone, users will be able to make calls using the internet to any telephone in the world at highly competitive prices. Net4Nowt’s joint owner Peter Harris said; “We wanted to be very sure that we selected the best possible IP phone service supplier. Our user base is one of the best informed in the marketplace and we cannot afford to risk our reputation. Callserve’s service is significantly better than anything we have seen before and brings good quality, fair priced IP telephony to the mass market for the first time.” Internet telephony technology is now firmly established as an alternative to traditional telephone calls. The internet telephony market is predicted by industry analysts IDC to grow from 2.7 billion minutes in 1999 to 135 billion minutes in 2004. US analysts Probe Research expect the market to soar from a value of $332 million in 1999 to $5.3 billion in 2003. Net4Nowt’s web site, launched in 1998, currently has information on over 300 ISPs. The site also contains forum areas where users can discuss anything relating to ISP provision. Net4Nowt will be implementing a Callserve IP phone client branded as the Net4Nowt IP Phone helping it to be clearly identifiable to its user base. The new service will be available from the first week in October. Callserve managing director Paul Duffy commented; “We are delighted that Net4Nowt has selected Callserve as its IP phone technology partner. With such a well informed and critical user base, it is a real vote of confidence in our efforts to deliver a high quality, fair priced VOIP telephony service for mass market use.” According to a recent MORI Survey, Callserve – which only switched on its full service in June - had become the second largest supplier of low cost PC to phone calls in the UK overtaking many more established rivals. Callserve now offers its service in more languages than any of its competitors and has its sights firmly set on cementing its position as Europe’s main international player. About Net4Nowt: Net4Nowt is the UK’s most popular source of on-line information on the UK ISP market and is used by both end users and the industry alike. The site is also used as a reference source by many leading national, radio and industry news services including Radio 5, The BBC, The Express and the Mail. It also provides the information for Practical Internet’s ISP listing information. Parent company QiQ is an independent e-business consultancy working with both large and small businesses including Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). Peter Harris Net4nowt peter@net4nowt.com About Callserve: Callserve Communications was founded in 1999 by Paul Duffy and Richard Kuttner to provide the first European based commercial Internet telephony service. Customers of the service are able to make calls to any telephone worldwide from an Internet-connected PC at costs significantly lower than those of the established telecoms service providers. Business partners can provide their own-branded IP phone to new and existing customers, taking advantage of Callserve’s existing telecommunications infrastructure and software. Chris Hermann Callserve Chris.Hermann@callserve.com Paul O’Leary Ogilvy Public Relations paul.o’leary@uk.ogilvypr.com Tel: 020 7345 3000
Net that Job! On The Net The 2nd edition of ‘Net that Job! Using the World Wide Web to Develop Your Career and Find Work’ by Irene Krechowiecka is her latest book which was launched yesterday. It has been fully revised to take account of the fast-moving world of the Web. It again demonstrates the power of the Internet as the ever-expanding, globally accessible new medium for job-hunting and careers guidance, showing both computer novices and seasoned surfers how to harness that power and use the Web for: Self-assessment and psychometric testingIrene Krechowiecka writes for a range of media such as BBC Online, Virgin Net, The Guardian... on work, education, travel and practical uses of the internet. She also runs courses on using the Web effectively for careers education and job searching. The price of the guide is currently £8.99, however there is a £1 discount available if ordered through The Times bookshop site, where it is currently one of their books of the week. There is also no charge for postage. CallNet Calls In The Receivers CallNet said it took the decision in the "interest of shareholders and all stakeholders".Only last week Cable & Wireless had disconnected CallNet over an outstanding debt. Now BDO Storey Hayward from Baker Street, London are dealing with the sale of the ISP. TheFreeInternet Join Unmetered Price War Earlier in the week we seen World Online dramatically increase their prices. Their 24/7 unmetered option has risen from around £5 to £14.99 per month on top of the line rental. They also introduced a 100-hour limit per month with a 1p per minute charge for any time exceeding the 100-hour limit. We then seen RedHotAnt raise their yearly subscriptions rise by 50% and a £5 increase in their joining fee. Now TheFreeInternet have joined in by raising their annual fee from £50 to £89.99, a rise of nearly £40. Obviously, the ISPs are struggling to maintain their unmetered service. Another unmetered ISP, Freechariot, have also changed their terms and conditions three times within the past few weeks. There was a requirement to spend a minimum of £5 per month on national and international calls. This has now gone up to £8.99. According to their web site, they will be starting a new service which does not involve making voice calls to qualify. The service is expected to cost £19.40 per month and is due to start at the end of September. Iomart to enter BT local exchanges Based in the West of Scotland Science Park in Glasgow, the company will be focusing initially on the Scottish market, and will commence installation in BT exchanges in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee during early 2001. Using BT's IP Stream product range, Iomart are already one of the first operators to be providing ADSL services in the UK. These services are available now under Iomart's Copperburst brand and also to consumers through Madasafish. However with the progressive introduction of its own equipment to BT exchanges, Iomart will be able to participate fully in the local loop unbundling process, allowing them to take over responsibility for the copper line "last mile" between a customer's premises and the BT exchange. Angus MacSween, Iomart CEO, commented: "This is another major step forward in the development of iomart. For us, ADSL is the entry point to building long term customer relationships to which we can add web hosting, telephony services and our business class out-sourced e-mail product from Sendmail. As a licensed telco with no legacy to protect, we can move swiftly to offer our customers the full potential from this new broadband technology." The installation plan will form the first phase of an aggressive three year UK DSL roll out, with Iomart offering its customers a full range of DSL high speed access products coupled with applications such as video on demand, video conferencing and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Iomart is one of only three UK based ISPs to have earned the coveted Cisco Powered Network Status - a standard achieved by the top one per cent of service providers worldwide, and are involved in a number of joint ventures with big players, including Virgin, Freeserve, MRI Modems and 365.Corporation. Update On 08002go Launch As you can see, it is the 21st September 2000 and we have not yet gone "live". We will be going "live" soon just watch our www.08002go.com site. Members and Pre-registrants will be advised automatically.So they have received some “insinuating comments”? Hope they will be able to prove themselves in a volatile market. Their £5.83 per month fee for 24/7 unmetered access does seem a bit on the cheap side. US Abandon UK Broadband Market In an article at ZDNet, GlobalCrossing and WorldCom were expected to be listed amongst 35 companies who are asking for access to the local loop. Telcos have blasted OFTEL's handling of the unbundling process. On Monday telecoms firm RSL Communications pulled out of bidding to connect UK local phone lines accusing the regulator of failing ensure fair play for rivals to BT.At the moment BT still manage the local loop which is the copper wire that connects customer’s homes to the network. OFTEL have said that the local loop should be opened up by July 2001 which will allow other operators to install their equipment. New Unmetered Telephone And Internet Service In what appears to be perfect timing in light of World Online’s decision, Telecom GB will be offering 24/7 unmetered access for just £9.99. This also includes unmetered local telephone calls. Telecom GB, together with sister company Nationwide Telecom, has been in the telecommunications market since it was liberalised in 1984 and, in association with many of the world's leading network suppliers, specialise in the supply, installation and maintenance of telecommunication systems and services. Here is further information on their service: * Unmetered Local Calls cover a 35 mile radiusThis flat rate service costs £5.99 per month. Then there is the Internet service detailed below which costs an extra £4 per month. * All the above, plusFor further details visit their new Internet portal site, Surfing Rabbit. Or ring 08700 34 44 44 for an application form. Subscribers will be limited to 1000 per day. Unmetered Price Rises Again Following on from the earlier announcement from World Online, RedHotAnt have stated on their site that they will also be raising their subscription fees. The joining fee for their service has gone up £5 to £40. The remaining packages have seen a rise of 50%. The ‘Basic’ package has gone up to £30 per year, and the ‘Superior’ package has gone up to £90 per year with effect from 1st October. The ‘Advanced’ package will also be withdrawn. However, existing customers can renew their annual subscription at their original subscription rate. World Online Kicks Users In The Teeth With New Pricing Structure In a bid to continue their service in a difficult telecommunications marketplace, World Online has trebled the price of its 24/7 unmetered service from around £5 per month on top of the line rental to £14.99. They have also limited the hours available to just 100 per month, approximately 3.5 hours per day. The World Online user group The Scream! received a posting in their popular discussion forum giving the full details of the news, which at first many thought was a hoax until it was seen on the World Online ‘Join Us’ page. From the postings there, it looks like a quite a few customers will be leaving for another ISP. It has been known for a while that World Online will be making changes to their service. It was inevitable when the current market is unable to deliver a wholesale unmetered service. BT still charge companies like World Online on a ‘per minute’ basis. But customers were not expecting the changes to be so ruthless. World Online listened to The Scream! last time when they asked for an off-peak option. Hopefully they will reconsider their new pricing structure. The off-peak option has also been affected. It now costs £2.99 per month for just 50 hours of off-peak unmetered access, and will be charged at 1p per minute thereafter. Customers who pay just the line rental will receive Internet access at 1p per minute at all times. If you should want to stay with your present package, you need to do nothing. After 11th October the changes will automatically take place. If you wish to change then click here. World Online will be making an announcement soon on their broadband service. Oftel unlocks the doors to BT phone network However, the move received a lukewarm reception from the telecoms industry outside BT. The premises to be opened represent just over 5pc of BT's total of 6,000, and are not the most desirable. Oftel, under fire for allowing BT to stall the process by a series of technical objections, said it had made the "first step". However it admitted that it had not opened exchanges where demand for access exceeds supply. BT's competitors are being granted access to local exchanges so they can install their own equipment inside. This will allow them to run their own telephone service direct into consumers' homes - a market still dominated by BT. Net4nowt launch N4N.net Commenting on today's announcement, Peter Harris, Managing Director of QiQ Limited, Co-owners of Net4nowt said "We've decided to launch n4n.net to keep our commercial activities as separate as possible from Net4nowt which we wish to keep as an unbiased resource for anyone seeking an ISP or has an interested in the ISP market place. We have a loyal band of fans and we feel they will be best served by keeping our commercial activities separate from our independent view of the ISP industry". Paul Hillbeck will continue to be responsible for the content on Net4nowt, while Peter Harris will develop further commercial relationships on behalf of n4n.net. In a move not dissimilar to the BBC operating the 'Beeb' website as a commercial venture, n4n.net will provide content and offers of interest to Net4nowt visitors which represent good value for money. N4n.net will also be responsible for the placement of banner advertising on Net4nowt.com. Paul Hillbeck, co-owner and founder of Net4nowt and content manager stated "Visitors to Net4nowt will already be aware of our high value content which is both clear and easy to understand. These attributes will also feature in n4n.net along with offers that offer both quality and value for money. At the same time, we will continue to expand our impartial consumer service at Net4nowt."
Bad News For C&W Customers According to an article at Vnunet, NTL have said that their local networks could not handle the demand. The telco, which completed its acquisition of CWC in May, said it would need to upgrade CWC's local networks before it could extend the ntlworld service to cable customers in those areas. NTL said this is unlikely to happen before at least spring 2001.The Vnunet article quoted an NTL spokesman; "While NTL appreciates that many internet users will be keen to get the benefits of the popular new service, local C&W networks would need to be upgraded in order to support it properly," said the spokesman.This news will obviously anger many disgruntled C&W customers who have been eagerly awaiting the unmetered package from NTL. There have been many rumours as to when it will be available, now it looks like they have a long wait ahead of them. More news from 08002go Comments include “we have just 57,907 places to fill before we go ‘live’” “we will close all membership when the remaining places have gone” and, “anyone who has pre-registered with us so far; be assured you have been entered onto our system”. The email continues by saying “as soon as we go live you will receive an email from us inviting you to pay your monthly subscription and become a member. Your detailed information will stay open for 72 hours after this time. If you have not taken up the offer by then we will allocate your membership to another person or persons.” This clashes directly with their initial promise that users could try the service for a week before deciding whether or not to pay and become a member. On their FAQ page it states “At 08002GO we are letting you, our members try our service for one week free this will, we know let you see how good our service is in all aspects you will be so delighted not only will you save 100's of Pounds on your telephone bill, you will be glad that you pre-registered with 08002GO. Only when you have tried our service and are completely delighted with it we will send you a monthly invoice of £5.83” . In their new email it also says “You will all see a new membership page appear on our site which will allow you to enter your credit card details, if you wish to pay by credit card”. This is different to the view expressed on their FAQ page which states “because there is so much doubt about credit card transactions and security we prefer to invoice you each month for your service charge of just £5.83 per month.” Despite these discrepancies there is no doubt that everyone would like there to be a good value 0800 access ISP that works! We will be monitoring 08002go’s launch carefully and look forward to receiving their users' comments. AOL roll out their unmetered package After signing on today, I was surprised to receive the promised email from AOL announcing the roll-out of AOL Flat Rate, their proposed unmetered deal, as I had almost given up hope. Unfortunatley, I am not entitled to their unmetered service as yet, because AOL are rolling out their service with regard to how long a customer has been subscribing to AOL. I was informed that the way AOL want to deal with the roll out would be to offer the unmetered package immediately to their longest standing customers, and, depending on the length of time spent with AOL, other customers would be offered the deal accordingly. When I rang AOL a few weeks ago, I was informed that after the deal has been rolled out to their loyal customers it would then be "available to everyone in the UK regardless of whether they have used AOL before or not" said an AOL spokesman. They have certainly kept this idea, as the email reads: Although you are not immediately eligible for the AOL FLAT RATE, we anticipate offering you this exciting new price plan in the very near future as our telephone network providers bring more and more flat-rate capacity online. We really are doing as much as we can to satisfy the demand and believe this staged approach will help us to maintain a reliable, first-class online experience for all members, regardless of price plan, during this process. We think this is a fair, honest and responsible way to reward AOL members for their loyalty and support throughout our long campaign. Once all of our existing members have been offered AOL FLAT RATE - and as our network providers bring more and more flat-rate capacity online in the coming weeks - we anticipate offering this revolutionary plan to new members also. The new AOL 6.0 version should also be available soon, which, I can say as one of the beta testers, is much faster than their 5.0, and has a host of new features included. Well it looks as though many, including myslef, will have to wait a few more weeks for the unmetered, let us hope the weeks don't turn into months.... Virgin's 'Stop The Clock' Service Stops Ticking The unmetered service "Stop The Clock" was originally due for launch this month. Now according to netimperative.com, is has been halted following the latest deal with NTL which is to split Virgin's content from its ISP business. A spokesman said: "The trial goes on and we will use the data from that to decide what our next step will be, depending on what happens with ntl."It is expected that Virgin will hand over its ISP service to NTL in return for Virgin's content to be shown using NTL's interactive services. ADSL - Coming to a Radio Near You Both the BBC and commercial radio written to the Government expressing concern with the planned rollout after testing by their engineers found that high-speed ADSL lines could cause interference. The Radio Authority, the regulatory body for commercial radio, and the BBC have united to complain to the Government about the potential danger of interference. The problem is most acute where an ADSL telephone wire comes into a home, potentially affecting AM radio services nearby. Engineers believe that people living nextdoor to a home with an ADSL line could also be affected. SOURCE: The Times ISP Review Outline Own Freecall Packages The first package is initially targeting a 2 hour 30 minute cut off with consumers being required to change their telecommunications company. The ISP service will cost around £8 per month with a further £10 per month payable for line rental. The offer will include free local calls at weekends and 15% reduction on BT prices. A second package being resold on behalf of another ISP using FRIACO aimed at heavy users is planned, but according to the site, "won't be live until early October' 2000, provided BT gets moving". No further indication of the launch date for either package has been provided apart from "we're waiting to hear back from our sponsor on something that's delaying any launch but it shouldn't be long." An earlier announcement on the site indicated they would only be seeking 1,000 - 2,000 users. A Net4nowt spokesman commented "Here at Net4nowt we have number of exciting developments in hand to bring exclusive offers to our visitors. We are different from ISP Review in that we have taken the view that we are better placed to comment by being an observer rather than a participant in the ISP market." Yet More Excuses From BT In what appears to be another delaying tactic by some telecom companies, BT have said that 300 of its exchanges are either up for sale or just not suitable due to insufficient space or lack of electric supply for the new equipment. According to Vnunet, BT has until 1st July 2001 to open up the local loop which will enable other companies to provide their ADSL services. "What we are looking for is equitable treatment from BT, so if it can provide its own services at a particular location, we would like to know why we can't have co-location space to provide the same services," said Karen Hardy, regulatory affairs manager at Energis.Every day there seems to be something in the general press about BT dragging their feet over one thing or another. Roll on July 2001 and then we can remove the ball and chain of BT. Kingston To Roll Out Broadband Service Across UK Kingston has applied for access to 1,000 BT exchanges, and plans to extend its on-demand TV and internet services to customers across the country. BT will begin to open its local loop to other operators from the beginning of 2001, although widespread access is only expected to be available from July. Currently, Kingston operates a broadband service, Kingston Interactive Television, in Hull in partnership with BSkyB, which brings digital TV and on-demand programming as well as the internet, email and telephony to customers. Kinsgton will roll this out nationally, alongside services from its broadband business network, Torch. The service will be supported by a nationwide broadband network that Kingston is developing with Colt Telecom. Meanwhile, BT is running trials in London with rival video-on-demand company, Yes Television, which was working with Kingston until it revealed its own plans to roll out nationally. BSkyB and BT have also had talks about partnering for the provision of broadband services. Source: netimperative.com CallNet Rescued From Liquidation "We have reconnected CallNet," says a Cable & Wireless spokesman. "Having held further discussions we've come to a commercial agreement." The spokesman estimates that CallNet's Internet service will be up and running again, "definitely today, probably within the hour."CallNet was one of the first companies to provide unmetered access and was launched in November last year. This has now ended and was replaced with a 1p per minute service earlier this month. From around 100,000 unmetered customers, it is expected that their customer base has dropped to only 2,000. Other unmetered ISPs have also withdrawn their services due to the present telecoms situation in the UK. Many ISPs have said that the main problem is that they are trying to provide an unmetered product which is based on wholesale services that required a metered payment to BT. Viatel Provides ISPs With Unmetered Access Service Viatel is able to offer the flat-rate service as a result of an agreement it reached and signed with British Telecom. Viatel is among the first providers in the UK to have reached such an agreement, known in UK telecom circles as FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination). Until FRIACO, service providers were finding it unprofitable to offer un-metered access that did not involve customers paying any usage-based fees. ISP Dial, as the service will be known, will allow ISPs to offer unmetered pricing to their subscriber base and provide them with cost certainty when launching those services. The roll out of ISP Dial is the latest addition to a range of IP services that Viatel provides to ISPs, corporations and consumers across Western Europe. Bill Murphy, President Viatel, Inc. explains: "Internet users are increasingly demanding flat rate offers and we are providing ISPs with the ability to meet those requirements, control their costs and ultimately improve their bottom lines. An un-metered dial-up access offering meets end-customer needs and eliminates the commercial risk to the ISP associated with such an offering. Roll out of services will begin as soon as possible and, as regulations change across Western Europe, we will expand our offer set into that new space." Viatel owns and operates Western Europe's largest fresh-dig, multi-duct, pan-European network and is now one of the few telecommunications providers that can offer borderless narrow and broadband access to ISPs and ASPs across Europe. Viatel already has a significant customer base in the UK, ranging from ISPs and resellers to corporate and residential customers. Tony Blair - UK Internet Access Is Best He Insists While the Prime Minister talked about the recent problems that have hit unmetered internet services, he also dicussed details about the UK online campaign which will detail how the Government will deliver its much-hyped promise to provide internet access for all by 2005. At an e-commerce briefing in Loughborough, Tony Blair talks about his proposed "UK Online" and he said:: "Last September, we said we would get unmetered access to the internet. We've done better. On international comparisons, where last year we were average, we are now the best for off-peak rates. Let me say that again - we are the best in the world." The Electronic Telegraph goes on to report that his upbeat remarks were met with some scepticism. A spokesman for the Campaign for Unmetered Telecoms, which works towards getting better internet services in the UK, said: "Only a minority of UK internet users actually have unmetered access. Many of them have problems getting connected and problems with service quality." The Telegraph also reports that In March, the Prime Minister praised the announcements of unmetered access services from NTL, Telewest and the ill-fated AltaVista, which all subsequently suffered from a series of mishaps. Mr Blair's positive comments also contrast with the news that Freeserve has admitted problems coping with demand. The internet service provider (ISP), which is 80pc-owned by Dixons, said it is only allowing a tiny number of applicants onto its unmetered internet access service for fear of becoming overloaded. Freeserve's Time Unlimited offers "always-on" internet surfing for just £10 per month. Since August, some of the 140,000 subscribers have experienced slow access or problems getting connected. Freeserve has asked its telecoms supplier Energis to add capacity to the service. Dan Walker, a subscriber to Freeserve's unmetered service from Dorset, said he believed it was wrong for the company to continue charging while the service was being upgraded. He said: "It is totally unsatisfactory. My direct debit continues to go out every month but the service is unuseable at the moment." To stop the problems getting any worse, Freeserve is limiting new sign-ups to around 3,000 per week until its network capacity is increased. A Freeserve spokesman said: "Our business plan did not take into account the idea that we would suddenly get 250,000 disappointed AltaVista users all wanting to join at the same time." The demand for places is so great that they are usually gone shortly after the company starts accepting applications at 8am. Freeserve hopes the upgrade will start to improve the service in the next few weeks. The Advertising Standards Authority this week also upheld complaints about NTL, another ISP that had problems with its unmetered service earlier this year. The ASA said NTL was wrong to claim that it could provide free internet access in its advertising when the company could not meet demand. Jerry Roest, internet managing director at NTL, claimed the company's service was now back on track, with more than 250,000 subscribers and little backlog. The A-Z roundup of ADSL Rock star plans to launch new Internet television service John Preston, who is a former music executive at BMG, EMI and PolyGram, and now is a chief executive of The Hospital Group, is building a private members' club and arts centre in London's Covent Garden. The service will be launched through The Hospital Group - a private company owned by Mr Stewart and Mr Allen. The Times reports: Mr Stewart said the service would feature hundreds of digital channels, each devoted to archive footage of a different artist. He plans to charge about £80 a year for the service, which will be broadcast over the Internet to homes by digital television companies. Mr Stewart said The Hospital Group was already in distribution talks with UPC, the Dutch cable company. The rock star made the announcement at a British Phonographic Industry event in London yesterday, designed to demonstrate that the UK music industry is keeping up with changes in technology. Mr Stewart used the event to criticise the industry for attempting to shut down Napster, the US service that allows fans to swap music online, and for CD prices. He said that he did not understand CD pricing, even though he had been making them for 25 years. "How come an artist gets 80p when a CD costs £15?" he asked. Internet companies told 'free' must mean free The Advertising Standards Authority took measures to end the confusion over internet companies' charging policies for subscriptions and calls. The ASA took the action after upholding a complaint from 167 consumers about the service provider Ntl's failure to provide the free internet access promised in its advertising. The ASA says it is concerned that Ntl continued to advertise the free service, knowing it could not satisfy demands within a reasonable time. BT suspends ADSL installations and repairs until the fuel crisis is over. ADSL installations have been put on hold in Britain until the fuel crisis is over. A report by ADSL UK claims that BT is likely to "suspend ADSL installations and repairs as emergency conditions kick in". A spokeswoman for BT wouldn't comment specifically on the installation schedule of ADSL. However, she said that the company was affected and this would impact upon all work carried out by BT. The worst affected areas are the North West and Wales. If the crisis deepens priority will be given to maintaining 999 emergency services. BT Internet – UK’s Fastest Growing ISP The survey, conducted independently by NOP, revealed that BTopenworld has 95 per cent awareness as an Internet Service Provider, up from 76 per cent in June last year. The study also highlights that the service provider boasts the second highest usage rates in the country, running just ahead of AOL and behind only Freeserve. Coupled with this, BT Internet has also more than doubled its customer base since February, signing its half-millionth subscriber this week. BT Internet also scored high in customer satisfaction ratings with eight out of ten saying they were very pleased with the service. "With hundreds of ISPs in the UK, all vying for the consumers' attention, it is important to note that we also fared well in the churn debate. Almost half of the BTopenworld respondents stated they switched from another ISP in the last year," said Ben Andradi, chief operating officer of BTopenworld. He added: "These findings are a fantastic result and just goes to show how our commitment in providing an access package that suits everyone's needs, is paying off. It also mirrors the recent growth we have experienced in subscriptions, reaching the 500,000 mark just this week." The NOP Internet User Profile Survey screened a nationally representative sample of 25,000 British adults, aged 15+, and conducted 1,603 follow-up telephone interviews with Web users between June 1 - July 8, 2000. Any BT Internet customers here like to make a comment on this recent press release from BT? According to our ISP vote section, BT Internet regularly features in the worst ISP table. INTERACTIVE NEWS: ISP Satisfaction Survey Results Satisfaction rating for those who pay for Internet Access: 30% - Very Satisfied 39% - Satisfied 05% - No views 14% - Dissatisfied 09% - Very Dissatisfied Satisfaction rating for those who do not pay for Internet Access 28% - Very Satisfied 53% - Satisfied 04% - No views 09% - Dissatisfied 03% - Very Dissatisfied In total we received 387 votes with 223 paying for Internet Access and 164 not. Satisfied or very satisfied customer levels are at 81% for free ISP's compared to 69% for paid for paid for ISPs. This indicates that at least for the time being there could be such a thing as a free lunch! Equally, users are more likely to be very dissatisfied with a paid for ISP than a free one. In light of Demons rating in the JD Power Survey, this could confirm that people are more willing to accept a poorer service when then do not have to pay for it or conversely it is more acceptable when there is no financial loss. Please accept our thanks to all those who participated in the survey. If you have suggestions for future surveys please e-mail Net4nowt at the above e-mail address. Dixons In Possible Deal With World Online In a story in today’s Observer it said that although the talks have been informal, further negotiations are expected to continue. When World Online announced that they were having discussions with Tiscali, they said at the time that they were also talking to other companies. The fact that Dixons and World Online have held exploratory discussions in recent months heightens expectations that Freeserve may end up part of the combined company. Another option would involve swapping equity stakes. A City source said: "It would be naïve to think the two companies haven't talked. When World Online announced it was talking to Tiscali, it said it was also talking to several other companies." Affinity Losses Increase Fourfold The company also stated that it has been accredited by BT Cellnet and Vodafone to run branded operations for other companies. World online Users Concerns Over Unmetered Access The acquisition of World Online by Tiscali, together with the recent e-mail has produced angry users, and has magnified their concerns over indications that the move may mean the end of World Online's cheap unmetered access. It was suggested by the company that the unmetered deal is proving itself to be too expensive, as pointed out in the e-mail: "Unmetered internet access means a customer pays a fixed charge and can then use the internet as often and for as long as they want. ISPs, however, are still charged a metered or 'per minute' charge by BT to deliver customers internet calls to their service," This is obviously going to be interpreted by their customers that after the take-over by Tiscali, World Online may be cutting out their unmetered service. One user who is doubtful commented: "Say ta-ta to your £5 a month 24/7 access. Why do you think World Online sent that letter out to everyone?, if your thinking of going back to BT - it might be wise to do so now before the rush begins." Another angry user said: "I am obviously hopping mad about this as they knew full well the costs that they were having to pay per minute. They are basically saying that since they have not been able to get things through BT cheaper, they are thinking about changing the deal that I signed up to. It is not on. I for one will take this as far as I can." During last week, at an unmetered access debate, Jeremy Stokes, director of consumer services for World Online said that, "capping of the unmetered service," would not be ruled out, "for the benefit of the majority." Simon Preston, a World Online spokesman, gave comment about what the acquisition would mean, "even more consumer reassurance about World Online and our ability to deliver broadband to their homes". However, because some users have little confidence left in the ISP, it would appear that World Online may have quite a task infront of them keeping existing customers happy, whether they decide to keep unmetered access alive or not, as yet another very angry customer said: "Quite frankly World Online can shove their service at the moment. Lately its taking anything up to 3 hours to connect." Source: UK Internet So, it looks as though another unmetered deal could bite the dust simply because of poor judgement in the unmetered field by certain ISPs....... Demon tops J D Power Polls The study also revealed that 23% of households are willing to subscribe to high-speed access and 41% stated they had changed their ISP one or more times. Wireless High Speed Internet Access Bidders Announced Atlas Communications Broadnet Chorus Communication Energis Local Access Faultbasic FirstMark Communications Formus Communications Norweb Telecom Orange Personal Communications Services Priority Wireless Templeco 489 Winstar Communications Successful bidders will get the right to supply homes with radio-based high-speed phone and internet services, replacing copper-wire landlines raising £2bn for the government. Confusingly the technology these companies are getting the right to use, is known as "fixed wireless". The name reflects the fact that radio links are used to connect homes to a traditional fibre-optic backbone. Many of the companies bidding claim they will give people access to the internet at speeds of up to 2 megabits per second. By comparison, the high-speed internet access BT is starting to roll out only runs at 512 kilobits per second. The Government has divided the UK into 14 regions covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Three licences are being offered in each region. Reserve prices for the licences range from £4m for the right to offer services around London to £100,000 in Northern Ireland. Companies are limited to bidding for one licence per region, but they can bid in as many regions as they want. Each licence lasts for 15 years. Initially the Government is selling off licences covering the 28Ghz part of the spectrum. Later it is due to hold another auction to sell off licences to offer the same services but over a different, 42Ghz, radio band. The cost of setting up the infrastructure to support these wireless services is likely to be lower than those for equivalent high-speed services because no cables have to be laid out to homes. 08002go update With regard to when their service will go live, they say: "We have had to do a lot of work this end loading all our members to our system, but we will not go "live" until the system is 99.9% perfect. (After all, we're only human.) We passionately believe that the public have been messed around enough by the so called big players in the Internet business. We simply will not launch half a service or lower our standards just for commercial gain. Remember that by us getting it right for you, YOU and we benefit in the long term. With your help, you are going to have Britain's Best and Number One Internet Service Provider. BT will not power the new system, but if you use BT’s lines no worries it still works perfectly well with the new system. It looks like the launch for late September or at the latest, early October, should be ok. We will keep you informed." The email goes on to slate BT for their behaviour towards those that are trying to set up unmetered services (perhaps justifiably!), saying they are not frightened of BT's size and wealth. All names that have been pre-registered are being added to a petition to help their cause. Any pre-registered users who wish to have their name removed from the petition need to email 08002go. Heavy Users Maybe Outstaying Their Welcome Many Unmetered ISPs have admitted that they are stuck between a rock and a hard place when dealing with 'heavy users' - some have even gone as far as stopping access to their service, giving the elbow to this type of user. Despite this, some of the others are claiming that they are the type of users that an ISP needs, but when LineOne's unmetered service went under in July, spokesman Martin Jackson blamed "certain users" who he claimed took advantage of 'unlimited access'. Apparently the company, (lineone), had only budgeted for their users to be online around six hours a day regardless of the fact that they were advertising 24/7, and a small nnumber were actually logged on 24 hours he said. Another ISP that had casualties from heavy use was Breathe who also kicked 500 heavy users off its service, after which chief operating officer Sean Gardner said: "When we said unmetered, we didn't mean that people could leave their PCs on seven days a week, 24 hours a day." It is clear that ISPs have not got 24/7 in mind, but a much lower mumber, even though 24/7 free access is being offered: "There is a spirit to this agreement and it is quite plain that six hours a day is a maximum," said Gardner. David Watson of World Online claimed that two percent of World Online's user base log on for more than ten hours a day. "We charge the customer £14.99 a month, but a heavy-user connection costs us £700 a month." He also admitted that these people were prime broadband targets, and were more than likely to be the first customers for the service. "Unmetered access is a stepping stone to broadband and these users will probably be first to sign up, so ISPs are still trying to carry the cost of unmetered access," he said. Broadband access starts at around £30 and £40 per month, this can only be seen as a significant revenue - Shobhit Kakkar, analyst with Forrester, pointed out: "Unmetered service rollouts are geared towards acquiring a user base for broadband. Most of the services that users want from broadband can't be sold over narrowband," he said. This could mean that really, many ISPs may be shooting themselves in the foot by clamping down on heavy users. Source: UK Internet Could New CallNet1p Package Be A Flop? The CallNet1p deal has replaced the previous unmetered service which ended earlier this week. According to The Register they have lost around 98,000 customers in the change over with only 2,000 taking them up on the deal. "I can't confirm or deny anything," said Gerard Farley, president of World CallNet.Well that is one way to solve their connection problems overnight. Are you one of the few that have stayed with CallNet? If so, how does the performance compare with the previous unmetered service? World Online Bought For £3.6 Billion It will have strong platforms for growth across the major European economies of the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain. In total, it will operate in 15 European countries and will bring together a comprehensive service offering across a pan-European IP distribution system to a combined subscriber base of over 6.1 million registered and 3.5 million active subscribers. Commenting on the proposed Combination, Renato Soru, Chairman of Tiscali, said; “I am very proud that the major shareholders and the management of World Online have agreed to join forces with Tiscali to pursue the challenge of developing the leading Internet network company in Europe. I am also proud that this network, which already serves more than 6 million people across 15 countries, will further contribute to bringing together the people of Europe.” James Kinsella, Chairman of the Executive Board of World Online, was quoted as saying; “This is a great deal for World Online Shareholders, allowing them to benefit from the long-term growth of the Enlarged Company. It is not an end in itself, but rather a platform for further expansion as together we build Europe’s leading Internet network company.” Oftel changes key BT deadline BT's rivals had been given until today to submit their final orders to BT to allow them to place their equipment in BT's exchanges. This is necessary to allow the other operators to launch fast internet services over BT's network, a process called "local loop unbundling". However, continued wrangling over contracts between BT and the other operators have meant the deadline will now be pushed back to September 12th. Oftel has said that consumers are supposed to be able to get the first unbundled services from January. If the negotiation is not completed shortly, there is a risk that the wider timetable for delivering services will be set back. Originally the negotiations were to have been completed on the 1st of the month. Free WAP Service Launched By Demon "There's been a lot of interest in WAP and what it can and cannot do," said Cynthia Gordon, brand marketing director at Thus plc. "Our emphasis is not on surfing the Internet, it's about providing specific, focused services, such as access to the emails our customers have not read since they were last on their PC, or finding out the football score when out shopping on a Saturday. WAP is about delivering specific, relevant and concise information." "We see that by adding this type of mobile functionality to the Demon services, we are offering value with more targeted content, which will meet our customers' needs without raising unrealistic expectations. The service fits with our overall strategy of delivering services over a variety of platforms, enabling the business user access to email and other particular WAP content while on the road, and in a timely manner." In the initial phase, customers will be able to use a service to read and reply to emails and access content from their mobile phones, via WAP. This will be done remotely from their existing Demon account so there will be no need to set up a new account. The emails will also be sent to the customer's PC, so when they return to the office or home, the same emails can be read there. The WAP (wireless application protocol) service is free to all Demon Dial Up customers. Calls to Demon Now are charged at your network operator's standard 0845 call rate. The service has initially been designed for Nokia 7110 mobile phones, but are continuing to develop the service. People who register for the service are automatically entered into a prize draw with the opportunity to win one of five Nokia 7110 handsets. Freeserve Still Top Of Subscriber List ISP-Planet have published the top 10 ISPs in the UK which shows they are ahead of their nearest competitor World Online by just over half a million users. To read the research in full along with accompanying notes, click here. Is Connect25 Just A Con? If you have never heard of them until now, Connect25 are said to be offering unmetered access 24-hours a days, 7 days a week for just £25 per year. If that does not wet your appetite, they also offer a modem to user ratio of just 1:3 with ISDN support to follow. If you wish to pay by credit card, which usually protects the consumer if anything goes wrong, then forget it. They will however take your cheques, postal orders and even cash. Doesn’t look good so far does it? As we found out from the recent failure of EzeSurf, it takes a substantial amount of funding to provide an 0800 connection of this scale. A yearly payment of £25 will not go very far. If you are still prepared to take the risk with your money, have a look to see who the site is hosted with. The domain is a freebie from Freenetname, who provide free .co.uk domains to anyone. Not what you would expect from an ISP who can supposedly fund 24/7 unmetered access for thousands of users. We have emailed Connect25 a couple of times asking for their comments, but have received no reply. New cable pricing from NTL One of their readers have said that a market research company have been ringing NTL customers researching pricing for their cable service. Here is a list of options that were suggested: Three options were presented for service speeds, and several example prices given for each speed.For further details check out cablenews:uk. T-Online Acquisition Furthers European ISP Consolidation T-Online had been under pressure to spend some of the E4bn in cash it had available to establish a strong presence in Spain, the UK and Italy. Freeserve shares rose on this news yesterday under speculation that they may be next. The rise in Freeserve shares minimised the risk of expulsion from the FTSE100. The acquisition will increase T-Online's subscribers in Spain and Portugal by 2.3m to more than 6.5m. T-Online has been criticised for being slower to expand than other European groups such as AOL Europe, Wanadoo of France and Terra Networks, Telefónica's internet company that is merging with Lycos of the US. Shares in both T-Online and Deutsche Telekom's also rose on the news. New Economy v Old Economy in FTSE 100 Review | ||
