Posted by Admin on March 1, 2010 – 2:14 pm
A Committee of MP’s cosisting of 6 Labour MP’s , 3 Conservative and 2 Liberal Depmocrats all agree that the Governments proposed 50p ‘broadband tax’ is unfair. They consider the tax to be an ill-directed charge saying that most of the people who pay the tax will not benefit from it.
‘The charge will have a greater impact on the less well off who will be paying for an enhanced serivce which only a minority will enjoy’, said the report which was published on Tuesday.
The plan for the 50 p tax was announced last year by the Government in its Digital Economy Bill. The Government promised a universal minimum speed of 2Mbps for all parts of the UK by 2012 followed by a super speed broaband by 2017. It is intended that the this will all be paid for by the 50p tax which all landline customers will pay.
However this tax will only raise about £175 million a year and many in the industry say that the fund will not cover the amount needed to provide such a service to every home in the UK. BT have already estimated that the cost is more likely to be around £5 billion.
The MP’s on the Commitee believe that funding for the broadband should be done out of general taxation and not as a seperate levy on landlines.
The Conservative party has already said that they will scrap the scheme if they come into power at the next gereral election.
Posted by Admin on February 22, 2010 – 6:49 pm
Nottingham University student William Harrison had quite a shock when he received a bill for £7,648.77 from Orange for using mobile internet broadband for one month in Paris.
He and his father enquired about using a dongle to access the internet abroad at an Orange store in Hertfordshire. They were told that the dongle would work perfectly on a short term contract in France and that a 3 GB ( gigabyte) limit on data would be fine.
In France William used the internet to access Skype, which is free in the UK, on a daily basis. He had no idea how expensive it was until his first bill for £6,101.56 arrived. He did not download anything which could be considered heavy duty such as videos. He immediately questioned the bill and asked for the dongle to be blocked. There was a further charge to cover the cost of the dongle use for the period between the bill being sent and dongle being blocked resulting in a final bill of £7,648.77.
His shocked father contacted Orange on his behalf to be told that there should be a £40.00 monthly limit on dongle usage. However even Orange’s own operator did not realise that this does not apply to overseas usage.
William sent Orange a cheque for £158.66 which was the amount that he estimated was reasonable,although Orange did not acknowledge this.
However Orange have offered to halve the bill and extend the repayment period to 24 months. Orange have accepted that William and his father had not been told about any relevant data charges and said that steps would be taken to ensure that this does not happen again. They also confirmed that roaming charges are available on their website and literature is provided when the dongle is purchased which advises that these are seperate to the inclusive UK data allowances. Dongles are not activated for roaming unless specifically requested by the customer.
EU rules are to be introduced on March 1st. to protect users from’ bill shock’. The ruling will also state that a ‘cut off’ must be introduced to prevent downloading data which is beyond an agreed limit.
Posted by Admin on January 31, 2010 – 6:00 pm
BT’s new fibre optic broadband service for businesses was launched last week. It offers up to 40mbps download speeds and a special ‘fast lane’ which gives right of way to businesses at busy times.
Prices start at £30 per month with a 24 month contract and upload speeds of up to 2 Mbps. While up to 10Mbps speeds and a 24 month contract will cost £45 per month.
12 month contracts are more expensive. £35 for BT Business Total Broadband Fibre and £50 for the advanced package.
Each package will include 500 minutes of BT’s Openzone Wi-Fi network, 24 hour technical support, 50MB of web space and 10 e-mail addresses.
BT expects the 10 Mbps upload speeds to be very attractive to small businesses wishing to send bigger files. BT’s biggest competitor is Virgin Media who believe that their upspeeds are faster than BT’s but BT of course dispute this.
BT plans to make fibre optic broadband ( FTTC ) available to 4 million businesses and homes by the end of 2010 and available to 10 million businesses and homes by mid-2012.
Posted by Admin on January 22, 2010 – 6:26 pm
Anyone on the lookout for high speed broadband should consider the two new routers recently unveiled by Netgear.
The routers connect to 3G, 4G and Wimax . They combine wireless internet systems with external modems. Netgear say that they are ideal for homes and small businesses needing a realiable backup internet connection. They are said to offer a longer wireless range, a more extensive range of operators, and are compatible with a higher number of wireless devices
Netgear claims that users can set up a mobile wi-fi connection almost anywhere by plugging an external modem into one of the routers.
The UK is said to have one of the largest growing broadband markets in the world and these new products are expected to be very successful here.
Posted by Admin on January 13, 2010 – 5:56 pm
Prime Minister Gordan Brown has promised free laptops and broadband access to over a quarter of a million UK households to help children from deprived families with their exams.
He is reported to have said ‘ We want every family to become a broadband family, and we want every home linked to a school. For those finding it difficult to afford this, today I can announce the nationwide roll out of our home access programme to get laptops and broadband at home for 270,000 homes’
The Government has been considering this scheme for years and the £300 million home access project was started by Mr Brown in 2008. The scheme has been piloted in Oldham and Suffolk and it is hoped that it will provide a link for parents to access their childrens school reports.
The National rollout will be considered a huge step in the right direction.
It is believed that Microsoft have contributed to the scheme although it is not known just how much cash they have invested.
Internet provider Talk Talk has issued a statement against the idea which says that the scheme shows deeply muddled thinking. They believe this latest announcement demonstrates an inconsistancy because of the Governments proposal to introduce the 50p digital tax on land line users.
Posted by Admin on January 11, 2010 – 5:14 pm
The Tiscali broadband brand is no more. Tiscali was taken over by giant broadband company Talk Talk in May last year and their customers have now been transferred over.
Talk Talk payed £236 million in May 2009 for Tiscali’s assets making Talk Talk the largest residential broadband provider in the UK. The company is said to be committed to providing an excellent service and best value products.
It is understood that names such as Pipex and Freedom2Surf, which are Tiscali acquisitions, will also change name and be rebranded as Talk Talk.
Posted by Admin on January 4, 2010 – 7:00 pm
According to Eurostat , the statistical office of the European communities, 69% of UK households have access to broadband services. T is 12% up on the 2007 figures and 7% up on the 2008 figures.
According to the 2009 study 77% of UK homes have access to some form of internet, not just broadband and this is an increase of 10% over the last 2 years.
Leading the way is The Netherlands with 90%, Luxemburg 87%, Denmark 86%, ans Sweden 83%.
Countries with the most limited access are Bulgaria 30%, Greece and Romania both have 36%
According to Eurostat study 66% of the Uk’s 16 to 74 year- olds have bought or ordered goods or services on- line during the past 12 months. 37% of people in the same age group accross all 27 European Union countries bought something using the internet.
The on-line retail market is expected to continue growing throughout Europe.
Posted by Admin on December 28, 2009 – 5:37 pm
Pace a leading Yorkshire digital company is working with technology giant Thales on an exciting project to help provide high speed internet access to people living in South Yorkshire apartment blocks, social housing and sheltered accommodation.
Public funding for the project has been secured by a non – profit company based in Shipley called The Advanced Digital Institute. Pace’s new MultiDweller kit will be used for the project. The technology will be connected to communial terrestial television antennae to provide a link to a broadband network for each home . Initially two housing blocks in Rotherhan and Barnsley have been chosen for the project.
Occupants ,who are mainly elderly, will be given computers and hardware, including videophones, which can be used to contact social and health professionals and also relatives. The success of the scheme will be monitored in March when more funding should be available to increase availabily on a wider level.
The market for this sort of technology is enormous as there are an estimated 2.5 million households in rented social housing in the UK.
South Yorkshires superfast 25mb broadband has now gone live and will be available accross Sheffield, Rotherhan, Doncaster and Barnsley in 2010 in an investment worth £90 million.
Posted by Admin on December 21, 2009 – 2:18 pm
Watchdog Ofcom has published a document which shows that broadband users in the UK pay less than other users in America and Europe for broadband services. Plus is seems that prices are still going down.
Included in the survey were the UK, France, Germany, US,Spain and Italy. Ofcom found that a typical household using a fixed and mobile phone.broadband and pay TV would pay £102 per month here is the UK. This is almost 28% lower than Italy. According to the Internation Communications Market Report the UK has the cheapest broadband services.
Some service providers such as Orange and O2 are said to be giving free broadband with some of their mobile phone contracts.
However broadband speeds in the UK are slow compared to services in Europe.
Posted by Admin on December 17, 2009 – 1:16 pm
In a recent study by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development the UK came 21st out of 30 countries for broadband speed. According to the study the UK falls below nations such as Bulgaria, Latvia, greece and Spain.
Japan and South Korea came top of the league and are miles ahead of us in terms of broadband penetration, speeds and quality. Countries such as Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the US are also way ahead in implimentation of fibre optics.
The UK performed better by coming 13th for overall broadband peretration. The report found that the majority of customers in the UK connect to broadband on a DSL line rather than fibre.
The Government has presented a pre budget report outlining its plans for the next- generation broadband. Alistair Darling said the aim is to give 90% of the population access to super fast broadband by 2017. This is to be funded by the £6 per year tax to all land line users.
Top 10 Worldwide Broadband
South Korea
Japan
Hong Kong
Sweden
Switzerland
Netherlands
Singapore
Luxembourg
Denmark
Norway
Posted by Admin on December 5, 2009 – 4:36 pm
Virgin Media has released a new mobile broadband which they say will double the speed of the mobile broadband previously offered.
The new USB modem will offer speeds of 7.2Mbps on a range of contracts. Mobile broadband is becoming more and more popular for people on the go. If you are not near a wireless connection and are away from home mobile broadband is now considered vital by some people.
Customers are given the option of a one month rolling contract or a full 18 months with a choice of 1 GB or 3 GB data limits per month.
The deals are now available and monthly payments range from £10 to £15. The modem will cost £24.99 on the 1 Gb contract and £49.99 on other options.
Posted by Admin on November 29, 2009 – 9:25 pm
According to a recent document reportedly seen by The Times the broadband tax of £6 per year which has been proposed by Gordon Brown to help subsidise the next generation of broadband speeds could almost tripe for some households.
This tax on landlines will be levied with VAT on each landline that a household uses. This means that nearly 2 million households with more than one landline could pay double or even triple the original amount. There has been no comment from the Government about this.
The plans are expected to be published next year. However we must wait for the General Election next year as the Conservatives say if they win they will scrap the plan.
Posted by Admin on November 23, 2009 – 2:38 pm
Businesses in Gateshead can now operate at speeds of up to an amazing 10Gigabits per second of bandwidth and has the capability of delivering speeds up to 40 Gigabits per second in the future.
This is thanks to Leader of Gateshead Council Mick Henry and General Manager of G-ti Robbie Michalangeli. Gateshead Council is rightly proud to be the first local authority in England to install the world class fibre network. This is a joint venture with Alcatel-Lucent from the 21 hectre site of Baltic Business Quarter.
G-ti’s network is as fast and reliable as any in the world. Any service provider can deliver any application to users on the network, currently to businesses only. The network will not only make businesses in Gateshead super efficient but will enable them to use new technologies and applications which could put them at the forefront of the business world.
Work can be delivered faster than ever before. This is an investment for the future.
Posted by Admin on November 20, 2009 – 6:23 pm
It had been feared that Britains broadband network would have problems with the number of people wanting to play the new game Call of Duty- Modern Warfare 2 online. However there have been no problems reported.
The game was released on November 10th and is a first person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows. It is a sequel to Call of Duty4 and picks up 5 years later where an anti- terrorist group task force must fight a Russian ultranationalist terrorist organisation to counter a Russian invasion of the U.S. The game is very contraversial as undercover agents are encouraged to kill civilians. The first game in this series was set in the Second World War.
This type of on-line gaming has become very popular in recent years due to faster broadband services. People accross the world are able to play against each other more efficiently and cheaper.
Posted by Admin on November 18, 2009 – 5:44 pm
All of Swindons 186,000 residents are to be offered free wireless internet.
A local businessman Rikki Hunt came up with the idea along with the local council and the aid of a technology company. It will be funded by a combination of public and private money. There will be 1400 secure access points fitted around the town very much like the ones used in homes at the moment but with a much higher performance. Line rental will be free and there will be no connection charge although usage will be limited. 20Mb upgrades are available but there will be a charge for this. This upgrade scheme will hopefully enable the council to make a profit or at least break even.
If the scheme is successful it could be introduced in other towns around the country.
