Could internet providers do more to prevent viruses?

Jonathan Zittrain, professor of internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, has reportedly said that some security problems could be solved if broadband providers were held accountable for the spread of viruses onto home computers.

The Guardian reported a couple of days ago that the professor said that internet providers were already technically able to identify the spread of malicious traffic very quickly but did not currently take enough urgent measures to stop such viruses spreading. By making those firms accountable for the spread they would have a huge incentive to block viruses and spam emails. Users would still be able to download and open malware but the spread itself would be curtailed. However he was against extensive Internet regulation.

Professor Zittrain was giving evidence to the House of Lords science and technology committee.
You can read the article here.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Pipex broadband customer numbers grow 101 percent in 2006

Pipex has issued its 2006 results, which show that they have increased their broadband customers from 283,000 to 570,ooo during 2006. Its overall customer numbers went up to 1,380,000, a rise of 140% on 2005.

Pipex was on the acquisition trail in 2006, which accounts for much of the growth – they bought broadband/voice providers Toucan, Bulldog, and Homecall.

Pipex can now offer a range of services uncluding broadband, voice, hosting and more, and on average each of its customers takes 1.74 services from the provider. Thanks in part to this trend their revenue per customer increased last year. And although turnover was up 121% to £294 million, pre-tax profits were down from £5.1 million in 2005 to £4.8 million in 2006, mainly due to increased interest costs due to debt taken on to fund the acquisitions.

Pipex has been in the news recently after it was put up for sale, but after initial interest several interested parties pulled out. UBS is undertaking a review of Pipex’s strategic options, and the chairman’s statement states that this strategic review “continues to the Board’s satisfaction”.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Who is using your wireless internet connection?

Is your wireless broadband secure? A report in The Times today is bringing attention to wi-fi crime, after two individuals were spotted by residents in Redditch, Worcestershire, sitting in their cars using laptops outside other people’s houses, apparently hooking up to residents’ wireless networks.

Both were arrested separately by West Mercia Police in Redditch and caustioned for dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment.

The articl points out that the issue is one of security rather than finiancial loss – if you’re on a fixed rate broadband connection, unless the offender s downloading vast amounts of data (slowing your connection down and possibly moving you nearer to your download allowance limit) you won’t notice anything untoward. But the problem is that anyone with the tech know-how could, if your pc was on, use your wifi to access any personal information held on your computer.

The moral of the story is, make sure your wifi network security is activated and password protected, because your wireless internet connection doesn’t know where the boundary of your house and garden is.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Two years to solve next generation broadband issues

Today’s report from the industry and government forum the Broadband Stakeholder Group flags up stumbling blocks in the development of existing and new broadband access infrastructures which will enable the rollout of next generation broadband.

Next generation broadband refers to easily available, sustained high speed broadband that can handle new technologies such as IPTV, VoIP, and other new high bandwidth-using  technologies.

The fear is that the huge cost of developing new and existing infrastructures is holding back progress, as few broadband operators can justify such expenditure now – the UK broadband market is highly competitive and price-sensitive. But without it, the country could be held back in several ways but particularly economically, with innovation and productivity suffering.

Other countries such as Germany and France already have high speed internet access as standard (up to 50 meg).

The report makes recommendations about how goverment andUK business can use the next two years to smooth the path towards next generation broadband.

You can read the Broadband Stakeholder Group report here. 

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Mobile operators offer flat rate access to web

Several mobile operators in the UK are about to offer flat-rate internet access via mobile handsets, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph today.

The report suggests that a price war is in the frame as at least four mobile operators are now offering, or are gearing up to launch, such schemes.

Last week mobile operator 3 introduced £5-a-month unlimited mobile internet access, available on all recently launched 3 handsets (though there’s a 1 GB fair usage limit). Over the weekend T-mobile launched a £3m advertising campaign to promote its offer of unlimited mobile browsing for £1 a day or £7.50 a month to all its customers (which launched at the beginning of the year). And in the summer Orange and Vodafone are expected to launch similar offers.

Although mobile internet has been around for a while now, it hasn’t really taken off – over the past few years this has been blamed on, variously, clunky hardware, poor connections, the high cost, or flat rate deals with complex conditions attached. T-Mobile hopes that their new flat rate deal will give users the confidence to try it out without the worry of a large bill.

By Sarah, at UK Broadband Finder

Virgin Media launches High Court action against BSkyB

The row between cable communications provider Virgin Media and satellite provider BSkyB has intensified. According to a report on the BBC News website, Virgin Media has launched a High Court action. At the time of writing, Sky had yet to comment on this development.

Several BSkyB channels came off Virgin Media last month when the companies could not agree over BSkyB’s fees for the service. As well as that dispute, Virgin Media disputes the level of charges Sky levies for carrying Virgin TV channels on Sky, fees it calls “onerous”.

They’ve been arguing since January this year, when according to Virgin Media’s news release, Sky forced them to “accept a reduction of approximately 85% in the fees that it pays for Virgin Media channels such as Living, Bravo and Trouble, despite a significant increase in the channels’ popularity.”

In March, Ofcom announced that it will investigate the pay TV market. Consumer groups including the National Consumer Council had also expressed concerns to Ofcom about BSkyB channels no longer appearing on Virgin Media’s pay TV platform.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

BT gears up for superfast broadband

In 2008 we can look forward to lots more superfast broadband packages – down your phone line.

BT Wholesale, the arm of BT that sells broadband to other ISPs and providers, is gearing up for Wholesale Broadband Connect which will launch in early 2008 as part of BT’s 21CN roll out. This should mean broadband speeds of up to 24 meg – eventually available nationwide.

BT has announced that it will start work on exchanges to support the higher broadband speeds shortly.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder 

BT cuts wholesale broadband prices

BT has confirmed that it will reduce the price of its wholesale broadband products from 1 May, 2007.

BT Wholesale sells broadband to reseller ISPs and broadband providers. There will be a 9% cut in the monthly rental charge of BT IPstream, its most popular product, from 1 May. This will cut the price from £8.40 per line per month to £7.63 per month.

BT Wholesale already operates a rebate scheme at over 500 high density exchanges, which is designed to reflect the lower cost of broadband privision there. This scheme will be extended to over 1000 exchanges.

The connection charge for BT IPstream and BT Datastream products will also fall. You can read more about these broadband wholesale price cuts on the BT website.

By Sarah, at UK Broadband Finder

Unlimited downloads

The last few weeks have seen a lot of discussion around the question of whether unlimited download allowances – an increasingly common feature of broadband packages – are actually unlimited.

Most unlimited download allowances will include a caveat along the lines of “fair use policy applies” or “subject to acceptable use policy”. ISPs say they have to limit even “unlimited” downloads for a few, non-typical, really heavy users as their usage levels can affect the service of your average downloader. It isn’t always easy to find out what a broadband provider considers to be a very heavy downloader – but it is about to become much easier to download very large amounts of data over a month (The Times has a good article on it here).

If all you do is surf a few websites, order your Tesco groceries and email your family then you won’t even need an unlimited download allowance  – and there are several broadband packages with download allowances of 2GB to 40GB. Even downloading some music, the odd game and some big files should be okay with the higher monthly GB limits.

But if you (or your family) regularly use VoIP to make web phone calls, watch live TV online, download games and lots of music, and file-share, and you want to check out the unlimited download packages available, make sure you also check out the IPS’s policy towards customers who regularly go over their unlimited download allowance.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Most UK adults have broadband at home

A new Digital Progress Report from Ofcom, released yesterday, shows that over 50% of Uk adults now have broadband at home – up from 39% a year ago, and representing a massive seven-fold increase in just four years. Prices have fallen, with broadband packages of up to 2 Meg available for £15 a month in 2006 – down from £50 in 2003.

A major trend has been the popularity of bundling – where you sign up for broadband and at least one other communications service (often a phone service). By the end of 2006 more than 40% of adults who had broadband at home were taking broadband and other communications services from the same provider. The ability to bundle was also the most important factor when choosing a provider for 27% of adults (the same percentage who felt price was the most important consideration).

Over 10% of adults were making calls via the internet (using Voice over IP, or VoIP) at the end of 2006, double the rate for the same time in 2005.

Despite this increasing telecommunications sophistication, an alarming 48% of residential broadband customers did not know their “headline”broadband connection speed (ie advertised package speed) in February 2007!

You can see the Ofcom Digital Progress Report here, or visit my broadband website UK Broadband Finder for broadband packages and broadband bundles available in your area.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder