Ofcom regulations to extend wireless broadband areas

Following a public consultation held last year, Ofcom today introduced new regulations to extend wireless broadband access across the country, including in rural areas.

Operators using the 5.8 GHz band (currently used to provide fixed wireless broadband services in the UK) will now be able to increase power levels – extending the range and variety of services into new areas including rural areas; and making it less expensive for operators intending to use this band to provide fixed broadband access to remote parts of the UK.

According to a recent Ofcom report, only 41% of adults living in rural areas had broadband internet at home compared to 45% of adults in urban areas. Today’s development should provide a boost to everyone trying to close that gap.

Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards said: “This measure means communities across the country may be able to benefit from access to a new form of broadband. That is what closing the digital divide is all about.”

Find out more on the Ofcom website.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Survey says 45 percent of Virgin Media customers want to switch

A new survey claims that 45% of Virgin Media customers would switch to another provider if they could. 10% were moving specifically because of the loss of Sky One and other channels from Virgin Media’s packages in the wake of the current dispute between the two providers. Sadly, the feeling isn’t reciprocated, with Sky customers having a low opinion of Virgin Media packages. However 14% of people have an “ideological aversion to Sky” and would probably never sign up with them.

The survey covered 1000 households and was carried out by GfK NOP for the Swiss investment bank UBS.

Virgin Media has pointed out that the survey was conducted in April, when the Virgin Media / Sky dispute over its charges for providing Virgin Media with the basic Sky channels was particularly high-profile. Since then, Virgin Media says it has seen much reduced call centre activity and that they believe that the real number of customers who have desrted Virgin Media is much lower than that suggested by the survey.

Sky and Virgin Media both offer much promoted triple-play services (broadband, TV and phone). Virgin Media also offers Quadplay, which includes mobile phone services.

Read more about this in The Telegraph, or The Independent.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Tiscali email service hit by spammers

Customers using Tiscali’s email service have been hit by delays and blocked mail this week.

Spammers have targeted Tiscali and used its service to send out spam – in turn this has led to ISPs blocking emails coming from Tiscali. This hasn’t affected all email, and Tiscali has undertaken urgent work updating spam filters and installing hardware etc. However it is likely to take up to 10 days for the changes to take affect and for ISPs to take all the blocks off Tiscali-sent emails so some delays will continue.

If you have urgent emails that you need to send, they are recommending you use an alternative free email provider.

You can find out more on Tiscali’s website where they are posting regular updates.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

BT launches Sustainability Report 2007

BT has issued its Sustainability Report 2007, which examines sustainability challenges and opportunities facing BT – how BT manages the social and environmental implications of rapid technological change.

Key figures are:

• Customer satisfaction increased by 3%
• 60% reduction in UK CO2 emissions since 1996
• 42% of UK waste recycled
• £21.8 million invested in community projects

The report includes a section How we contribute to a more inclusive society, which looks at increasing access to technology. According to the report more than 99% of UK households could access broadband where they live (though of course that doesn’t mean they have signed up for a broadband package themselves).

Despite this, 36% of people in the UK had not used the internet in the last three months.  To reduce digital exclusion, BT has set a target through consultation with the UK government to reduce the 36% digital exclusion rate to 32.4% (a 10% reduction)  by 31 March 2010.

BT’s approach to reducing digital inclusion takes three forms:

• Connectivity – giving more people access to communications technology
• Content – developing online content that benefits communities and small businesses
• Capability – helping groups and individuals develop skills and use technology (eg services and advice for older people and people with ddisabilities)

Find out more about this at www.bt.com/betterworld.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile launch Big Brother sponsorship offers

Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile – sponsors of this summer’s Big Brother 8 – have announced that during the run of Big Brother 8, if you are a Virgin Mobile customer you can take advantage of free text time between 9pm and 10pm on Eviction Fridays.

Virginmedia.com are launching Fantasy Big Brother on May 31st and the portal will also feature exclusive updates from celebrity video columnists and bloggers. They’re also offering an exclusive interview with each housemate as they depart the show, which will be available on Virginmedia.com and Virgin Mobile Bites. And customers can watch 24hr live streaming of the show via their Virgin Media broadband connection and also gain access to clips of the show.

Meanwhile Virgin Mobile Bites will be delivering a comprehensive mobile content service throughout the series. This WAP site is available to all Virgin Mobile customers and includes news, interviews, profiles, quiz, chats, downloads and competitions.

Visit Virgin Mobile and Virgin Media now.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Broadband gives massive boost to online sales

A survey by Verdict Research has revealed that in 2006 online retail spending rose to £10.9 billion, growth of 33.4% – and the leading reason for this online shopping boom in the UK is the much more widespread use of low cost broadband services. 

In fact, of the 3,000 consumers surveyed for the report, two-thirds of the online shopper population said they have broadband access and shop online more frequently because of it. Nationally, 18 million of us shop online.

The online shopping sector grew almost 13 times faster than the retail sector overall in 2006 – with over £1 of every extra £3 spent on retail being spent with an online retailer. Retail analysts expect online sales to almost triple over the next five years (to £28.0 billion in 2011).

Broadband isn’t the only factor driving this trend – many major retailers have recently launched new or improved transactional websites.
By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Broadband and gadgets going to waste

If you buy gadgets and digital services then never make the most of them, or don’t use them at all – or you try them out, get stuck and never try again – you’re not alone.

A survey by Virgin Media found that 17% also admit to overspending on their broadband, TV and phone services because they can’t be bothered to look for a better deal or are confused by the array of choices. And 4% can’t even remember which services they get from which providers.

And when it comes to the latest gadgets, although 75% admitted spending up to £10,000 in the past year on the latest gadgets, 1 in 20 then leaves their plasma TV gathering dust in the corner because they can’t set it up. 3% even admit to breaking their new equipment before they’ve even got it working, because they couldn’t understand the instructions.

Only a quarter of people have got to grips with the most basic functions on their digital televisions, broadband services and mobile phones, which leaves a wealth of useful and entertaining functions undiscovered. 

And don’t assume that if you’ve got teenage children you can hand over your latest gizmo and wait for them to get it working – 10% of 16-24 years olds buy top of the range MP3 players only to leave them unused because the instructions are too daunting.

In a bid to tackle this epidemic of wasted gadgetry, Virgin Media has teamed up with Jason Bradbury, Britain’s best known TV gadget guy, to produce Your Digital Home Made Simple – a straight-talking guide to help consumers get the most out of today’s modern technology. Visit the Virgin Media press area to find out how to get hold of this guide.

Or visit  www.ukbroadbandfinder.com to get yourself a new broadband service – with features you’ll actually use, or a starter package that makes it easy for you to get online.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Pipex sale could spell problems for Cable and Wireless

The sale of broadband, phone and hosting provider Pipex could cause problems for Cable and Wireless, with which it has a network contract.

According to a report in The Guardian yesterday, C&W head John Pluthero has admitted that its contract with Pipex is not watertight in the event that Pipex ends up with a new owner, saying  “The potential protection that we have should Pipex be sold whole or in part are kind of OK, [but] they are not great,”.

C&W has two contracts in the UK to provide networks – the Pipex deal, and a contract with Virgin Media (to provide a network outside of Virgin Media’s cable network).

However Pipex does not as yet have a buyer lined up, with potential bidders  such as Carphone Warehouse and BSkyB pulling out.

Read the article from The Guardian here.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Digital divide in UK narrowing says Ofcom

Ofcom research published today shows that the digital divide across the UK is narrowing.

Its Communications Market Report for the Nations and Regions of the UK examined availability, take-up and usage of internet, telecommunications and broadcasting services at the end of 2006.

The previous report showed big differences between take up of broadband and digital TV services in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and between those in urban and rural areas.

At the end of 2005 there was a 12% difference between the country with the lowest broadband take up (Northern Ireland on 24%) and the highest (England, with 36%).

However the new report shows that by the end of 2006 the gap had narrowded considerably – England still lead with 45% broadband take up but Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were all up to 42%.

There was also a big increase in how many households had access to broadband provided by LLU (local loop unbundling) broadband providers. LLU providers use their own equipment rather than BT’s – which benefits consumers through increased competition. 67% of people in the UK had access to LLU-provided broadband and related services by the end of 2006, up from 40% the previous year.

Bundles from one telecoms provider – for example, broaband and phone bundles – increased in popularity, with 30% of UK households taking multiple services from one provider.

The report also found that whereas 45% of people in urban areas had broadband, this dropped to 41% in rural areas.

Find out more about this report, including information on broadband, digital TV and mobile phone uptake, on the Ofcom website.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Ofcom extends protection for consumers

Ofcom announced this week that existing rules to protect consumers from mis-selling of fixed-line voice call services will now also cover providers that offer voice and broadband services using full Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) technology.

LLU providers use their own equipment to provide voice and broadband services, rather than BT’s.

Ofcom says that “mis-selling refers to inappropriate sales and marketing activities including ‘slamming’, where customers can be switched from one company to another without their express knowledge and consent.”

Ofcom is also reviewing migrations, switching and mis-selling across all telecoms services, including broadband, mobile and cable. They say this will identify whether a common approach to switching would further increase consumer protection across all telecoms services. This work should be completed later this financial year.

Find out more on the Ofcom website.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder