Orange video on demand service delayed

According to an article in The Telegraph, Orange has postponed the commercial launch of its UK fixed-line broadband TV  service until next year.

The new service lets customers watch video on demand (VoD) on their TVs, via orange broadband.  Originally due to launch before Christmas 2007,  apparently the Orange broadband network is not yet developed enough. When it launches, it will compete with  Sky, Virgin Media and BT Vision.

Orange has trialled the service with a small number of customers in both Leeds and London.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

Orange mobile to broadcast Setanta Sports

Orange Mobile has signed a content agreement with sports broadcaster Setanta, to be the first mobile operator in the UK to broadcast Setanta Sports 1, Setanta Sports 2 and Setanta Golf on its mobile portal, Orange World.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

New senior VP of finance for Virgin Media

Charles Gallagher, a Director of Virgin Media, will join the company’s executive management team as Senior Vice President – Finance.

Gallagher will focus on providing senior finance support on the operational side with a view to enhancing the effective implementation of Virgin Media’s strategic priorities. He will take up his new position in January and report to Jacques Kerrest, Virgin Media’s Chief Financial Officer.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

BT chief exec awarded honorary knighthood

BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen has been made an honorary knight of the British Empire (KBE) by the Queen in the New Year Honours List.

Verwaayen, who has been BT CEO since 2002, was awarded the title in recognition of his services to the communications industry. He will receive his Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire from a cabinet minister early in the New Year.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

BT offers free wired router with broadband Option 1

BT is offering a free BT Voyager wired router to customers signing up online to BT Total Broadband Option 1.

When signing up by phone, the router costs £25.

BT Total Broadband Option 2, and BT Total Broadband Option 3, already both come with the wireless BT HomeHub as standard.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

Ofcom Consumer Panel

The Ofcom Consumer Panel has said that action is needed on broadband speeds – as consumers so rarely receive the advertised “up to” broadband speed for their broadband package.

The panel wants a code of practice containing information about broadband speeds, with consumers:

• allowed to move provider if the speed is not what they were led to expect
• given more information about factors affecting broadband speed
• told their actual broadband speed

The panel also wants the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to examine how broadband speeds are advertised.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

Broadband outage hits thousands of Virgin Media customers

A broadband outage yesterday left thousands of Virgin Media broadband customers without broadband. The problem hit on Monday, and while many customers were reconnected within a few minutes, others were offline for hours.

Read more on the BBC News website.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

Virgin Media offers £10 switcher broadband

Virgin Media have launched a new broadband switchers offer – existing broadband users who switch broadband provider to Virgin Media using a MAC (Migration Authorisation Code) can get up to 8 meg broadband for only £10 a month for 12 months.

Switchers have to sign up using a MAC code, however.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

Sky Ireland extends half price TV offer

Sky Ireland  has extended its half price Sky TV offer until 31 December 2007.

The offer means that anyone who signsg up for Sky Ireland, and includes Sky Sports or Sky Movies, can get Sky TV half price for three months.

If they sign up online they will also get a 15 Euro credit added to their Sky account.

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder

Orange unveils second Digital Media Index

Orange has unveiled its second Digital Media Index, a detailed report examining trends in customer consumption of digital media.

(The index reveals usage patterns across  Orange’s entertainment and communications services over a three month period. Figures are in comparison to the first Orange Digital Media Index released in May 200.)

Key findings include:

• a 37% surge in picture messaging with over 1 million photos uploaded from mobiles to online photo albums in August
• 25% increase in text messaging with over 1 billion text messages sent per month
• a 15% increase in music downloads, up to 295,000
• a 3.4% increase in games downloaded to 691,032
• A strong demand for mobile television with revenue  almost double the forecast

By Sarah at UK Broadband Finder