Tiscali may see BT in court

Tiscali are reportedly seeking legal advice with a view to take BT to court, after the leading UK ISP sent letters to the homes Tiscali customers, which suggested that their broadband connections may be compromised in light of sell-off rumours.

Regular readers will be aware that part of Tiscali’s big strategy for 2008 includes finding a potential buyer for its European broadband operations – mobile giant Vodafone were famously tipped to take over from Tiscali, but talks dissolved at the last minute.

Seemingly taking advantage of understandable customer concern, BT sent letters to Tiscali and Pipex subscribers which bore the headline ‘Tiscali chief plots sell-off’.

“We can understand why you’re wondering what might happen to your Tiscali broadband service,” said Gillian Lewis, customer services director for BT Total Broadband, in the letter. She goes on to say that “Changing your provider to BT could be the right move if you’re worried about the future of your broadband service. Because BT Total Broadband is the most complete and is here to stay.”

Understandably, people are concerned as to how BT got the names and addresses of Tiscali’s customers in the first place. A BT spokesman had the following to say in justification of its actions: “We use direct marketing as part of our customer-acquisition activity on an ongoing basis, sourcing customer details from reputable external sources. We often mention competitors in order that comparisons can be made – this direct mail is no different.”

Theoretically, BT would have access to such details through BT Openreach, its wholesale division, which is supposed to be run separately from the rest of the business as it is set up to facilitate LLU and nothing more. The letters to Tiscali customers seem to suggest otherwise.

Ratings surge as Virgin Media adds iPlayer to cable service

Figures newly released by Virgin Media record more than 10million viewings on the BBC iPlayer through their own cable TV service last month.

As many people watched iPlayer programmes via Virgin Media as through the BBC iPlayer website in June, when the service was first made available to cable TV customers. 3.5million Virgin Media subscribers have access to the iPlayer service, allowing them to catch up on over 350 hours of BBC programmes each week. The TV version of the iPlayer can be accessed via the ‘red button’ on Virgin Media’s cable service.

Altogether the iPlayer, which has been running a full service since December last year, attracts an average 1.5 million viewers a week. The most popular programmes to be viewed via the iPlayer last month included Eastenders, Holby City, The Apprentice and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

Virgin Media’s CEO, Malcolm Wall, said that the high viewing figures were testament to the “continued success of our on-demand offering.” BBC Contoller for TV platforms Rahul Chakkara said that the immediate success of the flagship catch-up service on Virgin Media “underlines the multiplatform appeal of the BBC iPlayer proposition.”

Londoners embrace next gen broadband whilst Scots choose to go slow

BT have been busy getting in contact with the London Development Agency and various other public sector bodies based in the capital in order to plan ahead for a rollout of the recently announced £1.5bn next-gen cable network.

Emma Gilthorpe, BT’s director for London, said: “London is already a tremendous broadband success story and this is a great opportunity for the capital to be on the front page of the next chapter of that story. BT is keen to invest further in the city so it is important that London’s public sector works with us to ensure the funds are directed here.”

The network will reportedly reach up to 10 million UK homes by 2012, in time for the London Olympics – unrolling fibre connections in London would mean that residents of the host city would be able to tune in to High Definition TV coverage of the Games.

Major planning will be required if this is to happen before 2012. Congestion problems in one of the world’s busiest most cities are bad enough as it is, without having to factor in BT engineers digging up the road and laying cables. However, there’s nothing stopping BT taking a leaf out of H2O Networks’ book – London already has its own world famous network of subterranean metro system, and so theoretically, cables could be ducted through the Tube, avoiding any traffic disruption.

However, the Scottish parliament appears to have scotched plans for next-gen rollout. A spokesperson for the Scottish parliament claimed that extensive research into next generation broadband had found “little to suggest that significantly higher bandwidth provision would propel economic growth.”

BT director Brendan Dick described the assertion as ludicrous: “Everyone is shouting about parity with those countries enjoying faster broadband speeds, like Korea. Yet, the Scottish Government is quite happy to sit back and miss this unique opportunity, while the vast majority of the rest of Britain is embracing the move.”

He said that Scottish businesses were set to miss out on opportunities for expansion if they were denied access to fibre-optic broadband: “BT is keen that Scotland’s urban and rural areas do not miss out on partnering with us in our vision for the next phase of the broadband revolution.”

Mr Dick pointed out that many small businesses are now choosing to work from home and often require a larger bandwidth for home and work commitments. “If you run such a venture, you might have three or four computers plus a combined children’s entertainment and games online at the same time,” he said.

O2 plans to invest in super-fast broadband

Following BT’s announcement last week that it will lay down a £1.5billion fibre-optic network to enable super-fast broadband in Britain, communications giant O2 has said it will also invest in ultra-fast broadband, provided that Ofcom changes certain regulations.

Currently Ofcom requires that market-dominating networks be opened up to competitors, which O2 claims could affect the amount that large companies are prepared to invest. If the regulations are changed, O2 could be offering broadband at speeds of 100Mbps by 2012.

“We need clear and unambiguous regulation in place before we start shelling out huge sums of money,” said an O2 spokesperson.

BT has also been pushing for changes in the regulations for some time now, as have a number of Internet Service Providers.

A spokesperson for Virgin Media said: “We strongly support BT’s call for a stable regulatory environment that rewards both current and future investment. We will continue working closely with Ofcom and the government to achieve this.”

Of all the UK ISPs, O2 Broadband currently boast the fastest average downstream speeds of around 5.39Mbps.

Demand your Five a Day – TV’s fifth channel offers online catch-up service

UK TV channel Five last night launched the promotional campaign for its Broadband TV catch-up service Demand Five, which is sponsored by Dell. The advertisement, aired on Channel Five last night, centres around three viewers who choose to “indulge” themselves by bingeing on TV programmes offered by Demand Five, and find themselves falling asleep at work the next day because they’ve not stopped watching TV all night. 20 and 40 second versions of the ad will be used in the three-week promotional campaign.

Five is the last of the UK’s main terrestrial channels to offer a full TV catch-up service. It will offer viewers a combination of free and subscription services.

Programmes free to download include staple Australian soaps Neighbours and Home and Away, as well as reality TV shows such as The Hotel Inspector and Police Interceptors. American imports such as CSI: Miami and House will be charged at 99p an episode due to specific deals with production studios. Bandwidth-heavy High Definition shows will cost £1.99 to rent.

Arash Amel, head of broadband media at Screen Digest said: “Five is the last of the UK’s major terrestrial broadcasters to offer an online catch-up service and in some respects it is the most advanced service available. Video is higher quality than many comparable offers [and] it provides a good range of key US shows, and the integration of rating and reviewing provides a level of interaction that other services lack.”

However he added that due to the limited number of shows currently available on Demand Five, the online service is unlikely to draw the same kind of demand from broadband subscribers as did the BBC iPlayer. Moreover having to pay to download US TV shows may be off-putting to viewers. Conversely all content on the iPlayer is instant and free to download.

BT launches Home Hub 2.0 wireless router

The new BT Home Hub wireless router has the largest wireless range of any UK provider, the telecoms company announced today. The Hub, which is to go on sale today, 19th July, gives a stronger, more reliable connection because it contains ‘N’ standard wireless technology, rather than the normal ‘G’ standard. The Hub 2.0 also boasts a concave design and comes in a nice glossy black overcoat. Other features of the sleek black router include improved security and power-save mode, whereby customers can programme the Hub to turn off the wireless function when it is not in use, thus saving about 20% in energy consumption. Set-up has been made simpler than with previous BT routers, enabling users to get online within minutes. The Hub comes with a fully-featured DECT phone featuring high definition sound.

The Home Hub, worth £90 is available free for new customers who sign up for BT Option 3, and for Option 2 customers who register online. Existing customers can purchase the router half-price at £45.

John Petter, managing director of BT Retail Consumer said “The new Hub will give you up to twice the wireless range of our competitors – giving our customers much more coverage in the home, even in those ‘difficult-to-reach’ areas, and more freedom to use their broadband wirelessly from wherever they want – whether in the living room, bedroom or even in a garden. The ‘N’ standard technology also helps to prevent your wireless connection from annoyingly disappearing by providing a much more efficient wireless signal.”

BT is launching a new advertising campaign across all media for the Home Hub. The TV ads will see Adam, played by Kris Marshall, move out of the flat that he shares with on-screen girlfriend-cum-milf Jane to pursue his dream job. The two of them experience communication problems as BT’s fictional love rival provides a router that keeps breaking down. Adam loses signal as Jane is left wondering whether their relationship can continue.

Eclipse owners Karoo to unroll ADSL2+

Karoo, the incumbent ISP in the Kingston Upon Hull areas, whose parent company KCOM owns Eclipse Internet, will be setting up ADSL2+ connections across its entire network over the next two months, providing residents with a much needed boost in broadband speeds.

As Karoo is the only choice of phone and internet service provider in Hull and its surrounding areas, residents have missed out on the competitive prices offered by providers elsewhere in the UK, having been unable to sign up for the triple and quad-play services provided by the likes of Sky, BT, Tiscali and Virgin Media.

Until now, residents of Hull have been unable to sign up for the faster ADSL2+ services which are available to Be Broadband and O2 Broadband punters as well as UK Online subscribers. There are not yet plans in the pipeline to make ADSL2+ speeds – theoretically capable of a maximum downstream speed of 24Mbps – available to Eclipse Internet customers.

TalkTalk broadband extends half-price offer until August

TalkTalk Broadband have just announced an extension to their offer of half-price broadband for three months until August. Customers who take out Talk Global Evening and Weekend will pay just £3.25 for the first three month, rising to £6.49 thereafter, maintaining the Carphone Warehouse run ISP’s status as one of the best value broadband providers on the market. Talk Global Anytime customers will pay just £5.25 for the first three months, rising to £10.49 thereafter. In addition to a monthly broadband charge, customers pay line rental to BT.

Both packages come with speeds of up to 8Mbps, a generous 40GB monthly allowance, free technical support and a free modem. For an extra £30 customers can purchase a wireless router. Talk Global evening and weekends customers are given free off-peak calls to 36 international destinations, including France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Brazil, China and Australia. Calls to mobile phones in Canada and the US are also included. On Talk Global Anytime customers can make international calls 24/7 free of charge. Phone calls to other worldwide destinations start at just 2p per minute.

Vodafone offers laptops with built-in mobile broadband

Customers who sign up to Vodafone mobile broadband will have the chance to purchase a laptop with built-in 3G connectivity. Vodafone has teamed up with Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo to offer a new range of ThinkPad notebooks with mobile broadband as standard, which will retail at around the same price as a regular laptop.

Vodafone customers will be able to purchase new ThinkPad notebooks in the T and X Series and on all of Lenovo’s new ThinkPad SL Series notebooks. Vodafone is offering a no-obligation 30-day free trial to customers who buy one of the laptops. At the end of the trial, users will be given the chance to take out a contract, starting at around £12 per month (not including international roaming). The SL series of notebooks is aimed at small businesses and comes with shiny casing, rather than Lenovo’s customary matt black exterior. According to analysts at the information technology research and advisory firm Gartner, “internal 3G modules will perform significantly better than external solutions for signal strength.”

Vodafone UK director of enterprise Mark Bond said: “Mobile broadband has come of age with its inclusion by default into Lenovo’s entire range of ThinkPad notebooks. This move clearly demonstrates Lenovo’s commitment to delivering real benefit to business customers.”

Customers who wish to get online with a different mobile operator will not find it so easy: they will need to install a different SIM and download alternative connection software, instead of the pre-installed software which only works with Vodafone.

Vodafone says that laptops with pre-installed 3G are likely to become the norm in about a year. In order to generate sales, the operator is offering roaming with unlimited data usage from £8.50 a day in Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and the USA.

Advertising watchdog clears BT child protection ad

The Advertising Standards Agency has rejected claims that a BT advert encourages children to go on the internet unsupervised.

The TV ad, created by advertising agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, features single mum Jane and her partner Adam, played by Kris Marshall. The ad opens with Jane’s daughter slamming the door on her mum yelling “you don’t understand.” Meanwhile Adam thinks out loud: “Kids today, they think they know it all, they think they’re so mature, but they’re exactly the same as we were.”

Jane then expresses worry that her daughter is spending too much time on the net saying “she might… be a geek”, at which point a voiceover tells us “Unlike some broadband providers BT Total Broadband comes with parental controls as standard for as long as you want them, so you know your kids are protected.”

21 complaints were addressed to ASA claiming that the advert condoned children surfing the net unsupervised, which might result in children accessing unsuitable websites or meeting strangers online who could harm them. Nine of the complaints expressed that the advert was misleading because it suggested that BT’s software programme would protect children from all online threats. However, BT said that the advert demonstrated the need for parents to install child protection software in order to keep their children safe from harm. It acknowledged that no child protection software was 100% foolproof, but said that its advert did not claim to offer this, but simply showed that parental controls came as standard with BT total broadband and helped protect children online.

The ASA rejected the complaints because the advert showed that the mother, Jane, was concerned for her daughter’s welfare and showed her supervising her child’s internet use. The advertising watchdog also cleared a BT television commercial which shows Dragon’s Den star Peter Jones being harassed by gremlins after parents complained that their children were having nightmares because of the advert. BT had agreed not to broadcast the ad in or around programmes targeted at children, but some viewers said the restrictions did not go far enough. However, whilst conceding that the “pointy teeth, green-grey skin, large ears and goblinesque” features that characterised the gremlins could scare “very young children,” the ASA ruled that the creatures were evidently supposed to be “comedic rather than threatening.”