Be Broadband, the UK’s leading provider of ADSL2+ broadband owned by O2, has hinted that it may unroll its own fibre-optic network to rival those of Virgin Media and BT. This news comes a day after it was announced that BT may be opening up its fibre network in the same manner as it currently does with its copper lines.
According to a post over at ISP Review, Be has responded enthusiastically to the news:
“The news that BT are preparing to open up so that other broadband providers can run their own high-speed broadband networks through their infrastructure will help us and other businesses better assess the case for fibre deployment. Although we will wait until BT confirms this move before revealing any of our own plans, one thing for certain is that the UK lags behind most of Europe now in terms of rolling out fibre broadband, which can’t persist for longer.”
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Posted by Tom on February 9th 2010 in BT Broadband, Be Broadband, O2 Broadband, Virgin Media
The great file sharing debate just went Bono shaped. The U2 singer has waded into the Digital Economy Bill debate with his usual diplomatic panache, pointing the finger of blame at the doors of the ISPs.
In a piece for last Sunday’s New York Times, Bono wrote “We’re the post office, [the ISPs] tell us; who knows what’s in the brown-paper packages? But we know from America’s noble effort to stop child pornography, not to mention China’s ignoble effort to suppress online dissent, that it’s perfectly possible to track content.”
His comments have been branded as ‘outrageous’ by TalkTalk who of all the UK ISPs has been the most vocal in its opposition of the Digital Economy Bill.
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Posted by Tom on January 5th 2010 in Be Broadband, Digital Britain, TalkTalk
A lot has happened in the UK broadband market in 2009. Here’s a quick round up of the some of the big changes in broadband that have taken place over the last 12 months.
Tiscali gets bought by TalkTalk
Poor old Tiscali spent 2008 looking for a buyer without success and its woes continued into 2009. Despite many ISPs sniffing around hoping to steal a quick march on BT, nobody was willing to dig deep in their wallets. With deals collapsing at the last minute and its parent company losing millions of Euros on the continent times looked bleak for Tiscali’s UK arm. Then TalkTalk came to the rescue at the eleventh hour and swept Tiscali of it’s feet.
Speeding Up
2009 has seen a lot of speeding. BT, Orange and PlusNet all revved up their top download speeds to 20Mbps and 24Mbps in the case of Eclipse Internet. BT also released the Broadband Accelerator speed booster pack allowing customers to benefit from a more reliable broadband experience.
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Posted by Tom on December 21st 2009 in BT Broadband, Be Broadband, Carphone Warehouse, Digital Britain, Eclipse Internet, Mobile Broadband, Next Gen Broadband, O2 Broadband, PlusNet, TalkTalk, Tiscali, Virgin Media
First it was PlusNet now it’s Be Broadband offering customers credit for spreading the word.
If you’re a Be Broadband customer and you’ve got the love, then you can earn a bit of extra cash by putting the word about. From now until December the 31st, you can earn £30 for every friend you get to sign up for Be Broadband.
You can invite up to 7 friends which means total earnings from now until the end of 2009 work our at £210, or enough to pay for Be Unlimited for a whole year.
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Posted by Tom on November 27th 2009 in Be Broadband, PlusNet
Be Broadband is the latest ISP to publicly distance itself from the Digital Economy Bill and the anti-piracy measures suggested within. Be Broadband is concerned that the proposals are “open to errors,” and that there is a “risk that innocent customers could be penalised.”
Be Broadband lists a number of potential scenarios which highlight the problems posed by the bill.
Internet cafes, pubs and coffee shops which offer Wi-Fi (such as Starbucks) “would find the time or cost burden unworkable.” An entire household of people living in shared accommodation - students for example - could see themselves disconnected over the actions of just one housemate.
A wireless connection could be hijacked if the router was hacked into or left unsecured, allowing a third party to illegally download thousands of files for which the owner would take the rap.
Like many critics of the bill, Be Broadband is worried about the apparent “lack of technical understanding” and points to a more creative approach to combat illegal downloading.
Earlier this year it was suggested that the rise in popularity of sites and applications such as Spotify, YouTube and Last.fm had helped cut illegal downloading over the last two years.
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Posted by Tom on November 24th 2009 in Be Broadband, Broadband, Next Gen Broadband, Starbucks, TalkTalk
Be Broadband is giving away £25 Amazon Gift Certificates to those who sign up for either of the 9 month Be Unlimited and Be Pro packages.
The offer is open to everyone who orders before the 18th of October and is perfect for returning students who are moving into shared accommodation about to start their second or third years.
The 9 month contract means you won’t be paying for 3 months of you not being there if you move out of your house in the summer, and the unlimited usage and fast speeds should cater for everyone’s broadband needs. The Be Box wireless router is also included with both packages, allowing you to easily set up a home network.
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Posted by Tom on September 24th 2009 in Be Broadband, Broadband, Tiscali
Attention O2 and Be Broadband customers: if you use the O2 or Be Broadband-branded wireless routers (the O2 Wireless Box and Be Box) you’re going to want to check your settings sharpish.
A vulnerability discovered by O2 Broadband customer Paul Mutton has prompted O2 to remotely configure the settings of customers routers. The security loophole is thought to affect both the O2 Wireless Box II and Wireless Box III devices, used with the Standard and Premium/Pro ADSL2+ packages respectively.
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Posted by Tom on September 8th 2009 in Be Broadband, O2 Broadband, Security
Be Broadband, previously known for it’s pink hues and magenta asterisk, has undergone a radical new redesign. Gone are the pastel hues and star shapes of old and in comes a bold new black and light blue design. As well as its entire site undergoing a face lift, Be Broadband has also dropped hints about other changes to come in the pipeline, by way of a cryptic manifesto:
“I am the web. I blog it, I game it, I tweet it, I create it. I build it, I break it. I stream it, I share it. I live in and on the internet. It’s my life, not a lifestyle choice. My internet provider will get this, will be hands off, will be open, collaborative, the liberators, passionate about what they provide and how they provide it.
They will be a brand that helps me create. Seeks out my opinions, challenges me, that treats me like an adult. Asks me what I want and doesn’t tell me what I want. They are fast, both in speed and attitude. They don’t brand me or exploit me, they aren’t shiny and soulless.
They let me express myself, they make my internet work for me. They do it because they are enlightened and enthusiastic about this world as I am. It’s my world, and my provider is BE.”
It’s anyone’s guess what the above actually refers to, but we reckon that this could mean either two things. Our first guess was that Be might be rolling with a TalkTalk style approach - that is, offer a basic entry level broadband package like TalkTalk Essentials, and then allow punters to sign up for additional usage, and faster speeds a la TalkTalk Extras.
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Posted by Tom on July 22nd 2009 in Be Broadband, Broadband
Illegal downloads are on the wane in the UK according to a survey results published yesterday on Music Ally. A survey of 1,000 UK music fans suggested that illegal downloads and file sharing of audio content had decreased to 17 per cent in January 2009 from 22 per cent in December 2007.
Music streaming sites such as Spotify and YouTube are said to have contributed to the decline in P2P and torrenting.
Paul Brindley, the CEO of Music Ally said, “File sharing is a moving target, so industry and Government policies need to recognise this. It’s already being somewhat displaced by other means of accessing music for free. Some are licensed [Spotify] and some involve a bit of both [YouTube]…
Kids find services like YouTube much more convenient for checking out new music than file sharing. But even YouTube can become a source of piracy with some kids ripping YouTube videos and turning them into free MP3 downloads”.
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Posted by Tom on July 14th 2009 in 3 Mobile Broadband, BT Broadband, Be Broadband, Demon Internet, Eclipse Internet, Orange Broadband, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Virgin Media
Earlier this month we saw Be Broadband offering new customers who signed up to any of the Be Value, Be Unlimited or Be Pro packages for 12 months a free haul of Amazon gift vouchers worth £24.
Now we hear that the UK’s leading providers of ADSL2+ broadband have doubled their offer, handing out packs of Amazon vouchers worth a whopping £48 for new 12 month subscribers. That works out at £4 worth of free stuff from Amazon for a year.
Apparently, to qualify for the vouchers, all you have to do during the sign up process is enter the promotional code: ‘24OfferBTC1′. The Be Broadband website is currently still displaying the old offer on its main page, but according to a post over at Broadband Genie, where the story broke, the code is genuine and will benefit new subscribers to the tune of £48 worth of Amazon vouchers. Continue Reading »
Posted by Tom on June 26th 2009 in Be Broadband, Next Gen Broadband
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