MAC code of practice has not delivered
April 22, 2008 at 2:49 pm
With broadband prices having gone down by 36% in the last four years, speeds on the increase and savings of up to £100 available to the average householder, we are always being urged to look into switching provider. If, however, you are one of the 260,000 people per month who change provider, you are quite likely to have discovered that it is not the painless, hassle-free process that you might hope for.
In order to take advantage of the best deals around and switch seamlessly, you need a MAC code from your supplier. Indeed, some providers will not accept your business without this. A MAC code (standing for Migration Access Code) is a 17 to 18 digit alphanumeric serial number which identifies your broadband connection within the local exchange. It allows a seamless transfer of provider, meaning that you do not need to wait weeks without broadband or have an engineer call. In some cases it also saves you having to pay a connection charge. However, getting this number from your current provider is easier said than done.
A code of practice was introduced last February governing the issue of the MAC code but instead of making things easier for the consumer, it appears to have had the opposite effect. The new guidelines were for a MAC code to be given free of charge to the customer within five working days. Prior to the new code of practice, 13% of customers had to ask more than once for the code and in 11% of cases, the code never materialised. In the last year, however, a staggering 46% of customers have had to chase their provider up at least once, and 14% have completely failed to get the code at all. Only 40% of customers have received the code within the five working days laid down by the new rules.
A spokesman from uSwitch.com has called on Ofcom to “come down hard on providers failing to deliver a MAC code”, issuing financial penalties if need be.
Ofcom to sell airspace for wireless broadband
April 15, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Telecoms regulator OFCOM has announced that this summer will see an auction of a large chunk of spectrum. The 2010-2025MHz and 2500-2690MHz band (known in the industry as 2.6 GHz) will be released on a ‘service neutral’ basis, meaning that OFCOM will not stipulate exactly what the spectrum should be used for, although there will be certain restrictions on uses that may cause interference.
It is likely that the auction will be hotly contested by telecoms companies providing wireless broadband services via Wimax and 3G LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology. Although it is growing quickly, wireless broadband in the UK is currently a relatively new and expensive market. However, with this 205 MHz chunk of spectrum becoming available, it is hoped that more UK telecoms companies will begin offering the service fostering a larger, more open and competitive market.
Wimax has been successful in some parts of the world where fixed line coverage is poor. However, in the UK and Europe, it is 3G and its successor 4G technology that is likely to be the dominant medium for advanced wireless technology.
Philip Rutnam, OFCOM’s director in charge of spectrum policy, said that this spectrum release forms part of the regulator’s strategy to "release around 400MHz of prime spectrum to the market over the next few years", and "will create opportunities for fresh innovation, new services and competition for the benefit of consumers in the UK."
To view the terms of the auction and further information on the announcement, go to OFCOM’s website.
ISP’s under pressure from BBC iPlayer
April 8, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Ever since the launch of the BBC iPlayer in December last year, the pressure on broadband providers has been unprecedented. The iPlayer, which allows viewers to watch all their favourite BBC shows for up to 7 days after broadcast for free, has been phenomenally successful, resulted in millions of viewers tapping in everyday to watch shows they missed.
BBC’s service, which attracted 17 million people in the first three months and increased internet traffic by 66%, has now meant that broadband firms have been pressured to restrict usage in order to cope. Thousands of users will now have to pay for premium packages if they want to carry on going over the bandwidth limit, and fair usage policies that has been put in place.
Many low-end broadband packages currently have monthly download limits of one gigabyte (about 1000 megabytes), but iPlayer programmes can be up to 600 megabytes for a single one-hour show. This means even downloading two shows a month could mean customers have to start paying extra. Broadband firm Plus Net, for example, charges an extra 75p a month for each additional GB downloaded.
Now it is said that the problem may worsen as providers start to "unbundle" old BT exchanges by putting their own equipment in place to allow faster downloads. But this has also elicited fears that firms are now in greater control over-regulating usage. As regulator Ofcom explains: “Unbundling does not automatically give you a better service. It does, however, allow for telecoms firms to manage traffic on their networks more effectively.”
Pipex, which has already been accused of reducing speeds in order to cope, has insisted that they are not altering the product offered. A spokesperson says: "We never reduce the speed below 10% of the network capacity. By using traffic management we prioritise things like e-mails."
Nevertheless, it seems that the growing demand for watching videos online will undoubtedly end up causing alterations in standard broadband packages that, before now, offered more than enough.
The internet could get slower before it gets faster
April 2, 2008 at 2:09 pm
The world is getting faster and a lot of that has to do with the internet. Broadband is a standard now for 90% of internet users in the UK and with that comes not just the surfing and emailing but the downloading, the video streaming, and many more devices.
When the BBC launched its on demand content player, BBC iplayer, at the start of 2008, they received a whopping 2.2 million users in January alone. But the problem that a number of experts in the field are feeling now is that for all the fast speeds we’re experiencing and expecting, we might have to go down a few gears soon, before we go up a few more.
It’s services such as iplayer which are slowing down the internet for some customers, say some of the Internet Service Providers (ISP), including BT. Many people don’t have the right tariff to support the new service and so their bar isn’t set to the right level to support such streaming and downloading facilities. Some customers might even be exceeding their monthly allocated amount of download without even knowing it.
The other point is whether or not the services such as iplayer will be able to cope with the huge demand for them as Apple found out with their movie rental idea. What seems more likely though is that everyone is a winner. This Del-boy mentality could end up being a reality. If the on demand services become more and more successful then the ISP’s will improve the speeds of their services and we’ll all be at lighting speeds – hopefully.
