Orange to buy Project Kangaroo?
April 24, 2009 at 2:59 pm
There are rumours circulating that Orange is about to make a bid to buy Project Kangaroo. If you haven’t heard the name before then don’t worry, you’re not expected to know it. It was an online TV service that was originally created in a joint venture between ITV, the BBC and Channel 4, but is now completely defunct.
According to reports, about £20 million was spent on developing the service, only for the Competition Commission to block it from being used back in February, claiming that it would be too dominant in the market and would therefore break competition regulations.
As a result, it is likely that it will be sold for just a few million pounds, as it won’t be of any use to the original investors. It is thought that Orange is interested in purchasing the technology behind the service, and will then use this in its own broadband TV venture across the Channel.
Orange is itself owned by the French company France Telecom, which is keen to develop the technology in France through an Orange TV service. However, it is not thought that Orange TV will make it to the UK just yet, and will stay abroad for the time being.
A spokesman for France Telecom said that “it could be interesting” for the company, but that “nothing has been decided” yet.
As for the original broadcasters who developed the technology, they are looking into new open-technology possibilities for internet-based TV services, such as on-demand TV and catch-up programmes. It will operate through TV sets rather than computers, and is going by the name of Project Canvas.
London broadband hit by blackout
April 24, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Broadband users in East London were left in the dark following a huge broadband blackout across the area. The lack of broadband connectivity would have been frustrating for many home users, but would have been a desperate situation for numerous businesses that rely on the internet to conduct their work.
The blackout, which took place on Monday April 6, occurred after one of the main underground tunnels was damaged. BT Openreach, which looks after the maintenance of the tunnels, said that a third-party contractor was responsible for the damage, and that they were making sure that everything was being done to restore connectivity.
It is thought that the problem occurred somewhere near the Blackwall Tunnel, although the exact location is not known. What is known is that the problem occurred 32 metres below the street and that there was very restricted access to it, which made repair work very problematic. BT Openreach also confirmed that “significant damage” had been done.
Although it was people in East London who were the worst affected, there were reports of people around the country experiencing problems, with some internet forums suggesting that users as far away as Aberdeen were experiencing problems with their connections. However, these have not been confirmed and could have been due to other issues.
After the damage was done, some customers had to go for a few days in some places without any connectivity, which would have been a huge frustration for many. This incident just goes to show how important broadband now is to our lives, and how steps should be taken to prevent such an occurrence from happening again.
Broadband prices drop in Europe
April 17, 2009 at 2:09 pm
There was good news to come out of the European broadband market recently with the announcement by the European Commission in its new report that broadband prices are falling across the continent.
The EC looked into all different types of broadband across Europe to find out what the general state of affairs looked like, and took into account fibre optic, DSL and cable broadband services.
Broadband services were surveyed for a whole year across the continent, and some huge drops in price were recorded. Amongst the findings were:
- Broadband services with speeds of between 1Mbps and 2Mbps dropped in price by 19% over the course of the year, going from €38.02 to €31.
- Services between 2Mbps and 4Mbps dropped by 29%.
- The higher-end speeds between 4Mbps and 8Mbps dropped by 4%.
- Prices went up for low-speed broadband.
Despite the drops in prices across Europe, the EC has been quick to point out that this does not mean the quality is suffering as a result. On the contrary, due to the high competition in the sector, the services have got better as speeds have gone up.
Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms minister, said that “the right combination of competition between companies and regulation” has led to lower prices and higher speeds.
The report also found that 79% of countries in the EU enjoy speeds over 2Mpbs. However, it also highlighted differences between countries in the prices of broadband that are being received, and the report stated that there should be a single market created in order to set the standard across the continent.
Manchester gets super-fast broadband
April 9, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Areas of Manchester are about to benefit from broadband speeds up to 1,000 times faster than they currently experience as part of the ‘Manchester Digital Strategy’. Manchester City Council has stated that the ‘Fibre-to-the-Premises’ plan, as it is being named, will completely alter the broadband experience for the people who are lucky enough to get access to it.
The new open broadband network should be going live at the end of March if all goes well, and will be available in the Oxford Road area to start with. The plan is to gradually roll it out to other places across the city, with the Central Park district eventually set to become an Internet hub.
The claim of ’1,000 times faster’ broadband was made by Neil Swannick, the executive member for the environment, who also said that consumers and businesses are set to benefit from “reliable” broadband after citing the “major threat” that other cities and countries will be to Manchester and the UK in the future if broadband speeds were not increased.
Fibre optic broadband is already available in numerous European cities, and the whole aim of this project is to try to ensure Manchester stays competitive in the new environment.
However, some have suggested that the ’1,000 times faster’ claim is just a little too optimistic. Although fibre optics certainly provide the way to quicker, better broadband connections, it may be a while before such speeds are enjoyed.
Still, it is a step in the right direction, and if it proves to be a success in Manchester then other cities across the country will be looking on eagerly, especially now that BT has announced the rollout of its fibre optic network.
Virgin claims 150Mbps speeds soon
April 9, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Things are heating up between BT and Virgin in the battle to provide the country with super-fast broadband. After BT announced the first stage of its fibre optic network just last week, Virgin was quick to react by claiming that it will be providing its customers with speeds of up to 150Mbps two years before BT can get anywhere close to these speeds.
Virgin is already offering speeds of 50Mbps to its highest-paying customers in some areas of the UK. But the company has claimed that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to super-fast speeds, and that speeds of 200Mbps will be possible in the near future.
BT has stated that the first UK cities will begin to benefit from its FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) fibre optic broadband network early next year, with the completion of the network in 2012. It has said that speeds of between 40 and 60Mbps can be expected.
But Neil Berkett, the chief executive of Virgin Media, said that by the time BT has its operation up and running, Virgin will be providing a minimum speed of 100Mpbs. Indeed, he also said that it was possible to introduce these speeds quicker, but that there is not much financial incentive to do so at the moment.
However, he added that sometime in the coming years “there will be a natural point where we upgrade from 10, 20 and 50Mpbs to something more.” Virgin has also hinted at the possibility of letting other providers use its network to provide their own services in the future.
£30 rise in broadband charges over next three years
April 3, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Research has been released revealing that in three years time broadband users in the UK are going to have to pay an extra £30 a year for their connections. It is feared that this could see a large percentage of the population unable to afford to access broadband, which comes in the face of a recent government pledge to provide broadband for all by 2012.
The research has been released by Dr Chris Doyle from Warwick Business School, who was financed by Carphone Warehouse, the owner of TalkTalk. He has claimed that the price rises will come as a result of BT hiking the prices that it charges broadband service providers, and that BT is either “very inefficient”, “exaggerating its costs” or “being allowed to make excess profits”.
Numerous service providers, including TalkTalk, use BT’s network to provide broadband to their customers, but it is claimed that the price that BT charges them to use the network could rise by as much as 35% by 2012.
Dr Doyle has said that because the price cannot be absorbed by ISPs, it will inevitably be passed on to consumers. If this happens, it is his estimation that 800,000 households will lose out on access to broadband.
Although a spokesman for BT said the claims were “ludicrous”, it represents a worrying trend, especially after the government has committed itself to ensuring that the whole country gets access to broadband in the near future.
Currently, the average price that a household spends on broadband per year is £81.69. If the findings become a reality, BT will put this up to £91 in April, and £112 by 2012, figures which Ofcom has said it will allow.
