In the past politicians that have been campaigning in the run up to a general election have used a range of methods to get their messages across to the public, such as radio, television, and print media. However, this year things have been very different, with the three leading political parties taking the more modern approach of using the Internet to get their messages across.

The public have responded well to this, and according to recent polls have become more engaged with the election online, resulting in the 2010 election being dubbed the UK’s first ‘Digital Election’. The data comes from a survey carried out by YouGov on behalf of network and broadband provider Orange.

Social networking has become very popular amongst younger broadband users, and the survey showed that around twenty five percent of social networkers had commented on the general election this year. The data also showed that fifty seven percent of adults had followed the election campaigns or read about the elections online this year.

One official said: “While the TV debates have had a major impact on the election, the internet has also amplified the buzz around it. People aren’t taking what the leaders say at face value – they want more. Nick Clegg has been the big winner, with surges of post-debate interest and Clegg-mania being witnessed in the media and online. With the majority of people either informing themselves or participating in politics online, digital media is playing its own part in the story of the 2010 General Election.”

Source – Net Imperative

According to recent reports the mobile network and broadband provider Orange has decided to abandon its fixed line broadband in its current form, and will instead be dealing with BT to try and increase its coverage for fixed line services and increase its customer base massively, which could create fierce competition within the broadband sector.

BT is set to take over the fixed line broadband infrastructure for Orange, and this will be integrated into its own network. This is set to provide a more reliable and effective service for the eight hundred and forty thousand customers that Orange already has, and could mean that the Orange customer database is hugely boosted. Orange also believes that by outsourcing its fixed line network to BT the company will have more time to focus on other areas such as improving customer service.

The increased competition that stems from this move will see Orange going head to head with a number of broadband providers, and this could spell good news for consumers as it could see broadband providers dropping their prices and launching more special deals in a bid to try and keep customers or win customers from rival providers.

Explaining why the company had decided to outsource its network an official from Orange said: “We are not satisfied with where we stand with broadband, as our customer base is declining and our performance is poor. But we need to remain in fixed-line broadband so decided to fundamentally change what we are doing.”

Source – Times Online

There are now many Internet service providers around that offer home broadband services, and in addition to the big communications giants such as BT and Virgin Media there are now other companies that offer home broadband such as mobile network providers like Orange. This has resulted in competition in the home broadband sector becoming increasingly tough.

Orange has enjoyed success with its home broadband service, but it appears that a number of factors have had a negative impact on subscriber numbers, which reportedly fell in the final quarter of last year. The figures show that in the last three months of 2009 the number of people subscribing to the Orange home broadband service fell by fifty nine thousand compared to the previous quarter, and this reflected a drop of sixteen percent.

A number of factors may have contributed to the drop in home broadband users for Orange. The recession has impacted heavily on household finances, and many people may have moved to a cheaper provider in order to save money. The rising popularity of mobile broadband and 3G enabled smart phones may also have impacted on the number of people subscribing to fixed line broadband with Orange.

The figures show that in the third quarter of last year there were nearly nine hundred thousand customers that were signed up for the home broadband service from Orange, but in the final quarter of the year this fell to around eight hundred and forty thousand subscribers.

Source – Top10-Broadband

As part of its Digital Britain plan the government has promised universal broadband access in the UK. It has now been announced that the mobile network and broadband provider Orange is to host a live debate and one of the debate will centre around how universal broadband access and other technologies will affect the UK.

Orange has teamed up with the London Transport Museum to host the live event, and it is set to be held on 3rd February. Evan Davies, a BBC journalist, is going to be hosting the debate and a number of people are due to give their views on the effect of universal broadband on the UK including futurologist James Bellini and broadcaster Janet Street Porter.

An official from Orange UK said that the purpose of the live event was to discuss the impact that new technologies and advancements such as universal broadband would affect the way that we live and work in Britain. He stated:  “The debate aims to discuss how Britain will change as new technologies shape the places we live and work, and how we get there. Not only could the population itself shift, but the way we work could also fundamentally change.”

Universal broadband, if successful, could change life for those that work or live in rural areas in particular, as many of these areas are currently ‘not spots’ where access to adequate broadband is very poor. It is areas such as these that the government hopes to benefit with its universal broadband plan.

Source – Cable

The mobile communications giant Orange has recently released information showing how different parts of the UK could be affected in terms of population in the event that access to adequate broadband services is improved. Orange launched a map detailing how the population of various areas in the UK would change in terms of density as a result of this improved access to higher speed broadband services.

The map suggested that if easier access to broadband services is introduced across the country then the population density in Scotland could swell by around fifty percent by 2015. The map also indicated that the population density in the South West could swell by as much as one hundred and fifty percent by 2015 if access to broadband services is improved. In London it is thought that the population density could increase by around fifty percent.

However, the map also showed that some areas would end up on the other end of the scale, where the areas ended up seeing the population density decrease. The North of England and the Midlands were highlighted as areas that were likely to see the population density drop if access to broadband services is improved across the country by 2015.

An official from Orange said that research carried out by the company indicated that the face of Britain could be changed as a result of access to higher speed broadband in a greater number of areas, stating: “Our research found that a digitally connected workforce could change the face of Britain as we know it.”

Source – Top News

There has been much anger and protest from a number of consumer groups who are all for this latest merger as it will create the largest mobile phone company in the UK with a combine market share of 37 percent, and the recently announced deal is likely to involve the Office of Fair Trading asking for EU regulators to let UK Authorities investigate the proposed merger.

The deal could see a portion of  Orange and T-Mobile’s mobile phone spectrum in the UK sold by force or at the very least the OFT could delay the merger by asking for a UK regulatory look into the deal, which end in an investigation by the competitions commission.

A deal has now been struck that would place caps on how much spectrum an operator is allowed to own following months of  intense negotiation between Kip Meek, the governments wireless spectrum advisor and the industry, which led to a summit meeting being called recently with the bosses of all five UK operators by Lord Mandelson.

It has been advised in the deal that a “regulatory remedy is required to prevent too large a share of the UK spectrum being owned by T-Mobile and Orange combined, although neither O2 nor Vodafone will be made to give up any of the assets they currently have.

The promise made by the old Communications Minister, Lord Carter, as part of the government’s Digital Britain report, to provide universal broadband access throughout the UK by 2012 has led to the recent negotiations with the five mobile phone operators.

Source – Guardian

The survey found that a significant proportion of the UK population would flock to areas like the South West, London, Scotland and Wales while as many as 73 percent of resident in the Midlands would leave the region.

Office workers throughout the UK were asked whether they would move to another part of the country if universal broadband was made available by 2015 according to the outlines proposed in the Digital Britain report released recently by the Government, in the survey by Orange, the mobile network operator.

The survey found that if universal high-speed broadband was available everywhere 70 percent of the East Midlands and 81 percent of the West Midlands would move to either the countryside or the coastal parts of Britain, according to Orange.

It was also suggested by the survey that the South West would see a population increase of 158 percent, whilst the numbers living in the North East and Yorkshire would be reduced by 35 percent.

Scotland would see a rise of 58 percent and only 20 percent of residents said they would stay in areas like Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

Wales would also see a 5 percent increase in its population and London would see the largest jump in population with 40 percent more people living in the City.

Both working and social dynamics throughout the country would be radically altered by the digital revolution according to the director of corporate marketing at Orange UK, Robert Ainger.

He said “The long-entrenched domination of the South East in Britain’s economic structure could at last be coming to a close, with many workers wanted to trade their city lives to work from more rural and idyllic parts of the country. Our report reveals that a digitally connected country could change the face of Britain as we know it.”

Source – Independent

The ongoing recession in the UK coupled with the continued effects of the global credit crunch, which began in 2007, have continued to wreak havoc in many different industries within the UK, and whilst the broadband market has not suffered to the same degree as many other industries there are some broadband companies that have seen business dwindling over the course of this year.

Whilst one communications giant, BT, has reported an increase in customer numbers in the second quarter of this year, Orange Broadband is said to have seen its numbers fall according to a recent report, making it one of the providers that is seeing the adverse effects of the recession.

For the first six months of this year Orange has lost around ten percent of its ADSL customers according to recently released figures. Numbers are said to have fallen from 1.142 million in 2007 to just 954,000. However, the provider still has ninety three thousand dial up Internet customers according to the report.

Part of France Telecom, Orange has stated that nearly fifty percent of its customers are now on unbundled connections. Officials have said that the drop in figures for Orange is the result of customers leaving because of high prices and issues with performance. Some customers have confirmed that their reasons for leaving Orange and moving over to another broadband provider are to do with the hefty hikes in prices that Orange has applied, as most people are not prepared to pay higher prices in the current economic climate.

Source – TechWatch

A recent statement was issued from Orange’s parent company, France Telecom saying “We can confirm that we are not pursuing our interest in the catch-up TV service Kangaroo. After in-depth due diligence, we concluded that it was unlikely that an outcome which benefited France Telecom’s Orange operations would be met.”

In the nascent UK VoD market Kangaroo was considered to be too much of a threat to competition and as such was blocked from being launched by the Competition Commission. In the bidding for this technology there appears to be only one other unknown company that has shown an interest.

According to a source that was close to the shareholders of Kangaroo, who advised that very little progress had been made over the last six weeks with the sales and two bidders had even been put off by the multi-million pound price tag, and this price tag attached to the asset has led to the potential deal being put under considerable strain.

He said “There were two major bidders but the technology is not cheap. It would be a multi- million pound deal, which isn’t the most tempting prospect in the current market.”

The development of the technology has been said to have had around £20 million invested in it by partners of Project Kangaroo and the Kangaroo player and built-in user experience tools underpins the technology that is for sale.

The technology would most likely have been used by Orange to strengthen its European Orange TV broadband service, especially its new French projects, if the company had agreed to the deal. There have been several delays in a UK launch of the Orange TV service that is currently being explored.

It is understood that all three of the parties have been in talks with the US-only online VoD service that is backed by NBC Universal, News Corp and Disney, regarding the provision of content to a version of the platform in the UK, since Kangaroo’s demise.

It is understood that around £20 million has been invested in the development of technology that will be behind this proposed video-on-demand service from Project Kangaroo, which will now fetch closer to a few million pounds to the winning bidder.

Due to previous concerns that the technology would dominate the emerging broadband TV market in the UK a decision was made by the Competition Commission back in February, which has led to the joint venture partners looking to sell the Project Kangaroo assets, mainly the technology behind its video-on-demand service.

There are two serious contenders for the purchase of part of Project Kangaroo assets, one of which is Orange and the other is a technology company, it is thought.

A spokesman for France Telecom, Orange’s parent company said “We are examining this company and we see of course that it could be interesting. Nothing has been decided but we can confirm we are examining it.”

The bolstering of the Orange TV broadband all over Europe is where the mobile service provider would make use of this technology.

Orange TV in France currently has over a million subscribers and the aim by France Telecom is to build up its own service with the aid of Project Kangaroo VoD technology. The announcement of a set-top box service that would also include access to web-based TV for its broadband customers was made by the French telecoms company last summer.

The spokesman for France Telecom said “On Orange TV we are very cautious about what we are saying in the UK but it [Kangaroo] could help us in developing more quickly Orange TV projects in France.”

The feasibility of Orange TV being launched in the UK has been looked into by Orange and it has advised both its trial customer group and its suppliers that due to a mixture of factor including the global financial situation it will not currently be considering a launch of the service.

An Orange UK spokesman said “Due to the current economic climate, the present position of the UK TV market, and the evolving regulatory environment, we have decided to put our plans for a full launch of a digital TV service on hold. Our vision and ambition for Orange to become a major player in the home entertainment market remains and we will regularly be reviewing our position in order to fulfill on that ambition.”

It was revealed by ITV that Project Kangaroo would cost £12 million once completed when it published its full-year results for 2008 last month.