Virgin has become known around the UK as being a provider of high speed fibre based broadband, and over the years it has gone from strength to strength, leading the way when it comes to the provision of high speed broadband services. The company recently started offering high speed broadband services of up to 50Mbps in the UK, and has already announced that it intends to offer speeds of 100Mbps by next year.

According to recent reports the company has now decided to trial the delivery of its 50Mbps service via telegraph poles rather than the traditional undergrounds cabling that it uses. The trial will take place in the Berkshire area in a town called Woolhampton, and is set to begin this month. Te trial is set to last for around six months.

Other providers such as BT are already looking at alternative means of delivering high speed broadband, and Virgin has said that when it comes to the rollout of high speed broadband delivery via existing ducts and telegraph poles could result in money saving benefits.

Neil Berkett, the chief executive officer at Virgin, said: “This unique trial will allow us to understand the possibilities of aerial deployment and may provide an exciting new way to extend next-generation broadband services. With everything from BBC iPlayer to YouTube increasingly demanding reliable ultra-fast broadband speeds, we’re keen to ensure that all communities, in towns, cities and villages right across the UK, stand to benefit.”

Source - Webuser

It has been reported that two of the UK’s leading broadband and communications giants are embroiled in a verbal battle as a result of one of them refusing to open its infrastructure and networks for use by other competitors. The row has erupted between BT, which already allows rival providers to use its networks, and Virgin Media, which claims that there is nothing to indicate that they have to bow to pressure to do this.

BT has called for Virgin to open its networks for the use of rival providers, and has expressed anger over the fact that Virgin appears to be refusing to do this. Virgin Media referred to previous backing from the communications regulator Ofcom with regards to its case, with the regulator having stated two years ago that there was no obligation for Virgin to provide wholesale access to its networks for rivals because it did not have a monopoly on the market.

Officials from BT stated: “It is remarkable that those calling for open access from BT are not willing to provide it themselves. We call on others to follow BT’s lead in offering to open its infrastructure and content to all on a fair basis. Competition is a two way street.” The company added: “We support Shadow Secretary of State for Media Jeremy Hunt’s call for open access to all networks and call for others to follow our example and open their infrastructure and services.”

Ofcom has said that another study will be conducted into whether Virgin Media now has enough of a market share to have to share its networks. Virgin Media stated: “We’ve invested over £13bn in ultrafast broadband in the UK, launched market-leading 50Mb broadband and have announced plans for 100Mb broadband by the end of this year. We’re currently focused on delivering these ultrafast broadband services to more and more homes across the UK.”

Source - Brand Republic

For many people the days of having to queue at the local branch of their bank or spend ages glued to the phone listening to automated messages has long gone, and many now conduct the vast majority of their banking and financial affairs online using Internet banking facilities. This includes transactions ranging from transferring money and paying bills to setting up direct debits and simply checking balances and statements.

The rise in the take up of broadband services has resulted in a rising number of people using Internet banking, and this has provided users with extreme convenience and ease, saving them a lot of time and hassle when it comes to dealing with their day to day finances. However, the rise in the popularity of Internet banking has also fuelled the continued increase of online financial fraud, with many fraudsters moving away from traditional fraud and instead turning to online banking and financial fraud.

Recently released figures from the UK Cards Association showed that fraud on UK credit and debit cards fell by twenty eight percent in 2009 compared to the previous year. However, in the same period the number of phishing attacks used by fraudsters to target Internet banking users increased by sixteen percent. The UK Cards Association states that the first fall in card fraud in three years indicates how popular online financial fraud is becoming, as criminal move over from card fraud to online banking fraud.

An official from APACS said: “We are committed to a wide range of measures to ensure customers feel confident, safe and secure when they use their credit and debit cards - whether in a shop, abroad, online, at a cash machine or anywhere else.”

Source - BBC

Over the past couple of years the social networking site Facebook has gone from strength to strength, and now boasts hundreds of millions of subscribers from around the world. Whilst many people use Facebook to post messages or post or view photos there are many others that spend a lot of time playing the various games and quizzes that are available through the site.

As broadband take up improves, and the plans to introduce universal broadband are put into place, a rising number of consumers may start to subscribe to Facebook, so its popularity stands to become even greater. Officials from Facebook have now thrown down the gauntlet to games developers, and with the expected increase in traffic coupled with the popularity of games on the site, wants developers to create an ‘iconic’ social game for Facebook that could become huge like games such as Mario or Halo.

On the opening day of the Game Developers Conference Gareth Davis said: “The next killer game is still out there and this game will come from you. When we look at every major game platform, we see that there is an iconic defining game on that platform whether it’s Sonic or Mario or Halo. And while there are some great games on Facebook today, no one has yet produced the iconic game for [it]. The Facebook Mario is still out there.”

He added that it was difficult to predict what the ‘iconic’ game would look like, but said: “We know it’s going to be built on real identity and around real friends. It is a game that will appeal to everybody across the board and tap into social emotions and generate feelings you have never felt before. It will probably be personal to you because it will tap into all that information you have about you on Facebook.”

Source - BBC

For many people the speed that they get with their broadband service package is of the utmost importance, but with the UK ranking fairly low on the global speed tables at the moment many people are unable to get the broadband speeds that they desire from their service. In fact, according to recent reports broadband speed satisfaction in the UK has fallen for the third year in a row, with consumers becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the speeds that they are getting from their providers.

Data shows that a rising number of people having been switching their broadband providers as a result of the poor speeds that they are getting through their existing provider or package, and it is thought that a third of consumers are now being driven to changing their broadband provider as a result of their dissatisfaction with the speeds that they are getting.

The report claims that consumer satisfaction in many other areas of broadband services has increased, but whilst Internet Service Providers are often advertising impressive ‘up to’ speeds the actual speeds that many of their customers are getting are actually very disappointing. Eight thousand users were polled in a recent survey and almost one third expressed dissatisfaction with their broadband speeds. Last year this figure was twenty seven percent, and in 2008 only sixteen percent were disappointed with their speeds.

One industry official said: “The steady increase in speed dissatisfaction is indicative that consumers are taking advantage of access to online content that places more demand on their internet connection but as ISPs advertise - and consumers subscribe to - ever faster services, their expectations are failing to be met. Service providers need to be careful since our research would show that many customers have had enough and are more willing to express that dissatisfaction by changing suppliers. Broadband users unsure of their connection should use a broadband speed tester and if their service consistently falls short of expectations, should seriously consider their options including switching to a 24Mb+ package.”

Source - Broadband Choices

For many mobile broadband operators LTE or 4G broadband is something that will benefit them hugely when it becomes widely available. Mobile providers are keen to start benefitting from the advantages of LTE and 4G technology, which includes greater reliability, reduced costs, greater network capacity, and higher speeds amongst other things.

However, a recent report has suggested that the mobile broadband providers that are hoping to enjoy all of these benefits from deploying LTE technology will have to look at other technologies in addition to this otherwise they could experience real problems. The report claims that the mobile broadband companies that are planning to use LTE technology could quickly start experiencing bandwidth problems unless they look at using other technologies at the same time.

It is thought that with advancements such as cheap smart phones that could result in increased take up and other technological advancements networks could quickly become saturated unless mobile broadband providers look at other technology that can be used in addition to LTE and 4G broadband. Technologies such as WiMax and Femtocells have been suggested as being suitable for use simultaneously with LTE.

One industry official said that LTE alone would not be sufficient to provide mobile broadband providers with the benefits that they wanted, and that other technologies had to be looked into. He said: “LTE in itself is not enough…and it is not yet here today, as an industry we really have to get serious about other technology.”

Source - Reuters

It was announced last week that Lords had called for an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill, whereby they wanted any websites that encouraged illegal downloads or contained substantial amounts of copyright infringing content to be blocked by Internet service providers. Following this, some Internet providers such as Talk Talk were quick to voice their concerns over the amendment.

It has now been revealed that a number of Internet providers have expressed their concern over amendment 120A, and this has been done through an open letter that was published in the Financial Times. Amongst those to express their views over the amendment in the open letter were Talk Talk and Virgin Media, and further criticism has been added by groups such as BT and Google.

The ISPs have stated that blocking such websites, as would be required by the Bill amendment, could potentially disrupt the Internet and could result in a threat on business as well as freedom of speech. Andrew Heaney from Talk Talk said that it would be ‘utterly futile’ to block sites that were found to be infringing copyright through the content that was on these sites.

In the open letter the ISPs stated: “We are particularly concerned that a measure of this kind as a general purpose policy could have an adverse impact on the reputation of the UK as a place to do online business and conflict with the broader objectives of Digital Britain.”

Source - Cable

It has become evident that both the Labour government and opposition parties are keen to try and get more and more people online via broadband connections. There are still many people that do not have broadband connections, and whilst in some cases this is due to lack of access to broadband services based on geographical area there are also many people that do not have broadband service for other reasons.

A consumer watchdog has now stated that in order to try and get an increasing number of people connected to broadband services in the UK the government will have to put a lot more thought into its strategies. In its Broadband Minded report the group, Consumer Focus, said that getting more people to sign up to broadband services will take a lot more than just lowering the price of broadband services or extending access to these services.

According to the consumer group many people have failed to get broadband services because of fears over viruses or identity theft, and rather than just focusing on the cost and availability of broadband the government will have to look at highlighting the benefits of having broadband to those that may otherwise remain too fearful or sceptical over these services to sign up to them.

An official from Consumer Focus, Mike O’Connor, said: “Millions of people are still not online, many of them on low incomes. Only by dealing with consumers’ fears and promoting the online benefits that appeal to those on low incomes will more people be encouraged to get connected.”

Source - Cable

Many people that have broadband connections spend many hours a week – or in some cases even a day – trawling the Internet to try and find the best websites for their purposes. With most people already having little enough time this is something that can take up a great deal of precious time, and can therefore result in users rushing through and using sites that perhaps aren’t the best ones for their needs.

However, one Internet provider has created something that could really help these broadband users, and could save them the time, hassle, and frustration of having to trawl the Internet to find the best sites. Internet giant Talk Talk has developed guides for broadband users that detail some of the best websites on the Internet, and these guides cover a number of different categories and areas.

In order to put the guides together Talk Talk has been consulting the technology expert Jason Bradbury. With his help the ISP has created guides that cover the best websites in areas such as music, entertainment, news, social networking, and other popular areas. There are even guides to help those that want to become more eco-friendly and those that want to book holidays whilst online.

Talk Talk said that having access to the guides could help broadband users to save a lot of time and benefit from being able to easily access the best websites. An official from the ISP said: “For those of you who have better things to do with your time than sitting at a computer searching for things – fear no more! We’ve done it for you.”

Source - Cable

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

For many broadband customers in the UK getting the necessary advice and technical support that they need when problems arise can be extremely difficult, and many find the whole experience frustrating and time consuming. However, there could be some good news in store for Sky broadband customers, who could soon be enjoying improved customers services.

Sky has announced that it is setting up a new call centre in the Stockport area of Greater Manchester. The new call centre is set to open in June and will create around five hundred and fifty new jobs. Officials from Sky said that the decision to open a new call centre was “to meet increased demand for TV, broadband and home phone services.”

Customers are hoping that the creation of the new call centre will mean that there are shorter waiting times for those that are looking for advice and technical support with regards to broadband problems. Sky serves nearly ten million homes in the UK and Ireland with its various services, and is committed to providing the best possible customer service.

Customer service and technical support are areas on which many broadband internet providers fall down, and by creating improvements to its customer services Sky could be stepping up the competition with its rival providers. The company said that its decision to open the new call centre in the Manchester area was “based on the availability of highly skilled, customer-focused employees.”

Source - Broadband Genie

A lot of proposals have been banded around over the past year with regards to trying to curb the level of illegal downloading in the UK, and one of the things that has been created to try and combat this problem is the Digital Economy Bill, which has looked at a number of options to try and tackle this rising problem.

However, a recent amendment made to the Bill by Lords has caused outrage amongst groups such as Internet providers, rights groups, and the Internet Service Providers’ Association. Broadband providers are concerned because the amendment could mean that ISPs would have to block illegal filesharing websites.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement-Jones tabled in the amendment, and he said: “There are websites which consistently infringe copyright, many of them based outside the UK in countries such as Russia and beyond the jurisdiction of the UK courts. Many of these websites refuse to stop supplying access to illegal content.”

However, ISPs are not happy, and an official from Talk Talk stated: “We are concerned that this new amendment is being put through at the last minute without any proper debate or scrutiny. Given the potentially profound impact it would have, we think this is unacceptable. Making the restriction of websites a more widespread policy would be dangerous given its major impact on internet users’ human rights, freedom of expression and privacy. We fear it could also be a backdoor to censorship of the internet. At any rate, efforts to restrict websites on a mass scale would be utterly futile. Rightsholders can close down as many sites as they like but ultimately they will always survive in new or different guises. Unless you pull the plug on the whole internet, it’s a pointless pursuit.”

Source - Broadband Choices

There are many people across the UK that are very keen for super-fast broadband to be rolled out, and many would be happy to do whatever it took to get access to super-fast broadband, which will benefit from consumers and businesses in a number of ways. However, it seems that not all consumers are keen enough to see super-fast broadband rolled out that they will let the communications giant BT to do whatever it needs to in order to roll out this service.

There have been reports of a number of people living in the St Albans area who have stood their ground recently and refused to let BT to install the boxes that are needed for super-fast broadband outside their homes. The boxes are six foot by four foot, and residents in the area have said that not only are they an eyesore but that in some cases they are an obstruction.

One man from the area refused to let BT engineers to fit one of these boxes outside his home, claiming that it was an eyesore but that it also obstructed access to his driveway. He told local reporters: “I told them I’m not having this. They are trying to obstruct me from getting in and out of my drive. And anyway I don’t intend to look at that eyesore from my house. They can either move it somewhere else or I will.”

Even the local council development department has refused the fitting of sixteen boxes for sensitive sites, and an official from the local authority said: “This situation has opened a can of worms. The council has no authority to refuse permission for the BT boxes outside the conservation area and it is debatable whether or not the 16 we have refused will be re-sited or it could go to appeal. The Government are eager to make the higher broadband speed more freely available and many people in the city centre - especially people working from home - will be anxious to have access to this facility.”

Source - HertsAd

Both residents and businesses in rural parts of the UK have expressed concerns over the lack of broadband access, and there have been many reports that have highlighted the disadvantages of having restricted or no access to broadband in these areas. Whilst the government is planning to get broadband to the majority of the country by 2012 there are still concerns that some rural areas will end up missing out.

In order to address this issue a number of lobby groups have now formed a coalition that is aimed at ensuring that all areas have adequate access to broadband services by 2012. In particular the group is focussing on the fact that many government services are now available online, and that the government took it for granted that everyone would be able to access these services because they had broadband access when clearly this was not the case.

The group claims that the ‘final third’ of the country that currently lacks this infrastructure needs to be provided with adequate broadband access. One official from the group said: “The government’s universal service commitment to provide broadband speeds of two megabits per second (Mbps) for all by 2012 will be hard to achieve. Those living in areas known as the Final Third still receive no proper access to broadband, putting them at a severe disadvantage.”

He added: “This campaign calls for faster action on the progress already made so that everyone can benefit from the government’s increasing array of online services.”

Source - FWI

Just a few years ago many of us were totally reliant on our desktop computers in order to access broadband internet, and most of us had no other option but to get online from a fixed location such as the home or office, with the only freedom being whether we had a wireless router than allowed us to get online from different parts of the house or office without troublesome cabling.

However, these days there is so much more freedom for users to enjoy, and both business and casual users are able to get online with ease and convenience whilst out and about. Users can take their laptops to get online using WiFi hotspots that are available around the country, or can sign up to a mobile broadband package that will enable them to get online using their laptop in any area where there is mobile phone coverage. There are also mobile devices such as 3G smart phones, which many people use to surf the Internet.

Speaking at the Digital Landscapes Conference in Ireland John Herlihy, the vice-president of Global Ad Operations, stated that the world of computing had now become mobile, and that this could result in the desktop PC as we know it becoming ‘irrelevant’. He added that in some countries the majority of research was already carried out on mobile devices.

He said: “In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant. In Japan, most research is done today on smart phones, not PCs. Mobile makes the world’s information universally accessible. Because there’s more information and because it will be hard to sift through it all, that’s why search will become more and more important. This will create new opportunities for new entrepreneurs to create new business models – ubiquity first, revenue later.”

Source - Telegraph

Whilst most people in the UK would like access to super-fast broadband in the future there are many concerns that whilst the government has good intentions in terms of rolling out this service not everyone will benefit. In fact, a recent report has suggested that if it is left to the market to sort out high speed broadband a huge number of households could end up missing out, and therefore public funding is needed to reduce the risk of this happening.

The study was commissioned by the Treasury, and according to the results around one third of households could find that they are not able to access super-fast broadband in the future even when it has been rolled out. Ministers claim that the third of households that may not be able to access super-fast broadband includes those living and working in rural areas and also those that are living in less well off areas of the country.

The Treasury Minister that is in charge of the delivery of broadband across Britain, Stephen Timms, stated that this was the reason that public money in the form of the controversial broadband tax was needed, as without public intervention it would be difficult to get those in some rural areas and poorer household connected to faster broadband.

Timms stated: “This report makes clear that without public intervention, some rural areas and less well off communities will be left behind and unable to reap the economic, health and education benefits super fast broadband offers. Our proposed £1 billion Next Generation Fund will help bring the benefits of super fast broadband to more communities.”

Source - Telegraph

Over recent years having public access to WiFi connections has proven invaluable to many people. Before mobile broadband became mainstream many business and casual users had been reliant on public WiFi hotspots to get them online whilst out and about, and even now when mobile broadband services have become increasingly popular and affordable many people continue to use WiFi hotspots to get online because of the faster speeds that can be achieved compared to mobile broadband.

With WiFi having become increasingly important to the Internet-reliant nation over the past few years a number of businesses and venues such as hotels, cafes, pubs, libraries, and even airports have started offering public WiFi access for consumers to benefit from. This means that there are now more places where consumers can enjoy access to the Internet even when they are away from the home of office.

However, there are now concerns that changes to legislation in relation to WiFi internet access could result in the number of WiFi hotspots available in the UK being reduced, and could even affect revenue for businesses and venues that provide free WiFi access and rely partly on this service to bring in more customers. Under the new legislation the companies that are providing the WiFi access could be held responsible for any offences that are committed by users connected to that WiFi service, such as illegal downloading.

One broadband industry expert stated: “The natural knock-on effect would be a lower desire for enterprising individuals and companies to help setup and run community wireless schemes and services. We may also see fewer Wi-Fi hotspots in general, which could impact businesses as well as ordinary people.”

Source - Xlntelecom

The issue about net neutrality has been a controversial one in the United States for some time, and concerns have been raised with regards to how some media owners are given preferential treatment by broadband providers based on paying to be given priority over the broadband providers’ networks. Those fighting for net neutrality want all online content that is legal to be treated without discrimination in terms of priority.

It has emerged that net neutrality is now becoming a problem in the UK, and in order to try and determine the issues and get them dealt with the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom is to closely scrutinise net neutrality. This move could put an end to the ability of broadband providers in the UK to charge media owners for prioritising their online media content.

Speaking about net neutrality an official from Ofcom stated: “It has been a big issue for historic reasons for many years in the US. It is now beginning to be an issue here.” The problems over net neutrality were highlighted recently when the BBC accused communications giant and broadband provider BT of throttling download speeds for customers that were trying to use the BBC iPlayer service. In response, BT said that the BBC could not expect a ‘free rise’ over its network for its online media.

BT stated: “The internet has developed successfully over the last decade with light-touch regulation and competition. It is important that Ofcom’s consideration of the net neutrality debate bears this in mind.”

Source - FT

The UK government’s plans to implement universal broadband across Great Britain were launched some time ago, and as a result of the plans and investment the government hopes that universal broadband will be in place in the UK by 2012. There are also other countries that have similar plans and proposals in place to boost access to broadband services across their nations.

The European Union has now also stepped in and has called for all homes in Europe to be connected to broadband services by 2013. The EU has said that broadband has now become essential to everyday life, and with this in mind should be available to all homes within the next three years. The EU said that all Europeans need to have access to this ‘basic infrastructure’.

Jean-François Istasse, a Belgian MEP, said: “The internet has become basic infrastructure, essential for everyday life and business. Still, many Europeans don’t have access to broadband services at a reasonable price.” He added: “We cannot rely on markets alone to deliver high-speed internet to rural areas, mountainous regions or islands. We therefore call on the European Commission to develop policies that acknowledge market failure and facilitate public initiatives to develop open networks in these areas.”

The calls from the EU to get Europe connected by 2013 come as the UK announced the launch of a new body called Broadband Delivery UK. This body will be responsible for ensuring that the UK’s own universal broadband target is met and will manage the spend of the funding raised in the Next Generation Fund.

Source - Webuser

With many parts of Great Britain having little or no access to broadband services whereas other areas had easy access to super-fast broadband the issue over the digital divide had become a hot topic by last year. Many were therefore relieved when the government announced that it was implementing universal broadband as part of the Digital Britain plans.

The government’s universal broadband plan aims to provide all areas across the UK with broadband speeds of at least 2Mbps by 2012. It has now announced that in order to boost the chances of meeting this target it has created Broadband Delivery UK, which is a body that will be responsible for ensuring that the 2012 target for universal broadband is met. In addition to this the body will be responsible for the allocation of funds from the Next Generation Fund to ensure that ninety percent of the UK has access to next generation broadband by 2017.

The Minister for Digital Britain, Stephen Timms, said that ensuring these broadband targets were met were essential to the growth and well being of the UK’s economy. He stated: “Taking advantage of new technologies like next generation broadband is vital to the growth of the UK’s economy and it’s important that all homes and businesses can access the opportunities faster speeds bring.”

Timms added: “This report makes clear that without public intervention, some rural areas and less well off communities will be left behind and unable to reap the economic, health and education benefits superfast broadband offers. Our proposed £1billion Next Generation Fund will help bring the benefits of super fast broadband to more communities. We do not want to risk the digital gap widening, which is why we have put a team of experts in place to ensure further investment is targeted at those people without adequate access.”

Source - Think Broadband

Whilst 3G technology has made life much easier for many people in terms of being able to get online using mobile devices whilst out and about there are many people that are keen to see the launch of 4G technology in the UK. With 4G technology users are able to enjoy greater speeds, better coverage, and increased reliability.

It has been reported recently that the US based network operator Spring has been working on a next generation 4G WiMax network for a while, and over the next few months the operator is expected to launch a smart phone that is compatible with 4G technology. Spring is said to claim that around thirty million people will be able to access the technology when it is launched.

Furthermore, Sprint claims that more and more people will be able to access 4G as the technology progresses. The reports about 4G technology being available in the United States in a few months have sparked speculation over when this technology will be made available in the UK, and some reports have claimed that this could be later this year or early in 2011.

Rumours have already started suggesting that with the release of the Apple iPad the technological giant Apple is now set to focus on the iPhone 4G. However, in another recent report a number of UK based mobile network providers have said that more spectrum is needed to allow them to roll out 4G technology in the UK, and some believe that it could be some time before this technology is available.

Source - Top10

There has been a lot of debate over the way in which rural areas across the UK are suffering because of a lack of broadband services over the past couple of years, and some of the problems that have been highlighted include the adverse effect on businesses and the economy in these areas, as well as lack of facilities for consumers who would otherwise be able to enjoy a range of money saving resources from the Internet.

Another recent report has said that a further problem appears to be stemming from the lack of broadband in these areas. According to the report many younger people are being forced out of rural areas in the UK simply because of the lack of broadband services in these areas. Many younger people have already had to leave rural areas due to lack of job opportunities amongst other things, and the lack of broadband access is another nail in the coffin for these areas.

Officials are concerned that with so many younger people leaving rural areas business and the economy in these areas is going to be seriously affected. The Chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities, Stuart Burgess, stated: “Wherever I go, I hear deep concerns - that challenges with housing, work, transport, training and social exclusion are preventing young people from living in the countryside. Without young people to provide a work force, rural economies are unable to fulfil their potential and rural communities can go into decline.”

He added that the lack of broadband access was hitting both businesses and younger people in these areas, and was resulting in businesses having to relocate to parts of the country where broadband access was better, and younger people heading off to pastures new.

Source - Rtt News

One Internet service provider is celebrating yet another success after winning its ninth Which? Best Buy award for customer satisfaction. This now means that the ISP, which is Zen Internet, has enjoyed being at the top of the best buy tables for five years in a row. The ISP managed to score five stars for its customer satisfaction score of an impressive eighty nine percent, and is the only ISP to hold the Best Buy title from Which?

Officials from Zen Internet said that the high level of customer service that it offered to consumers was down to its call centre staff, who were highly trained and gave quality advice rather than reading from scripts. The ISP described its call centre employees as “highly trained, UK based technical support staff who not only speak tech-talk but who can also talk in layman’s terms.”

A spokesperson from Which? said that the Internet provider deserved its title, stating: “If you want to be sure to get broadband that offers top-notch levels of service, go for a Which? Best Buy, as rated by our members, in our unique survey of home broadband users. With an overall Which? customer score of 89%, Zen truly deserves its Best Buy broadband provider status.”

The Managing Director of Zen Internet, Richard Tang, stated: “I am delighted that we have achieved this latest Best Buy from Which? It is a testament to the commitment of all our staff to our long-term mission to provide the best ISP service in the UK. We have many service improvements lined up for 2010 and I’m really looking forward to delivering these to our customers as the year progresses.”

Source - Broadband Choices

The past couple of years has seen a marked increase in the popularity and take up of mobile broadband services, and with a rising number of providers offering this technology, and with costs getting more and more affordable, both business users and casual users have started embracing mobile broadband services on a daily basis.

However, despite the rising popularity mobile broadband a recent study has shown that around forty seven percent of people are still unaware of mobile broadband technology. The study was carried out by the European Interactive Advertising Association. The number of people that did know about mobile Internet and broadband was forty eight percent.

It is thought that with the expansion of mobile coverage, the affordability and increased sales of laptops and netbooks, and the competitively priced packages that consumers now have access to from the various mobile providers will see the popularity of mobile broadband services continue to rise. Already round seventy one million people across Europe use mobile devices to get online for an average hour a day in a typical week. It is thought that once 4G broadband is made more widely available the popularity of mobile broadband will be further boosted.

Younger people were found to be embracing mobile broadband services more than most, with around twenty five percent of consumers aged between sixteen and twenty four years of age getting online whilst out and about for around 7.2 hours per week on average.

Source - Techwatch

When it comes to broadband related complaints there have always been concerns over how these are dealt with by many companies, and some have been accused of passing complainants from pillar to post in order to get the complaint dealt with and resolved. The House of Lords has recently announced that it wants to make some changes to the Digital Economy Bill that could ease this problem of buck passing by Internet Service Providers.

The Digital Economy Bill, which also looks at how to reduce the level of Internet piracy that is being seen in the UK, is currently being looked at by the House of Lords, and Lord Laird has made a request for changes to be made in the dealing of complaints relating to broadband so that ISPs cannot pass the buck so easily and so that broadband users can get their complaints dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Another Lord said that consumers were often confused when it came to trying to get broadband faults rectified. He said: “You are paying BT Retail for the line, and you are paying an ISP to provide you with broadband over that line. It gets a service from BT Wholesale, which runs what is called the backhaul from the exchange onto the main internet. Openreach is responsible for maintaining and fixing any faults on the line. There are four service entities involved, and there may be more. There are Chinese walls between these, and there is a lot of buck-passing.”

The Lords now wants changes to be made that would see the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom setting up a scheme to deal with complaints and issues relating to broadband connections. The Lords said that this measure would “place responsibility for every complaint or request with either the broadband service provider or the owner of the communication cable”.

Source - Network World

It has been reported that the government is hoping to help increase the number of people in the UK that are getting online, and has set targets that it hopes to meet within the next four years. Figures have shown that there are around twelve and a half million people in the UK that are not getting online at present, and this is something that the government wants to address.

There are a number of reasons why these people are not using the Internet, and this includes having limited or no access to broadband services or simply not wishing to use the Internet for their own reasons. Government ministers have now set a target to try and get sixty percent of these twelve and a half million people online within the next four years.

If the government succeeds in meeting its target it will mean that there are another seven and a half million people getting online. According to reports there are some groups in particular that are being targeted by the government, and this includes lower income families and older people.

The move will form part of the Digital Britain Participation Plan, and was announced by the Minister for Digital Britain, Stephen Timms, recently. Timms stated: “Being online is crucial for participation in the 21st Century society - the internet unlocks a wealth of information and services, giving people more choice in life and access to a range of education, health and financial opportunities. That is why we have set an ambitious target.”

Source - Webuser

The parent company of Karoo Broadband, which operates in the Hull and East Riding area, has recently urged Internet service providers to provide greater transparency to consumers when it comes to their broadband speeds. The ISP’s parent company, Kingston Communications, has stated that it is frustrating for consumers who find that the speed that they get does not match the speed that they are expecting.

Karoo Broadband has recently taken the first step in providing greater transparency by creating a speed map of its own broadband services, which shows the actual download speeds across its network. With broadband speeds being so important to consumers this sort of facility will prove invaluable to those that want a more accurate measure of the speeds that they will receive compared to the headline up to speeds advertised by providers.

An official from Kingston Communications stated: “One of the most frustrating aspects for consumers is that the service they sign up for doesn’t always match the ‘up to’ speeds that are advertised by broadband providers.” He added: “Using KC’s Speed Map, broadband users can now check and compare actual broadband speeds, on any given post code, before signing up or moving home. With last year’s Digital Britain report calling for greater transparency, we are urging other providers to follow our lead.”

Another industry official said: “It’s great that Karoo is doing more to improve the transparency of speeds for its customers and broadband providers across the board should follow its lead and make it easier for consumers to see what kind of speeds their going to get before they sign up. Despite widespread media coverage over broadband speeds, many people still think that they’re going to get the advertised ‘up to’ when they sign up. But a variety of factors, from traffic management to distance from the exchange, can affect download speeds and very few people will ever get anything like the 8Mb or 20Mb broadband they’re expecting - resulting in disappointment and frustration.”

Source - Broadband Choices

The world of broadband has become highly competitive over recent years, and with more and more broadband Internet providers offering packages to suit different needs and pockets the rivalry has become heated amongst broadband providers, each of which wants to try and build up its customer base. As a result of this a rising number of broadband companies have been offering incentives to draw in customers.

It has recently been announced that one mobile network and broadband provider, O2, has launched a new incentive where consumers that switch to one of its broadband packages can enjoy getting an incentive that consists of fifty pounds worth of credit for their O2 mobile phone. The incentive is available to both existing and new customers who take out the O2 Premium Home Broadband or the O2 Pro Home Broadband package.

For existing customers that take out one of these packages the fifty pounds incentive will be credited on their mobile phone bill, and these customers will have to place their order for one of the two eligible broadband packages online. For new customers the requirements is that they must order a mobile product from O2 within thirty days of signing up to one of the two eligible broadband package, and then they too will be able to benefit from the fifty pounds incentive.

Both of the O2 home broadband packages that form this deal offer broadband speeds of up to 20Mbps, and both offer unlimited downloads. Free UK customers support and a thirty day happiness guarantee are also offered with the packages, which will give many consumers increased peace of mind.

Source - Broadband Internet UK

Whilst the availability of 3G technology has proven invaluable to many people in the UK many are keen for 4G technology to be launched properly in UK. With 4G broadband technology users are able to enjoy greater stability, more coverage, better download and upload speeds, and more bandwidth capacity from the network providers. All of these can benefit consumers and businesses greatly.

However, as yet the technology is still being trialled within the UK and it could be some time before it is properly deployed. When the technology is deployed users will be able to enjoy many benefits and use more applications with their broadband service. This could be a long way off yet though, as some believe it could be a while before this technology is made available in the UK despite recent trials that have been carried out.

The benefits of 4G broadband have now been deployed in a new netbook from technology giant Samsung, which was unveiled recently. The netbook was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona recently, and the manufacturer demonstrated the speeds of up to 100Mbps that were offered with the device thanks to its LTE technology.

The 4G netbook is called the N150, but officials believe it could be another couple of years before it is available in the UK. A Samsung official stated: “We see increasing demand for data services, regardless of whether the consumer is indoors, outside, or even on the move. With our end-to-end Total Solution from core chipset to a variety of devices, we are providing true value to our customers.

Source - Google

The rollout of 4G technology is something that many consumers and businesses in the UK are keen to see, and with devices like a 4G enabled netbook from Samsung having been released many would benefit from being able to enjoy greater benefits with the rollout of 4G, which is still being trialled in the UK. However, because this technology could take some time to be launched properly in the UK using such technology as the Samsung netbook could be some way off.

After launching the netbook a Samsung official said: “The inclusion of LTE will deliver high speed, low latency and ubiquitous connectivity to all users who require high-volume data access whenever they want and wherever they are.” However, the company added: “Infrastructure is key. I believe we will not see an LTE infrastructure in the UK until 2012 or 2013 at the earliest.”

Mobile network providers in the UK are also keen for this technology to be deployed, but have argued that more spectrum is needed in order for this to be done. Orange was unable to commit to any timeframe for its rollout of 4G technology and stated: “LTE technology and 4G is the natural evolution of network infrastructure for the mobile industry however there are no immediate plans for Orange to roll it out in the UK.”

Another network provider argued that more spectrum is needed, stating: “LTE is a technology we have been looking at for some time and one we are interested in making use of. But operating LTE is dependent on us obtaining more spectrum. What this goes to show is just how vital it is that the Government and regulators move quickly to ensure a more even distribution of radio spectrum amongst UK mobile network operators.”

Source - Wired