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UK Broadband Consumer Satisfaction Hits New Low
A new YouGov survey has found that “free” broadband deals have resulted in lower customer satisfaction levels.
The figures released by the uSwitch Customer Satisfaction Report show that most providers aren’t managing to keep their increasing customer numbers happy, with a 9% drop in broadband satisfaction levels registered among the 11,000 customers surveyed.
The report also puts consumer’s trust in their Internet suppliers at an “all time low”.
Scraping along the bottom of the customer satisfaction levels is the notorious TalkTalk service run by Carphone Warehouse, which could only muster 70% of punters happy with their service.
The service was the subject of a recent BBC Watchdog investigation after thousands of customers failed to get connected and were forced to endure lengthy waits on costly pay-per-minute helplines.
Orange fared just as badly, coming joint bottom, while Virgin.net scored the highest customer satisfaction levels at 85%, ahead of Telewest and Tiscali.
uSwitch said that despite1.5 million new customers signing up broadband over the past ten months, providers had failed to match the growth with improvements in customer service levels.
“It’s disappointing to see that the majority of providers are failing to accompany the growth in customer numbers by sufficient growth in customer service operations and the required investment in their technology to ensure that they are looking after customer needs in an acceptable manner,” said Steve Weller, communications chief services at uSwitch.
“These results should provide a clear signal that customers are demanding a more comprehensive, sophisticated range of services, and it is becoming more important than ever before for providers to offer value for money in terms of both price and service,” he added.
uSwitch.
15 November, 2006
iPods Integrated Into Planes
Apple have just announced that they have signed deals with six major airlines, offering the first seamless integration between iPod and the planes in-flight entertainment systems.
Starting mid 2007, Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United passengers will be able to charge their iPod while in the air, but more interestingly be able to watch the video held on their iPods on the seat-back monitor.
Beyond that, Panasonic Avionics Corporation is working with Apple to build it into other airlines
Comment
This is a great deal for Apple. Not only do they fix the problem with people running their batteries down during a flight, and possibly not having any juice when they land and continue their journey, but as they’ve got first mover advantage on this. It’s going to be significantly harder for another player to have their kit integrated in to the planes. There’s only so many connectors that the airlines can make available.
We asked Apple if it was an exclusive deal, thereby blocking out other media players, but at the time of going to press we hadn’t heard back.
For the passenger, surely the wise move would be just to provide a USB port and allow people to plug whichever device they have with them, and have the in-flight system decode the media file and play them back. Thereby not being locked to a make of player.
The only down side we can see for this is for the airlines, as they won’t be making money out of charging for films.
14 November, 2006
US Xbox 360 Gets HD Films and TV Downloads
Starting 22 November, US Xbox 360 owners will be able to download TV programmes and films to their Xboxes to rent and watch.
The film content will only be available for a limited amount of time. They’ll have to be watched within 14 days of getting it and, once the viewing session starts, will have to be completely watched within 24 hours.
Downloaded TV content will be available to be watched as many times as you like – and you’re able to keep it. Just like a video recording …. except you have to pay for it!
The content will be stored on the 360’s built-in 20Gb hard drive.
Microsoft are launching the service with a couple of magic numbers – 1,000 hours of programming, with 200 of those being in HD (720p).
The cost? Well, not content to use one of the current 167 currencies around the world, Microsoft have invented their own – MS Points (they’re also using it with the Zune). In MS Points, HD films will be 480 MS Points and SD films, 320. TV shows will be 240. Those wanting to partake in the service will need to have an Xbox Live account.
No definite European plans as yet, but it’s expected once they sign the content deals.
By the end of the year US Xbox 360 owners will be able to see:
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Adult Swim)
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Nickelodeon)
Batman Forever (Warner Bros Home Entertainment)
Breaking Bonaduce (VH1)
Carpocalypse (Spike TV)
Chappelle’s Show (Comedy Central)
CSI (CBS)
Hogan Knows Best (VH1)
Jackass: The Movie (Paramount Pictures)
The Matrix (Warner Bros Home Entertainment)
M:i:III (Paramount Pictures)
Nacho Libre (Paramount Pictures)
The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival (Nicktoons Network)
Pimp My Ride (MTV)
Race Rewind (provided by Nascar.com)
Raising the Roofs (Spike TV)
The Real World (MTV)
Robot Chicken (Adult Swim)
Skyland (Nicktoons Network)
South Park (Comedy Central)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
Star Trek (CBS)
Superman Returns (Warner Bros Home Entertainment)
Survivor (CBS) UFC: All Access (the UFC)
The Ultimate Fighter (selected episodes from the UFC)
7 November, 2006
Love TV In The Living Room, Hate Paying For It
A new survey has revealed that UK consumers are way down with streaming and downloading audio-visual content into their living room, but they’re not so keen on paying for the stuff.
Research from the Olswang Convergence Consumer Survey 2006 showed that some 40% of UK consumers are already streaming or downloading audio-visual content onto their PCs, with nearly half of that total settling down to watch the content in their living room.
Of the content watched, it was found that punters preferred to watch full-length feature films and TV programmes on their PCs rather than shorter clips and trailers.
While the growing influence of the PC in the living room should spell good news for content creators and distributors, it seems that punters are definitely not warming to the idea of paying to receive the content on their home PCs.
The report found that half of those questioned weren’t prepared to pay a single Goddamn bean extra for streamed/downloaded content, with a further 18% only willing to cough up £2 per month for content, and 22% only happy to pay between £2 and £5.
Matthew Phillips, media, communications and technology partner at Olswang, commented, ” As broadcasters, rights holders and service providers continue to negotiate control over media rights, the key challenge is to offer a range of content which is broad enough for consumers to find something they want to watch and are willing to pay for.”
It seems that the battle isn’t just about getting people to pay for the content, but also getting them to actually pay attention.
According to Olswang’s research, easily-distracted, multi-tasking consumers are paying less attention to watching programmes, with 46% of respondents busy emailing and 43% web surfing while watching television.
A bit like us then. Whoops!
Olswang
6 November, 2006
Full GNER Train Fleet Goes WiFi
UK rail operator GNER (Great North Eastern Railways) has now completed the installation of Wi-Fi on all is trains, with the company claiming that they now own the world’s largest Wi-Fi fleet.
Pushed forward from its original completion date of strong demand from passengers, the service uses a roof-mounted satellite connection and a 3G/GPRS uplink, supplied and fitted by Swedish company Icomera.
The Wi-Fi service was first trialled along the 580-mile Inverness to Kings Cross East Coast mainline service in July 2004, and a £3.2 million investment has seen its entire 41-strong fleet become wireless-enabled.
GNER reckons it will recoup the cost of installing its Wi-Fi service through increased passenger numbers, with the company confident that they’ll be able to tempt car users onto the trains from major metropolitan areas like Leeds, Newcastle and Darlington.
The service is priced at £2.95 for a 30-minute internet session, £4.95 for an hour or £7.95 for three hours for ~~second class~~ standard class ~~passengers~~ customers, with access free for first class travellers.
Wi-Fi has been proving a hit with passengers, with a host of train operators getting in on the act: passengers travelling from Brighton to London have been able to connect wirelessly for some time, while Virgin Trains is set to add Wi-Fi to their West Coast mainline fleet in 2007.
“Wireless Internet has immense potential for both business and leisure users, and we’re very encouraged by the usage levels and positive feedback from passengers,” said Jonathan Metcalfe, GNER’s chief executive officer.
One thing Metcalfe may not be so encouraged by is the rather parlous state of GNER’s parent company, the Caribbean-based Sea Containers.
The company filed for protection against bankruptcy in the USA a fortnight ago, although this shouldn’t – in theory – affect the UK company.
However, GNER warned the UK government last week that it needs to renegotiate its operating licence or it’ll throw all its toys out of the pram when it gets smacked down with a thumping great penalty clause for not meeting the year’s performance targets.
GNER Mobile Office
30 October, 2006
UK Digital Radio Figures Up Again
The latest digital radio listening figures have come out in the UK. Everyone involved in the DAB radio business as they’ve all gone up.
The digital reach is up 17% from the previous year and the number of hours listened to has gone up 15% from last year.
Something rather pretentiously called the “Digitally Enabled Universe,” ie the number people who fall within the DAB radio reception, has stayed at 54% of the UK population.
The percentage of adults who own a DAB set at home remains at 15.3%.
DRDB chief executive, Ian Dickens, says: “This is great news and proves that digital radio continues to grow in popularity with listeners. Rajar’s research bears out our own findings which show that people who buy a DAB digital radio enjoy the new stations it offers and value the added choice that comes with digital listening.”
The BBC has five national DAB radio station, four of which have increased their listenership. The most popular commercial radio station is Emap’s The Hits with 1.182 million listeners.
Rajar
27 October, 2006
T-Mobile HotSpot Phone Merges WiFi/Cellular Services
Cellular phone provider T-Mobile US is offering a service, HotSpot @Home, giving unlimited calls to US phones via WiFi. This in itself isn’t big news, but what is significant is that callers leaving the range of the WiFi will automatically switch to their cellular service. Initial roll-out is limited to Seattle.
This type of service has been long-discussed, but several technical barriers stood in its way, primarily handing the call from the WiFi-connected call over to the cellular network, without losing the conversation, or a break in the speaking. It’s pretty complex.
Beyond the mechanics of the call hand-over, the riddle of when and how the subscriber would be billed when transferring to the cellular network – and stopping that billing when they reconnect to WiFi has also caused great confusion for a long time.
Cellular reception within peoples home is often pretty ropey, so using their WiFi service will give considerably better reception – making them happy bunnies.
To use the service, three items are required – two pieces of hardware and a service plan. Once the special cellular/WiFi handset has been selected (which look surprisingly decent) and the Wireless hotspot router is installed on the home network, all that is required is the add-on ($19.95/month) on top of the normal $39.95.
The two handsets currently available are the Samsung T709 slider or the Nokia 6136 flip.
BT has been offering a similar service in the UK for a while under the product name BT Fusion. The difference with BT Fusion is it uses Bluetooth to handle the wireless calls at home rather than WiFi.
T-Mobile is the mobile communications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, the German telco incumbent.
They have spent considerable effort over the recent years not only building and owning their cellular service, but doing the same with their WiFi network, clearly understanding early on that WiFi would be a significant threat to cellular services.
T-Mobile HotSpot Phone
25 October, 2006
European Mobile Users *Heart* The Web, US Not So Keen
European mobile phone users are far more likely to use their handsets to access the web than their US counterparts, according to a new comScore Networks study.
The comScore Mobile Tracking Study revealed significant differences between Europeans and Americans, with 29 percent of Europeans regularly getting online with their mobile phones compared to just 19 percent in the U.S
Breaking the European figures down, over a third (34 per cent) of Germans and Italians use their phones to access the web, followed by France with 28 percent, Spain with 26 percent and the UK with 24 percent, compared to just 19 percent for the USA.
The comScore Mobile Tracking Study also showed that geezers are more likely to access the Web from their mobile phones than women (probably looking for football scores, pubs and pr0n).
Nokia proved to be the most popular phone in Europe for accessing the web, bagging a market share ranging from 50 percent in Italy to 22 percent in France.
In the States, Motorola pushed ahead with 26 percent of the market compared to second-placed Nokia’s 17 percent share.
Portal sites were the most popular destinations for mobile surfers, with Google, Yahoo! and MSN leading the way, with branded Web sites set up by the phone operators, such as Vodafone, o2 and T-Mobile also proving a hit.
“Three-quarters of American mobile Web surfers access content from the leading online portals such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN compared to only thirty percent of Europeans,” observed Bob Ivins, the big cheese of comScore Europe.
“In Europe, the mobile Internet appears to mirror the dynamics of the fixed Internet,” said Ivins.
“Google remains strong but the other U.S.-based portals achieve much lower penetration, facing stiff competition from local competitors – in this case the mobile providers – who have the structural advantage of a degree of control over the access point and interface from the mobile phone,” he added.
comScore
23 October, 2006
Mobile J/Speedy: NFC Payments Hits Amsterdam
An NFC payment system is on trial in Amsterdam allowing people taking part to make purchases using their mobile phone.
We’re massive fans of NFC (Near Field Communications) and have been for close to two years. We see it as a significant way to enhance the function of your mobile phone (primarily), as well as a new way of getting content to your phone.
Eight companies are getting together for the latest trial, this time lead by Japanese credit card giant JCB and marks Europe’s first contactless international credit payment scheme using a Nokia 3220 with an NFC chip.
Selected JCB cardholders are provided with a mobile phone by Nokia, which are equipped with an NFC chip, developed by NXP and loaded with the JCB payment application developed by Gemalto.
The first transaction of the pilot was conducted at Sushi Time, the Japanese sushi restaurant in the World Trade Center in Amsterdam.
At selected PaySquare merchants, cardholders can securely purchase items by just holding their mobile phone close to ViVOtech’s contactless NFC reader/writer, which is attached to the payment terminal of CCV.
Approximately 100 selected JCB cardholders are now enjoying fast, easy, and convenient payments with Mobile J/Speedy at selected merchants, where they used to pay by cash.
Although it has only been one month since the trial was launched, the increasing number of repeat usage indicates a strong acceptance of the technology and a very successful pilot.
“Feedback from the first users of Mobile J/Speedy has been very encouraging and we are pleased to now be able to involve a wider group of customers,” said Hajime Matsuura, branch manager of JCB International’s Amsterdam branch.
The first European NFC-based public transport ticketing trials took place within the local bus network in the city of Hanau, near Frankfurt, Germany in 2005.
Expect plenty more news on NFC trials.
20 October, 2006
Motorola Pass 50 million Digital Set Top Boxes
Over the last ten years, Motorola has moved from the first commercial digital STB to shipping fifty million digital STBs.
Back in 1996 General Instrument Corporation, later acquired by Motorola, shipped the first Digital Consumer Terminal (DCT) Model 1000 set-top to customers. It handled both analogue and digital signals travelling over the cable.
Of the 50m units they’ve shipped, 8m of them are high-definition (HD) capable receivers and over 5 million digital video recorders.
As a way of getting to grips with the scale of 50m Motorola set-tops stacked one on top of the other, we’re told that
- they would reach a height of over 11 million feet, almost 400 times that of Mount Everest
- placed end-to-end in a straight line would cover the distance from London to Sydney, Australia.
19 October, 2006