NTL’s claim that 300K broadband offer was “more than 5 times faster than standard 56K dial-up internet” has been happy-slapped down by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who condemned it as being in breach of TV Advertising Standards Code.
The offending broadcast appeared on Broadband UK (NTL’s own, self-promotional channel) and extolled the virtues of NTL’s “3 for £30” package, which lumps in a telephone service, a digital television service and a broadband internet service.
The advert claimed that NTL’s broadband service was “more than 5 times faster than standard 56K dial-up internet” with the presenter adding that subscribers could “e-mail your friends and family all around the world a lot faster, in fact five times faster”.
A viewer was having none of it, convinced that the advertisement was misleading, because he believed that NTL’s service was only five times faster than standard dial-up internet for downloading, with upload speeds creaking along at a stately 150K.
In other words, it definitely wasn’t five times quicker a standard dial-up internet connection. No way, Jose.
Issue was also taken with the curious suggestion that emails would somehow be received “five times faster.”
NTL put up a valiant but ultimately doomed attempt to back up their claims when they were hauled in front of the ASA.
The telecoms giant insisted that it was standard industry practice to refer to the speed of broadband only in terms of download speed and, to back up their case, readily snitched on a host of competitors making similar claims.
The ASA were having none of it, pointing out that with consumers increasingly using the internet to upload digital content (e.g. photo files) they were “more likely to interpret the claim as meaning that all internet use (downloading and uploading) would be five times faster unless told otherwise.”
The ASA ruled that the advertising was misleading and that NTL should have made clear that its claim “5 times faster than standard 56K dial-up” was limited to download speed.
The Authority also found that the claim about the “five times faster” email was equally likely to mislead viewers.
Suitably chastised and ‘umbled, NTL have agreed to change the wording of future advertisements. They now have a “grace period” of three months from 8 June to ensure that their wording stays within the ASA guidelines.
There’s a big battle going on for your landline, with the Carphone Warehouse limbering up to get in some telling punches into BT’s sector dominance. 
Chief exec Charles Dunstone was ready with a quote: “We are now well on the way to developing a broad-based telecoms group, providing mobile and fixed line services to individuals and businesses across ten countries.” 
Crucially, revenues from telecoms services were up 45% to £804 million (~US$1,462m ~€1,190m), with operating profit flying up 50% to £22.5 million (~US$41m ~€33m). 
Sales of laptops outstripped the number of desktop PCs for the first time ever, according to Current Analysis. 
Once back-breaking beasts with a battery life measured in nano-seconds – and a price tag to make grown men weep – modern laptops are now faster, slimmer, more capable and, crucially, cheaper (laptop prices have fallen 17 per cent against a smaller 4 per cent fall for desktops). 
His barely-revelatory statement was backed up an announcement from Mike George, VP of consumer business for Dell US, who today revelaed that Dell will be launching a “luxury” range of computers, with their hoity-toity desktop and notebooks selling for between $1,200 (~£660, €979) and $3,500 (~£1,925, €2,855). 
The European Commission has announced plans to create a single set of European Union rules on broadcasting and the wireless spectrum. 
Europe is also looking to free up the highly lucrative wireless spectrum – currently worth something like €9 billion (~US$11bn ~£6bn) a year – and hopes that digital frequencies used by services such as mobile phone operators, police radar and radio will be brought under centralised EU control by the end of 2005. 
Bulldog Communications, the Internet and telecom group owned by Cable & Wireless, is rolling up its sleeves and shouting “Oy! Let’s be ‘aving you!” at its rivals as it doubles the speed of its broadband offering to a super-swifty 8 megabits-per-second from 4 megabits, and spread it across the UK. 
“Eight meg from Bulldog, with no download caps, gives customers the freedom to use the Internet as they wish,” he growled before retiring to his executive kennel. 
A survey by Cingular Wireless has revealed that men spend more time yakking on mobiles than women. 
Women aren’t afraid to get snapping either, with 60 percent using their camera feature frequently or occasionally against 40 percent of men using it as often. 
Research from BT shows that the number of users connecting to the Internet via broadband has overtaken dial-up subscriptions for the first time, with 7.4 million broadband customers (including cable) now online. 
High speed connections are also good news to those selling goods and services online, with an explosive growth in the consumer market for buying media online, such as films, music and television. 
Two million cable customers now enjoy broadband connectivity through NTL and Telewest. 
Cardiff vicar Reverend Kimber is hoping that by introducing wireless broadband access from the pews of his city centre church, more people will be encouraged to join his flock at St John’s Church. 
After Kimber approached BT, the company agreed to fill in the gap in Cardiff’s wireless broadband network and fitted the church with its own Openzone node, providing access to surfers sitting in the corner of the north aisle at St John’s. 
The Training Foundation has launched its Ready for Work online training programme, an employment-awareness course free to all young people in (or recently in) full-time education and those in modern apprenticeships. 
Each self study course ends with a short test to check the learner’s understanding, with an 80% or better grade qualifying the student for an optional Ready for Work Certificate and Ready for Work Handbook. 
David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce roared his approval: “We need initiatives such as Ready for Work, which can help to ensure that young people leaving full-time education and training are equipped with skills that are both relevant for the workplace and will help advance their careers.” 
The insatiable appetite of hungry surfers desperate for more information, analysis and intelligence has fuelled a database market growth of 10.3 percent in 2004, according to research released by the Gartner Group. 
Despite being a still a relatively small part of the overall RDBMS market, the Linux segment is as hot as an extra spicy vindaloo, registering 118 percent growth in 2004, more than doubling from US$300 million in 2003 to over US$650 million in 2004.