Geographic

BT Cashes In To Goverment Money
BT have been enjoying government payouts to maintain their networks.
Interesting news for all those that thought it was many years since BT was an ailing monopoly to be propped up by a Labour government.
It was revealed in an answer to a parliamentary question (text below), that around £7 million has been paid to BT in England and Wales, and a contract for work in Scotland, that is not yet complete, should benefit the Telco goliath to the tune of a further £16.5 million. BT has also received undisclosed sums from the East Midlands Development Agency to extend broadband availability in the region.
Now this might come as a surprise to those who’ve got the impression that BT was doing this along with its investment in the so-called 21C network, as some sort of “Noblesse Oblige”.
Looking back over our archives for January of this year, it put a smile on our faces to see BT, when defending itself against smears of improper financial assistance related to the UK property rating system, responded to criticism leveled by those terrible bureaucrats in Brussels with…
“BT is surprised that the European Commission is to investigate the UK government over the property rates that BT has been paying. In BT’s view, any allegation of state aid would be groundless as BT has received no benefit from the UK government. BT is confident that the UK government will demonstrate the fairness of the UK ratings system.”
Expect smaller UK operators to cry foul – with some justification – as they see the dominant player’s position reinforced by government money, and BT’s competitive edge further strengthened in areas that include upgrading their network for TV delivery.
(Ed: Looking at this information, it feels wrong that BT are being given public money to maintain their network, one which they are directly gaining income from. This benefit isn’t passed back to the general public who are funding it, but instead to BT’s shareholders.
—-Fully text of the questions and answer.
Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire, Con)
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total amount of financial subsidies and grants received by BT has been since 1997 for the purpose of extending broadband availability in the UK.
Alun Michael (Minister of State (State (Industry and the Regions)), Department of Trade and Industry)
Since 1997 BT has received the following financial sums to enable exchanges to extend broadband availability in the UK:East of England Development Agency paid BT approximately £500,000, to enable most of their remaining exchanges in BED A areas. This was awarded through the Broadband Aggregation programme.
Following a competitive tender South West Regional Development Agency awarded BT approximately £3900,000 to enable some exchanges in the Cornwall area.
Following a competitive tender, BT in Wales was awarded £3.6 million of European Structural Funding to upgrade over 40 BT telephone exchanges from UXD5, making ISDB2 services available to 99 per cent. of BT lines. The investment was also used to enable Digital Subscriber Lines, ahead of the commercial roll-out programme for the UK, in BT exchanges in market towns across Wales. It is estimated that the total project value was around £6 million.
Following a full EU Procurement Process to extend broadband availability in the North East region, BT was paid £1,830,345. This sum is subject to a downward adjustment, in accordance with a reverse contribution scheme, which operates to repay money to the Agency if broadband take up in the region exceeds a prescribed level.
£364k was awarded to Vale Royal Local Authority acting on behalf of the Cheshire Digital Development Agency who, following a competitive tender through the North West Regional Aggregation Body, awarded BT a contract to enable of a series of remote rural exchanges in Cheshire.
In Cumbria, Your Communications was awarded a large infrastructure project (Project Access) contract for approximately £17 million following a negotiated, state aid approved OJEU competitive tender. Your Communications sub contracted part of the contract with a value of around £1 million to BT for the early enablement of all the exchanges in Cumbria and specifically for the enablement of 14 exchanges in the remotest areas of the sub region.
In Scotland £16.5 million was awarded to BT following competitive tender. The roll-out has not yet been completed so not all the money has been paid as yet. The European Commission was notified under State Aid rules.East Midlands Development Agency has worked with BT on a number of sub- regional strategic partnerships, to extend broadband availability. As part of the contractual arrangements confidentiality agreements were signed by the sub- regional partnerships to protect information as commercial in confidence. Accordingly, this information is not be available for disclosure.
Hansard reference
1 December, 2005
TiVo Announces Advertising Search For Television
TiVo has announced that it plans to offer the first TV-based advertising “search solution” early next year.
Starting in Spring 2006, TiVo’s new television search capabilities will, apparently, “enhance the TV viewing experience” by delivering targeted advertising to subscribers interested in viewing particular advertising categories.
Hotshot media and advertising agencies like Interpublic Media, OMD, Starcom Mediavest Group, The Richards Group and Comcast Spotlight have teamed up with TiVo to develop the product and help determine relevant categories of interest (cars, travel, telecommunications, and consumer packaged goods etc) as well as work out pricing models.
TiVo claim their new technology will allow companies to shunt on-demand, consumer targeted TV advertising to viewers without the limitations of traditional television media placement.
With punters able to search for products by category or associated keywords, TiVo sees big benefits for advertisers (obviously) and punters looking for information on products or services.
The (ahem) “heightened viewer experience” offered by the new service is claimed to deliver “non-intrusive, relevant, interactive advertising, on an opt-in basis.”
TiVo subscribers electing to use the search service will be able to retain control over their “viewing experience” by creating a “viewer contributed profile” via the set-top box that will enable them to receive advertisements based on their interests (we wonder if there’s a “begone hideous advertisers forever” profile available?)
“TiVo is once again introducing to the TV landscape a new and innovative advertising solution that is intended to deliver an even better viewing experience for subscribers,” purred Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo.
Supping deeply on a morning brew of Buzzword Coffee, Tracey Scheppach, VP, Video Innovations Director at Starcom, enthused “The new TiVo application will provide both a needed platform for consumers to seek out relevant, searchable commercial content and an environment for advertisers to engage highly desirable and motivated consumers…it’s the first of its kind in the industry, and a platform that is clearly needed in this challenging advertising marketplace.”
The new service follows a successful interactive direct response advertising program on TiVo in August, where subscribers were able to respond to customised “calls to action” in select commercial spots.
Funnily enough, when we’re bombarded with advertising, the only “call to action” we get is to turn the ruddy thing off.
30 November, 2005
Legal Digital Music Downloaders Not Kids Shocker!
US analyst firm JupiterResearch has surveyed the American digital music market, and discovered that the bulk of paying downloaders come from the 25-44 age group.
The survey found that sixty-two percent of digital service users and 60 percent of subscribers are between the ages of 25 and 44.
More than half of the subscribers are women, but it’s the blokes who are predictably hitting the download button most, fuelled by a crazed desire to compulsively fill up their MP3 players.
JupiterResearch describes both types of buyers as coming from “music aficionados” segment – they’re the 13 percent of online adults who are “digitally active” and already spend a lot on music.
Online music buyers were found to still discover new music through traditional means, like radio shows and music videos shown on TV, with recommendations (both in stores and online) having an impact.
Online radio was seen to be a growing influence as were new tools like playlists and music blogs, but the report found that stronger integration with online radio and more promotion was necessary to make punters aware of these potentially powerful discovery tools.
Although still a minor earner in overall US entertainment expenditure, growth in the digital music market is explosive.
Spending on downloads and subscription services is expected to double in 2005, surpassing $750 million, with 20 million US music fans on course to buy digital downloads this year—mostly from Apple’s iTunes store.
But it’s not all smiles in the industry, with JupiterResearch’s European Music Consumer Survey warning that the music industry may be facing an unsure future with three times as many consumers using illegal file-sharing networks in preference to legitimate services.
The report blames non credit card-holding kids, claiming that 34 per cent of 15-24-year olds use file-sharing services, and this is “impacting the way they value music with many having little concept of music as a paid commodity.”
JupiterResearch claims that Da Kidz see CDs as irrelevant, crap value for money and so prefer to copy rather than buy CDs.
With a wagging finger, Jupiter Research warned the industry, “Unless these consumers are encouraged to develop music purchasing behaviour soon they may never develop meaningful music buying habits,”
JupiterResearch
30 November, 2005
3 Italia Buys TV Broadcaster: Now First Euro Hybrid Mobile TV Co
In a sure sign that TV to the mobile is the new European media battleground, 3G mobile operator 3 Italia have announced its plans to purchase the Italian national broadcaster, Canale 7. Reports have put the price of the acquisition at between €30-35m.
The addition of Canale 7, Italy’s fourth largest broadcaster, gives the company access to the country’s existing home TV business. Canale 7 currently broadcasts in analogue to around 40% of Italy, predominantly its north. More interestingly, it also has a terrestrial digital TV nationwide network operator’s license. This should provide coverage for over 70% of the country.
It is expected that 3 Italia will work to develop a Pay-TV and interactive services proposition for handhelds. We also understand their intention would be for Canale 7’s nationwide digital project to be integrated with 3 Italia’s UMTS mobile network to create a DVB-H network.
The company intends to offer a DVB-H mobile TV service from the second half of 2006. Indications are that there will be a minimum of 20 channels, although no line up has yet been decided. 3 Italia already carries Playboy adult entertainment and football via existing technology, and has worked with Mediaset and News Corp’s Sky Italia pay-TV operator.
Italy is already one of Europe’s leaders in mobile consumption and is considered to be a prime market for such services. Reports we’ve seen rather puzzlingly mention a “standard of video quality comparable to DVD” perhaps somewhat unlikely on the small screens that will be deployed for this sector – but we’re sure the picture will be absolutely bella.
3 Italia, which is owned by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, has so far invested €9bn in its 3G network since obtaining a license from the Italian government in 2000. It currently has around 4.8 million Italian subscribers. Hutchison Whampoa also own 3G licenses in other countries including the UK.
3 Italia
Canale 7
29 November, 2005
NBC Take First Pop At TivoToGo Enhancement
As we predicted last week, the US TV networks are not taking the new TiVo enhancements to its TivoToGo lying down.
NBC are making the early running, with a spokesman telling the Hollywood’s Daily Variety trade paper, “TiVo appears to be acting unilaterally, disregarding established rights of content owners to participate in decisions regarding the distribution and exploitation of their content. This unilateral action creates the risk of legal conflict instead of contributing to the constructive exploitation of digital technology that can rapidly provide new and exciting experiences for the consumer.”
Legal types though, are quoting the landmark Sony v. Universal Studios case of 1984, citing it as a precedent where time shifting was expressly found to fall within fair use. Although this particular case has come under the microscope recently, during the Grockster case, where the the US Supreme Court ruled that companies could be liable if they deliberately encourage customers to infringe on copyrights.
It could be, that time will prove TiVo have announced prematurely this new augmentation, without fully taking account of the wide ranging business and legal implications. But in this fast moving sector, innovation is a necessity rather than an option.
TiVo
29 November, 2005
UK Broadband To Peak At 60% Adoption: Datamonitor
Broadband adoption in the UK may soon be reaching its peak, according to a new report from Datamonitor.
The analyst firm says that although consumer adoption of broadband is at its fastest rate yet in Europe, it expects national broadband adoption to peak at around 60 per cent.
Broadband is currently used by at least half of all internet users in the UK, but looks set to follow the US market where broadband take-up has slowed sharply.
By the end of 2005, nearly eight million UK households should be hooked up to a broadband connection with report author Tim Gower predicting “a good eighteen months to two years of strong penetration increases across Western Europe before markets begin to mature.”
Although we’re nearly broadbanded out in Europe, the report sees excellent opportunities for growth in less mature markets.
“The current situation in many markets is best described as one of rapidly increasing penetration, where broadband has effectively entered its growth sweet spot,” observed Gower.
“With some markets potentially experiencing changes in the household penetration of broadband of up to 10 per cent in a calendar year, service providers must be well positioned to take advantage of the forthcoming penetration acceleration, prior to the inevitable slowdown,” he added.
The report found that DSL and ADSL were the most popular broadband technologies, with adoption being driven by cheaper access rates, marketing campaigns and the growing popularity of broadband-reliant applications like iTunes.
Datamonitor
28 November, 2005
MetroNet Bought By PlusNet in £1.7m UK Broadband Deal
MetroNet, UK broadband ISP, has been purchased by PlusNet in an all cash deal for £1.7m.
MetroNet, who came first in the most recent Which? survey of UK ISPs, happens to be the broadband provider to Digital-Lifestyles HQ. We’ve found them very impressive – the speed of the service is good, the customer services is rapid and responsive and their online software is solid.
MetroNet has grown since their start in 2003 to 16,000 subscribers, turning over £2.1m bringing an operating profit of £40,000 in the year ended 31 March 2005. They have net cash of over ~~£200,000~~ (update, final figures) £400,000. Bearing this in mind, we estimate that each subscriber has been valued at ~~£93.75~~ £81.25.
PlusNet have been running for over eight years, and were, out of interest, 7th in the Which? survey that MetroNet topped. They currently have 150k users.
Speaking to PlusNet about the future of MetroNet, we were told that short term nothing will change. But longer term, as the purchase sinks in, MetroNet subscribers will be moved over to PlusNet network and 24-hour support system. They thought that longer term translated to some time next year.
PlusNet offer a number of services that MetroNet currently don’t, including a SIP-based VoIP system called PlusTalk which connects to other open standard systems like SIPGate.
We, and we assume other MetroNet subscribers, hope that the high quality of service that we’ve received from them continues, without interruption, in the transition to PlusNet.
An interesting feature of the broadband market in the UK is that changing to another provider is relatively painless, which makes it all the more important that a consistently good service is delivered to the subscriber.
MetroNet
PlusNet
28 November, 2005
A Wi-Fi’d Welshman In New York
For techie-obsessives like the Digital Lifestyles crew, keeping connected when we’re away from home is right up there with finding a roof over our heads, so when we went off to New York, we made sure we packed our Sony laptop and Wi-Fi enabled smartphone – even on holiday.
We weren’t to be disappointed.
Unlike the UK, where the provision of Wi-Fi is often only seen as a revenue earner for landlords, café owners and telecoms companies, we had no problem hooking up for free all over New York.
Maybe it’s the fact that the apartments are so small in New York – or that the coffee keeps on getting refilled for free – but we were surprised by the popularity of cafes and bars serving up free Wi-Fi to their customers.
Wherever we went, a quick boot up of our laptop (or i-Mate JAMM smartphone/SanDisk wi-fi card) would inevitably produce a mile long list of networks available.
We successfully logged in for free all over New York – in the East Village, Williamsburg, Lower East Side, Central Park, SoHo, you name it! – and were able to fire off emails and download tunes for nowt while enjoying coffee and bagels in several fine hostelries.
One rather unfortunate side-effect of all this free connectivity was that once-bustling cafes turned into conversation-free libraries, with rows of transfixed surfers staring intently into their screens, with the silence only broken by intermittent bursts of keyboard activity.
The only prospect of striking up a conversation seemed to be when you’re ordering your cream cheese on everything bagel or if someone asked for help logging on.
Clearly, Apple’s promotional machine is doing its stuff in NYC – wherever we went we’d see a cluster of glowing Apple logos emanating from every dark corner, with only a few lonely Dells, Sony’s and IBM’s for company.
In the café demographic, there’s no denying that Apple rule!
In our Williamsburg ~~squat~~ apartment, we managed to find several open networks, and usually had no problem getting connected – even if it did mean sometimes holding the laptop at eye level in the far corner of the room.
One thing to remember when logging in to free Wi-Fi networks is to always have a good firewall and up-to-date virus protection installed – and do it discretely because in the US (like the UK), connecting to open networks can can get you into trouble.
On the street, one handset seemed to be stuck in almost every New Yorker’s hand: the Palm Treo 750. They love the phone!
We found ourselves looking enviously at Noo Yoikers barking into the Treo’s speakerphone or knocking out emails on its natty keyboard – if only Palm had delivered on their promise of a Wi-Fi card (or if we enjoyed the same kind of cheapo cellular data rates as the US) we’d have gladly joined the Treo Club.
Still, our i-Mate JAMM worked well enough, although the limitations of its ‘soft’ keyboard soon started to cut short planned long email messages home, although we managed to keep our New York blog updated using the freeware Blogs In Hand software.
We had no problem finding a mobile signal (via T-Mobile) throughout the city, although we’re fearing the arrival of our next bill.
Finally SMS is starting to make an impact in the US, long-standing network interoperability problems has resulted in texting being nowhere near as popular as in the UK – our messages to New York chums were the first texts they’d ever received!
After gorging ourselves on free Wi-Fi for two weeks (and bagels too, come to think about it), it has to be said New York kicks London’s ass when it comes to Wi-Fi connectivity, but it’s not all good news: have you seen the price of the beer out there? And the diddy mini-‘pint’ glasses they serve them in? Outrageous!
24 November, 2005
Are Media Owners Trying To Hijack Terror Legislation?
The digital rights campaigning group, Open Rights Group, reports that the music industry is lobbying MEPs to co-opt the EU Data Retention legislation currently being debated by the European Parliament.
Music industry body, the Creative and Media Business Alliance (CMBA), wants data-snooping legislation aimed at the prevention of terrorism to be made available for the prosecution of any crime, such as copyright infringement.
The move has been condemned by the Open Rights Group and other civil liberties groups across Europe, with campaigners calling on the Alliance’s members – which include industry bigwigs like Sony BMG, Warner Music, Disney, and EMI – to retract their demands.
The Data Retention draft framework was originally cooked up by Sweden, Ireland, France and the UK, aiming at “the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of serious criminal offences such as terrorism and organised crime” by forcing telecommunications and Internet service providers to retain ‘traffic data’ (i.e. information about your phone calls and Internet activities.)
Keen to exploit the legislation for their own commercial gain, the CMBA has demanded that this data should be made available for the prosecution of any crime – e.g. illegal music file sharing – and not just serious organised crime and terrorism.
Coupled with the upcoming IPRED2 legislation (which creates new, Europe-wide criminal offences for intellectual property infringement), campaigners fear that we could end up with a situation where the music industry would be able to pursue criminal court copyright prosecutions entirely at the cost of the taxpayer.
Worryingly, the Open Rights Group reports that the both the Data Retention and IPRED2 directives are being “fast-tracked” through the EU by short-circuiting normal legislative processes.
This means that there will only be one reading in the European Parliament, instead of the normal two, with sources from within the Parliamentary system indicating that some MEPs aren’t aware that the usual democratic process is being bypassed.
A tight timetable means that MEPs are only going to have a couple of days to assess the Data Retention proposal with the final vote occurring on the 13 December.
“The passing of the Data Retention directive would be a disaster not just for civil liberties and human rights in Europe”, said Open Rights Group director Suw Charman, “it would also put a substantial financial burden on telcos and ISPs which would be passed on to the consumer either in the form of raised bills or through government subsidies funded by the taxpayer.”
Ian Brown, of the Open Rights Group (not the Stone Roses), said: “The British government claimed that Data Retention was essential in the fight against terrorism and serious crime, but it has now become clear that groups with commercial interests have their eye on the same data. Charles Clarke cannot continue to pretend that this legislation has been drafted purely for reasons of national security.”
Gus Hosein, Senior Fellow at Privacy International, was equally unimpressed: “The EU has been claiming that data retention was some urgent policy response to terrorist attacks. But they are carefully drafting this legislation to ensure that it can be used for all purposes under the sun.”
“Ironically, the EU seems to be going at it alone: even the U.S. Bush Administration is not proposing such a ludicrous policy, despite the strong lobbying by Hollywood.” he added.
There are fears that if the CMBA is successful, the increased number of demands for access could affect the usefulness of the legislation as an anti- terrorism tool.
The Open Rights Group argue that if British record labels set up prosecution ‘production lines’ like their American counterparts, the system could collapse under the strain, clogging up reasonable and legitimate enquiries into genuine terrorist or serious crime activity.
Today, Sjoera Nas, Board Member of EDRi and Co-Director of Bits of Freedom presented a 58,000 signatures petition to the Chairman of the Committee, Green Party MEPs, Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats.
Nas commented, “Last minute negotiations with representatives of the European Council have lead to what we feared the worst – a draconian directive that flies in the face of our recommendations.”
“We can only hope that the European Parliament will come to its senses and realise that they cannot turn Europe into a surveillance society overnight without throwing away all human rights,” she added.
Open Rights Group
24 November, 2005
BitTorrent Signs Anti-Piracy Agreement With MPAA
P2P network, BitTorrent has signed an agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America to collaborate on stopping Internet piracy.
After a press conference, a joint release was released by BitTorrent founder and CEO Bram Cohen and MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman announcing that BitTorrent have agreed to remove all links directing users to pirated content owned by the seven MPAA member companies.
The agreement will effectively prevent bittorrent.com from locating unlicensed versions of popular movies, making it harder for freeloaders to find online illegal copies of films.
“BitTorrent is an extremely efficient publishing tool and search engine that allows creators and rights holders to make their content available on the Internet securely,” Cohen said.
“BitTorrent Inc. discourages the use of its technology for distributing films without a license to do so. As such, we are pleased to work with the film industry to remove unauthorised content from BitTorrent.com’s search engine,” he added.
Thousand of BitTorrent fans the world over will be clenching their fists and shouting “Traitor! You’re doing deals with the Devil,” while other more balanced, less angry-types will be saying “Smart move Bram, you’ve built a technology that they cannot stop and the fact they’ve done a deal with you proves that. Hey and you’re not getting your shirt sued off your back.”
In September, Cohen revealed that his company had raked in $8.75 million in venture funding to develop commercial distribution tools for media companies, and the MPAA deal looks to be part of a strategy to make the technology more attractive to Hollywood moguls – no doubt with an eye to future lucrative movie download deals.
With an estimated 45 million users, the BitTorrent technology pioneered by Cohen does its clever stuff by assembling digital files from separate bits of data downloaded from computer users all across the Internet.
The decentralised nature of technology makes it the easiest, most convenient way to fill your hard drive with dodgy movies galore, while making it harder for Hollywood to find and identify the movie swappers.
In an attempt to stop the piracy, the MPAA has been slapping lawsuits around like confetti during the last year, successfully closing down 90% of targeted sites using the BitTorrent protocol for illegal distribution of movies.
The MPAA claims that the film industry lost $3.5 billion to movie piracy last year, with a recent study predicting the figure to jump to $5.4 billion this year. The MPAA claim these losses are excluding revenue lost through online file-swapping, so the true figure could be even higher (although other will say the figures are already gloriously exaggerated).
With tears welling up in their eyes, the MPAA said that film copying hurts hundreds of thousands of employees dependent on the movie industry, including sound and lighting techies, carpenters, cinema staff, video store employees and quite probably the popcorn sales assistant too.
But not, we suspect, the fatcat industry bigwigs.
BitTorrent
23 November, 2005