Broadband – Page 5 – Digital-Lifestyles

BT Shout “We’re Number One” In Broadband

BT Shout We are Number One In Broadband BT are rather pleased with themselves today as they’ve gained the number one position, as Britain’s most popular broadband retailer.

They now got 3.66m broadband customers which, in their words “leapfrogs” them over Virgin Media (NTL/ Telewest as was).

BT are of course running a reduced price scheme for the first six months of sign up – as are Virgin Media. The big difference between the two offers is the entry price – BT £8.95/month and VM £14.99. We would suggest that this has had a major impact in achieving BT’s current number one position (as well as buying PlusNet a short while back).

We’ve just a little, quick maths on the number of BT’s subscribers.

There’s healthy cash flows for BT in this game. Even taking the customers to be on the lowest package, they’ll be clawing in £66m _per month_. This rises to £91m if people are on the highest package.

On a yearly basis that’s broadband subscriptions earning for BT of between £792m and 1.092 Billion a year! Don’t forget you also _have_ to have a phone line with them to have their broadband, so extra earning there.

Not a bad little business broadband has turned out to be for them really. Makes you wonder why they were so reluctant to get going back in the late ’90’s/early 2000’s.

Tivo Swivel Search Launched: Content Beyond The Box

Tivo have released a new search function that searches over not only the content on the box or that provided by the broadcaster subscribed to, but stretches beyond this to encompass relevant results from the TiVoCast service and Amazon Unbox™ on TiVo.
Continue reading Tivo Swivel Search Launched: Content Beyond The Box

UK Access To Broadband Figures From 2000 – 2006

Want a quick recap on how the growth in the access to broadband has gone in the UK?

Lucky for you Christopher Huhne, the Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh asked the DTI

how many and what proportion of homes had access to broadband in each year since 2000; what (a) estimates of and (b) targets for broadband access his Department has made for future years;

Which led Margaret Hodge to share the following
Continue reading UK Access To Broadband Figures From 2000 – 2006

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK Pt 3/3

With all of these moves towards digital delivery in entertainment, we thought it would be worthwhile understanding one of the key items in this process – how to get the digital content to UK households.

Steve Kennedy is an acknowledged expert in the telecoms and data networks field, so it was an obvious choice for us to ask him to write an overview of how other IP operators can compete with BT – by creating their own data network. To do this, they need to put their own equipment into the telephone exchanges that connect to peoples houses. That process is Local Loop Unbundling (LLU).

Over three parts, we’ll give you a full background in LLU in the UK.

The two previous pieces gave an overview of LLU and which companies are players in the UK; and LLU Penetration in the UK and the (un)Economics of it.

OpenLLU
The operators should have joined forces and built a single LLU infrastructure between them and then competed on service. This would have meant a second national network to compete with BT’s 21CN allowing operators to compete with BT on their own terms.

Wales First For BT's 21CN Next-Gen Network Rollout Also a single network would have meant it could go to many more of the 5,600 DLEs than the 1,200 everyone’s competing for at the moment.

Unfortunately competition is so fierce between the telecoms operators it will never happen – much to their joint detriment.

Broadband Competition
BT is still the biggest player by far and they’ll try and increase market share when they launch their 21CN. Many operators are underestimating the effect of BT’s 21CN and how quickly BT can launch it.

When they do launch, they are trying to get back to a situation whereby everyone else once again becomes a BT reseller.

Virgin Media have around 4m customers, but they have little money for expansion and are likely to use LLU in future to provide broadband services. They’re stance is even worse now Sky have pulled their basic channels, which is likely to cause customers to migrate to Sky and if enough go, then Virgin Media may be in a sticky situation (the city won’t look kindly on a reduced customer base).

Wireless is the next big hope
Unfortunately there’s very little spectrum available for wireless broadband in the UK, though 2.5GHz is going to be made available for auction later this year, but it wont be cheap. It was reserved for 3G use, so there may be bids from 3G operators but it’s also bang in the middle of the frequencies WiMAX can use (BT have already said they’re interested in bidding for it).

Other companies who do have spectrum are: –

* PCCW (UK Broadband) who have a national 3.4GHz license.

* Pipex Wireless who have a national 3.6/4.2 GHz license.

It’s not clear whether the recent Pipex sale announcement covers the wireless side or not.

Future
Content will be key, access will just be a delivery channel for content and broadband will just be a commodity item (making it even more uneconomic to roll-out).

There’s going to be even more consolidation in the industry and BT will win either way (more LLU customers mean BT get more customers, if it fails, BT Wholesale get more customers).

BT will also dominate when they roll-out their 21CN, they want to be the Sky of fixed networks i.e. use them to deliver the content and they take a big chunk for the customer charge for doing so).

The future’s bright – but only for BT.

Full Version of Wii Internet Channel Now Available

To celebrate the release of the Wii Internet Channel
Digital-Lifestyles now is formatted specifically for
the Nintendo Wii. To see it, just look us up on your Wii.

Since the launch of the Wii there’s been a beta version of the Opera Web browser available for the surprise success active console.

That all changes today when the full version becomes available for download through the Wii Shop Channel – the area on the console where additional applications and services are accessed.

Nintendo are really pushing the Family Web browsing feature of the new setup – wisely in our view. Multiple controllers can be used during a Browsing session, letting many members of the family point out areas of interest

The release version adds features such being able to set the resolution of the browsing to the size of your monitor; having no margins when browsing; two types of zooming when browsing (continual zooming is now included); fonts now remain anti-aliased no matter how deep the zoom; searching Google and Yahoo is offered by default; scrolling using the up-down-left-right control pad. The comprehensive list of these and their description are available at the bottom of this article.

Full Version of Wii Internet Channel Now Available

What’s it like to use?
Travelling to and through the Internet Channel is remarkably easy on the Wii. Given its built in Wi-Fi connectivity and simple menuing, getting it running is simple.

This is added to by navigating the Web pages being a doddle using the position-sensing pointer device known as the Wii-mote. In fact, we found it makes you wish you always had something that simple available when you have to navigate your computer from a sofa.

If you’ve not used the Wii (we recommend that you do, if you haven’t), take a look at the video that Opera has created to show the experience

[QUICKTIME http://www.opera.com/products/devices/nintendo/wii/video/wii-demo.mov 320 240]

Strangely the download is only free until 30 June this year, but once downloaded will remain free for “the lifetime of the system.”

Checkout the feature at the Opera site

New Internet Channel features

Zoom – The Internet Channel features two types of zoom: manual and automatic. The automatic zoom was first introduced in the trial version and allows users to select a point with the remote and zoom into that point at an auto-detected level. Manual zoom now gives the user the option to zoom the entire page at self-determined intervals. Nintendo also introduces the “outline font” feature which prevents fonts from appearing blurred no matter the zoom level in use.

Search – A search button has been added to the start page and to the browser toolbar. Choose between Yahoo! Search and Google as preselected search engines. Your selection can be changed at any time, or a different search engine can be used by typing the address of the search engine you wish to use.

Scroll – To help users understand their scrolling motions, a new scrolling display guide has been added to the Internet Channel that indicates the direction and speed of the scroll. In addition to scrolling by pressing the B Button, users can also scroll by pressing the +Control Pad, for four-directional scrolling. This allows you to scroll the screen without having to point the remote at the TV.
Ease of use – The Internet Channel now offers more user feedback when surfing. Users will encounter new sounds, animations and loading cursor graphics, creating a more complete browsing experience.
Multiple cursors – The Internet Channel now displays the cursors of multiple Wii remotes. The primary Wii Remote can control actions on the screen, while the other Wii Remotes can point out interesting content.
Hide the toolbar – Users are now given the option to display or hide the toolbar in the settings menu. Also, there are new advanced key presses for each toolbar function allowing users to surf with the toolbar off.

.B Button + Left Arrow = Search
.B Button + Right Arrow = Enter web address
.B Button + Up Arrow = Reload
.B Button + Down Arrow = Favorites
.B Button + (+) key = Page forward
.B Button + (-) key = Page backward
Response time – The Internet Channel now sports improved performance and response times upon start up, when loading the favourites menu and in the toolbar.
Parental Controls
Parents who want to control access to the Internet Channel should refer to the Parental Controls options available in the Wii System Settings. To access these settings, return to the Wii Menu and select the Wii icon.

24/24 Video By Orange France Gets Paramount Deal

Orange France have picked up a deal with the US studio Paramount Pictures, to distribute their content in France.

24/24 Video By Orange France Gets Paramount Deal It’s not just old content that will be available, but new productions from Paramount including DreamWorks titles, which will be among the latest films available.

Orange France customers with a broadband digital television package or a High-Speed Internet package will be able to enjoy a Video-On-Demand programming schedule including the studio’s latest releases, such as Mission Impossible III, Over the Hedge and World Trade Center, among others.

There’s over 2,500 films, in French or original language versions with subtitles, available on the 24/24 Video service currently, which costs from 3 Euros to rent for 24 hours. Usual features such as unlimited viewing, pause functions and fast forward and rewind are available.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK

Over the next three days we’ll give you a full background in LLU in the UK.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK What is Local Loop Unbundling (LLU)?
LLU is the ability to put equipment into BT exchanges (know as DLEs – Digital Local Exchange) and take over the copper line into the premises.

There are two forms known as Option 2 (metallic path facility as BT call it) and Option 4 (shared metallic path facility).

Option 4 characteristics: –

Operator takes over the line and only offers broadband services (of course they can offer services on top of the basic connectivity).
BT retain control of voice services.
BT send out the “Blue Bill”, this includes line rental and voice traffic which means they can still market their services to the customer.

Option 2 characteristics: –

Operators takes over the line completely.
No BT blue bill.

Once the operator has put the equipment into the DLE, then they have to connect it back to their own network. BT can provide this using BES (Backhaul Extension Services) or the operator can use their own connectivity solution. Most operators don’t have the coverage to provide their own connectivity solutions.

DLEs
BT have around 5,600 DLEs across the UK (i.e. telephone exchanges) and these have customers connected to them. Around 1,200 are in densely populated areas, another 800 or so with medium populations and the rest in rural areas.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK Any operator wanting to offer broadband (and possibly voice) has to put their equipment in these DLEs. However there is a cost to unbundling an exchange (around 100,000 including backhaul) which means operators are only targeting the most densely populated ones.

LLU Operators
Operators who have unbundled exchanges are: –

Any operator with a “-” after has been acquired by another player.

* AOL (UK) Ltd – CPW
* Be Unlimited – O2
* Bulldog Communications Ltd – Users to Pipex, LLU C&W
* Cable and Wireless Ltd
* Computacenter PLC
* Easynet – Sky
* Eaton Power Solutions
* eXstream Networks Ltd
* Groestar Ltd
* Kingston Communications (Hull) Plc
* Lancaster University
* Leanwood Communications Limited
* Lumison
* Nestor Electronics Ltd
* Opal Telecom (CPW)
* Pipemedia Ltd
* Pipex Internet Ltd – who knows, up for sale
* Tiscali
* T-Mobile
* UKBB
* Unisys Ltd
* Updata Infrastructure UK Ltd
* Videonetworks Ltd – Tiscali
* Wanadoo
* WB-Internet Ltd
* Zen Internet Limited

Some of the smaller players are conducting trials and some are just offering private services (like Updata who offer connectivity solutions to councils etc).

Tomorrow, the penetration of LLU in the UK and the economics of it.

Guinness World Records Joost Deal Live

Guinness World Records TV have been in touch to let us know that they’ve just completed a deal with Joost.

Guinness World Record Joost Deal Live We weren’t expecting to be so Joost-tastic today, but when the news arrives, you’ve got to tell it.

Initially 35 hours will be made available comprising of their UK show, Ultimate Guinness World Records. It’s available to Joost viewers globally.

They haven’t hung around either in getting the content out. Checking the latest incarnation of Joost, we see that the content is up there already.

Additional content will be added on a monthly basis, with Guinness World Record (GWR) making the point that they’ll be “controlling its programming line-up on the platform.”

They’ve got 400 hours of it, so there’s plenty more to come.

Both sides are in back-slapping mode with Rob Molloy, Director of Television at Guinness World Records keen to keep the door open to deliver their content to other platforms by saying “We are thrilled to be partnering with a company as exciting as Joost, once again this shows how easily Guinness World Records content can be adapted to fit into so many areas of new media and for such varied audiences.”

Guinness World Record Joost Deal Live Yvette Alberdingkthijm, EVP of content strategy and acquisition Joost took the pun-ing route of “We are delighted to have Guinness World Records on board and look forward to offering our viewers record breaking content.”

It’s interesting to realise that GWR TV is part of the HIT Entertainment who own the hugely popular children’s content Bob the Builder, Barney and Thomas the Tank Engine.

We wonder if this GWR deal is a tester for HIT, opening the doors for a much bigger deal to be coming out.

Guinness World Records TV

Joost v0.9 Out: Grab Your Name Quick

There’s a new version of Joost just out today – v0.9 – and amongst the changes, is the switch from using an email address to login to using a username.

Any of those who were slow getting on the Skype-train and ended up with a crummy username take note, you need to act fast to get your name of choice.

To add to the pressure of this, Joost are also giving an extra five invites away to each Joost Member, so the names are disappearing fast.

What else is different with the new version?
The first thing you’ll notice when it starts up is that it now opens in full screen.

The ident has been moved from its previous dominant central position to the bottom right hand corner. The upcoming programme name has now taken its place now middle centre.

There’s been a little fiddling with the icons. Of particular note is the design and function of the one to the right of the channel name. It still brings up the programmes that are available on the channel, but it now has a back button that takes you to a menu of channels – logical really.

Content rating also appears to have been added – or perhaps I haven’t previously looked at any content that needed rating.

Picking The Prodigy, Smack My Bitch Up (Live), I was met with a screen asking me to confirm that I was indeed over 18 (quite why it was needed to see this is anyone’s guess). Interestingly the muted video appeared to run in the background, while I was working out exactly just how old I was.

Those of you who have been watching the development of Joost, will notice that the adverts are getting just a little bit longer and more corporate. The latest addition appears to be an advert for IBM notebooks, while it is visually interesting (for the first viewing), it’s hardly cutting edge funk-ville.

The only downside we’ve found so far is that it crashes – not something that we had a problem with in Joost or The Venice Project before.

Ooo … and we’ve seen there’s a promo video up on the Joost site too (new to us). It’s here below for your delectation.

[QUICKTIME http://static.joost.com/videos/joostvideo.mov 320 240 false true]

Joost

Over Half Of UK Adults Have Home Broadband

Industry body Ofcom has published its Digital Progress Report, the result of taking a long goosey gander at current trends in the UK broadband industry up until the end of last year.

Over Half Of UK Adults Have Home Broadband The report found that half of all UK adults live in broadband-connected households, up 11% from 12 months ago and a hefty seven times increase from 2002.

Folks connected to broadband lines are getting good use of it too, with 63% of adults using it daily, while 30% went online at least once a week.

Video content was viewed by 51% of adults with broadband at home, with 26% watching video clips every week.

Over two thirds (70%) of broadband-connected adults bought products or services online, and over half had carried out banking transactions.

Broadband users were found to spend on average 9.1 hours online per week, over double the amount of people still connecting via screechy modems in dial-up.

Over Half Of UK Adults Have Home Broadband Although just under half of users had no idea how fast they were connecting to the Internet, the report put the average headline connection speed at 3.8Mbps (up from 1.6Mbps in 2005).

Voice over IP (VoIP) services like Skype have seen an increased take up, with one in ten adults making calls over the Internet, double the amount compared to the end of 2005. Of those using VoIP, 14% said they were making calls daily with a further 30% making calls several times per week.

Bundling
Bundling was found to be an important factor for consumers choosing their ISP, with 40% of all adults with broadband at home using other communications services from the same provider.

Wi-Fi
Ofcom found that just over a fifth (21%) of of all UK adults owned a Wi-Fi enabled laptop in February 2007, with a third of that total using public hotspots to access the internet. The amount of available public hotspots was counted at around 12,000 in September 2006, up 32% from the previous year.

Mobile Internet
The report found that despite one in three UK adults saying that they owned an Internet-enabled mobile phone in February 2007; only half had ever actually used the thing to go online.

It seems that a ‘lack of need or interest’ put off the majority of users (43%), with cost the second reason (31%).

Ofcom