 |  | By Neil Hawkins Staff Writer Friday, 18 January 2008 |
THIS week BT announced plans for ambitiously fast broadband in new developments, well it will be needed as BBC iPlayer gradually takes over the internet! Read on for more...
Tiscali reduces contract and drops line rental fees
TISCALI have improved their broadband deals by reducing the contract length on all broadband packages from 18 to 12 months.
This will be welcomed by all as it gives Tiscali’s broadband customers a chance to reconsider after a year when demands on their broadband connection may have changed.
Not only that but Tiscali offer free line rental on their Broadband and Talk packages and their Broadband and TV deals saving you £126 per year!
This offer is currently available in areas where Tiscali has ‘unbundled lines’ but they really are pulling out all the stops to impress so it’ll be interesting to see how they fair.
BT Installs superfast fibre to new homes in Ebbsfleet
WE’VE been aware of Virgin Media's plans for superfast broadband (up to 50Mb) for a while now and the service is currently trialling in Kent.
Well it seems that the ‘Garden of England’ is the place to be as news arrives that BT is installing a brand spanking new 100 Mb fibre optic network which will deliver superfast speeds to 10,000 new homes in the Ebbsfleet Valley development.
The network is being installed by BT Openreach, BT's wholesale division, and the plans are to offer it to a range of ISPs.
Prices haven't been set yet, but using the indicative wholesale prices on the Openreach website we reckon that an 'assured' 10Mb broadband connection will be around £25-30 per month with prices rising to somewhere in the region of £60 per month for a 100mb connection!
So if you're stuck on a slow connection and are at your wit's end, move to Kent.
BBC hails iPlayer launch a success
THIS week it emerged that more than 3.5 million programmes had been watched since the launch of the BBC’s iPlayer on Christmas Day.
The full launch of iPlayer at Christmas added to the growing demands people place on their broadband connections and this increase in traffic can only continue as more and more content is accessed via the internet.
This is where superfast broadband connections like those provided by O2 Broadband, Virgin Media and Sky really come into their own. The massive bandwidth available with these broadband providers should enable downloading, streaming and surfing simultaneously with no stuttering.
Broadband user numbers on the up
Here’s a question: How many broadband connections are there in the UK?
According to the latest figures released by Ofcom, there are now over 14,961,000 broadband connections in the UK.
Interestingly the number of normal ADSL lines, i.e. those that are still maintained solely by BT, dropped whilst the number of you taking services on Local Loop Unbundled (LLU) lines increased.
LLU lines are where the service provider – AOL, O2 Broadband, Be etc – has installed their own equipment in the telephone exchange enabling them to offer a cheaper service, often with phone calls bundled in.
With unbundling carrying on apace we can only assume that the broadband marketplace will become more competitive as time goes on.
UK ISP Complaints Rise By 43% During 2007
Figures released this week by the government’s advice service, Consumer Direct show that complaints concerning broadband providers (ISPs) have increased by 43% since 2006.
The good news is that ISPs are at the bottom-end of the top 10 complaint categories coming far behind mobile providers or surprise, surprise, second-hand car dealers!
Another statistic released this week shows that Facebook now accounts for 1 in 50 website visits! So get back to work!
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