This news would not be a surprise for the keen broadband segment observers in the United Kingdom, for the fact that at present the predominant mobile broadband suppliers were avidly wooing the LTE (Long Term Technology), which had shown a great promise in trials that were carried out in Madstone, Kent.

Currently, the WiMax technology has been engaged in to certain selected places as well as town centres that were deprived of the comforts a fixed-line broadband service. Nevertheless, there are many analysts who think that WiMax can still contribute its part in the filling of gaps in the broadband network of the country.

Even so, the communications minister Lord Carter has hardly mentioned this technology in the Digital Britain final report delivered a month back. According to Bluenowhere that is an M-WAG member, besides being a wireless network operator, the trials of WiMax technology had only been successful for ‘niche’ applications. This was reported by Zdnet.Co.UK, a technology website.

The chief executive of the operator, Harry Aldridge told the website that something that impedes a nationwide rollout of the WiMax technology is the situation that no major operator was backing it at present. He added that M-WAG (Mobile WiMax Acceleration Group) did not expect as well that any existing mobile broadband provider would accept WiMax as their 4G broadband solution.

Guess something more interesting would be listening to the findings, as well as a few real life experiences of the chief broadband analyst of Broadband Suppliers UK, Chuck Doherty. Can’t blame Doherty for starting with an excoriating invective on the claim of BT that its network was in a strong position to tackle the anticipated demands in home working. Doherty criticises the ISP’s claim directly weighing it against its aged and dilapidated copper lines, which had been the main reason for a levy proposal on the UK commoner, in the Digital Britain report. He questioned, “How can BT bear robustly a surprise influx in the number of users, when it is apparent that you just cant increase the number of copper strands in the line to cope up with an increase in the usage? Doherty further stated that BT could have been genuine in its claim, at least to an extent, if it already had a considerable alternative fibre network, besides a generous mind for charity.

Doherty also lamented on the discriminative, as well as prejudiced approach of certain bodies of certain countries that did not bode well at all for a synergistic global movement against an intimidating disaster looming over. “ A couple of weeks back, I had been to Chennai in India to attend a broadband seminar as an invitee. I found it pretty humiliating (but only until I was told the precise reason behind it), when I was given a piece of paper at the Chennai Airport to fill in against some top priority questions similar to -

• Do you come from a Swine Flu infested country?

• Have you been infected by Swine Flu previously?

• If so for how long were you bed-ridden?

• Do you have any Flu symptom at present?

• Did you have any sickness a month prior to this travel?

• Are you infected with the Swine Flu virus at present?”

Doherty continues, “to me the final question was the most sensible one in the questionnaire. Nevertheless, the act of the airport authority was justified when an airport staff revealed the real thing to me that hitherto, the Indians were subjected to such acid tests in the airports of the West, and it was payback time for them, and is that not an explanation worth giving”. Whatsoever, he hoped that the foresightful ISPs like BT, never resorted to some of these great innovations in disaster management, akin to the glorious questionnaire pioneered by the Chennai Airport authority.

Assuming BT had spoken for the nation’s broadband network as a whole, it would also be fair to lend an ear to the viewpoint of Andrew Ferguson, the editor of Think Broadband, a broadband news website. According to him the issue would be critical for those companies that are required to ensure the robustness of their own computing systems, if people were going to access their office machines remotely, and in great numbers. He stresses that the uses can be marked by both downstream and upstream capacity, which evoke the chances of a peak spike during the evenings, and even at day times He points to this as a factor that makes those providers with little spare capacity struggle, hence giving a widespread impression that the infrastructure was failing.

So coming back to Doherty for the concluding session. “BT has played a blind optimism card, which can only be reasoned by the fact that after the initial burst, the world has somehow managed to put a leash on the extensive spreading of the disease. However, watching the ISP’s determination while declaring that, I felt that they had invented a potential vaccine, or at least had secured a good stock of Tamiflu. In the circumstance, what I find practical is BT distributing the hotcake swine flu masks, even while sincerely hoping that they would refrain from punching their logo on them.”

So far, the pandemic has claimed twenty nine deaths in the United Kingdom, besides infecting around 55,000 persons every week.

The Facebook offer that is part of the Free Friday Promotion package of Vodafone had begun in May 2009, with the offer of free mobile internet. This was followed by the first launch of mobile DRM free music in the United Kingdom. However, the new offer is different from the previous ones, for it lasts for just one week.

With this offer, Vodafone is targeting the increasing Facebook users in the country hoping that they, in their turn would embrace the offer that enables them to receive free Facebook text alerts subscription as well. However, a point that the users must watch is the probability of their browser pointing to another site, in which case the charges start once more.

After the commencement of the free Facebook offer on July 24, the customers of the ISP would be able to sign in to Facebook’s website to select their notifications of choice for free text alerts, pokes and status updates. They can also choose their friends from whom they wish to receive the updates. The customers are also entitled to respond to the alerts by text, which would be charged standard text rate.

Vodafone has dedicated a part of their website to the information of the new customers signing up to the free Facebook offer. To get the set up details, the customers were simply required to text to 97886, ‘Friends’. This would help the customers receive a link, which would take them directly to Facebook. The URL of the Facebook dedicated page in the official website of Vodafone is Vodafone.co.uk/Facebook.

]]> http://www.broadbandsuppliers.co.uk/uk-isp/vodafone-offers-free-facebook-for-its-uk-customers/feed/ 0 http://www.broadbandsuppliers.co.uk/uk-isp/high-time-that-coercion-is-used-to-strip-some-mobile-broadband-spectrum-off-o2-and-vodafone/ http://www.broadbandsuppliers.co.uk/uk-isp/high-time-that-coercion-is-used-to-strip-some-mobile-broadband-spectrum-off-o2-and-vodafone/#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:49:57 +0000 RM http://www.broadbandsuppliers.co.uk/uk-isp/high-time-that-coercion-is-used-to-strip-some-mobile-broadband-spectrum-off-o2-and-vodafone/ Lend an ear to Jane Cooper’s viewpoint that it was unfair for O2 and Vodafone to cling on to the most precious spectrum in the country since 1982, when Orange, T-Mobile and 3 UK entered the market in 1994, 1994 and 2003 respectively. It is also interesting to watch her dubbing the incident as an ‘unfair accident in the history’ that the big duo had between them such valuable spectrum. Cooper is the mobile and spectrum economic regulation head at Orange PCS Limited.

This can also be the general thinking of the public in the United Kingdom at this point of time when even a highly previleged man in terms of broadband access (at least) like the BT Chairman Sir Michael Rake is not able to get broadband in his home at Hambledon Valley in Hampshire. Perhaps BT can ease this out by placing the area under a prioritised connection group in their big-time fibre rollout that is engaged to cover 40 percent of the country.

Here, if something can be called pathetic, it would obviously be the case of millions who are languishing with incompetent broadband speeds or even no service at all, in the rural remotes of the country. Particularly, when BT has revealed its limitations in serving the extra 30 percent of the population with its aged ADSL lines. Read this along with the 2Mbps broadband for all by 2012 promise of the government, published in the Digital Britain report.

When the campaigners and critics started flaying the government for its lack of foresightedness following BT’s disclosure of the fact, it had promptly announced that mobile broadband was the viable alternative, it was looking forward to. Only to land in another muddy puddle as things were nothing less than war-ridden there.

Today, many people fear that the government, out of anxiety may adapt a top down policy of appeasing the intransigent networks in the first place and later attending to the woes of the general public. The placating package of the government may worsen the issue, as the operators once handed over the spectrum, might once again resort to their current operational mode of setting up services in the most profitable areas, leaving well behind their rural commitments.

A good number of analysts in the country disagrees with the appeasement package proposal citing that it would only lead to the networks splitting capacity to hold back speeds, as getting returns from sparcely populated areas where accessing speeds were quite critical, was unlikely for five or six competing networks. The alternative plan advocated by the critics was the nurturing of a single large capacity network.

An all in one network that would serve like a Railtrack for trains, was the precise concept of these people. Here from the huge capacity national network, according to them, operators bid to gain a geographic area. However, Cooper has downplayed the idea stating that this solution had not gained much traction, particularly for its lacking conduction to competition, which is agreed by all operators. According to Terry Norman, another broadband expert in the UK, ISPs such as O2, Vodafone, T-Mobile and 3 should have been resorting to a pragmatic approach to the issue by seeking the government’s permission to share spectrum in rural areas.

This broadband software can be connected to the web without using any other modem. Apart from this, Vodafone has also introduced two types of subscriptions; a 24 month contract for GBP 30 per month with 3GB of data and the second one, a GBP 25 per month package with 1GB of data allowance.

Vodafone is known as one of the best 3G broadband mobile network in the country. This offer helps the customers to keep in touch with their work without any hindrance, even while traveling. This is a good opportunity for business clients as well. The NC10 combined with a Vodafone SIM enable its clients connected to the net while they are on travel. Clients those who spend maximum time traveling are more benefited by this package.

The black Samsung NC10 weights about 1.33kg. This has a built in webcam and a 10.2 inch LED display. Some of the other features of this NC10 are its Intel Atom CPU with 1.6Ghz, a 3 in 1 memory card reader, a hard drive with 160GB, a 1GB memory and a Microsoft Windows XP. The battery life of the NC10 is fine and it works for about 4 to 5 hours. Some customers have even claimed that they had used it for 7 hours by reducing its screen brightness.

Vodafone’s NC10 laptop comes with a wireless alternative connectivity option, using which the clients can use their net, no matter they are at office or home.