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Mobile Spectrum 4 Mbps Broadband across the UK

admin — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:10:52 +0000

When the Digital Britain review put forth by the British communications and technology minister, Lord Carter promises the countrymen the implementation of a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps across the country, with every household enjoying a connection by 2012, his broadband advisor argues that a steady investment in the next generation mobile broadband networks instead, would ensure the speeds of 4Mbpsin general apart from above 50Mbps in urban areas

Kip Meek, the broadband advisor to Lord Carter, has revealed his ideas in his final Independent Spectrum Broker report that was released on Wednesday. He also argues that the auction and the re-division of mobile spectrum frequency rights amidst telcos could effectuate a faster as well as smoother transition to the next generation broadband than seemed possible, an year back. However, he also warns of a tricky business that was to involve telcos offering access to their frequencies to rivals as well by fixing a limit on how much each mobile service provider can buy.

Meek has also forwarded some steps to break the deadlock. Among the proposed plans, the most significant whatsoever is that Vodafone and O2, the existing custodians of the 900MHz spectrum, would have to part with some of their prized possession if they wanted to bid for the 80MHz spectrum that would be freed when the analogue television network will be converted into digital.

Other measures advocated by Meek to ward off the hindrances are; the engagement of the superfast 2.6GHz band to the most advanced mobile technologies such as the WiMAX, and the signing up of the future custodians of the 800MHz spectrum to a â€˜specific speed-based basic national coverage obligationâ€™.

Will Vodafone And O2 Concede Spectrum to Digital Britain?

broadband analyst — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:09:39 +0000

Vodafone and O2 Broadband have been asked by the UK telco regulator, Ofcom, to surrender the portion of the 900 MHz mobile spectrum, allotted to them. These portions would be auctioned out to a third operator, for providing access to wireless broadband services in rural areas.

UK Communications Minister, Stephen Carter, had planned to offer broadband access to all parts of the UK, by 2012, with their Digital Britain policy. However, the achievable speed would be just 2Mbps . Even though wired networks are expanding across the country, it is believed that wireless networking can offer connectivity to all parts of the UK. The government had given the industry until the end of April, 2009, to agree for a set of spectrum trades, for this purpose, failing which, Ofcom would be setting out an imposed regulatory solution.

Vodafone and O2 had previously rejected a similar proposal from Ofcom in 2007.

“Your Business and the Internet Guide”- UK Online.

Angeline — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:37:47 +0000

UK online together with IoD (Institute of Directors) has published an online guide entitled “Your Business and the Internet”. The objective of the guide is to provide useful information that smaller businesses require about taking advantage of the available resources. By doing so they may be able to operate in a multitude of ways and make their presence felt in the Internet world. The broadband guide focuses on the many advantages of business broadband yet to be tapped by some businesses in UK.

In broadband comparison with their European counterparts, UK is lagging behind in terms of broadband usage. Statistics reveals that about 86 – 89% of businesses in France, Spain, Sweden and Finland are connected to broadband. In the UK it is only about 77% despite a prediction that by 2011 about 32 million UK consumers will shop online.

Chris Stening, MD – UK Online remarks that “Being online nowadays is fundamental as the Internet has placed almost unlimited information and choice in the hands of the consumer. Not having a website, even a basic site which describes your business and provides contact details, is a serious omission as the first thing most people do now is ‘Google’ for what they want – searching for websites to compare services and products before buying. Despite this, our own research shows that as many as two thirds of small businesses with less than ten employees still operate with no Internet connection.”

So, this guide is aimed at providing the technical know-how in a simplified, easy to comprehend format. It is argued by the IoD that such a specification is not easily available as most part of the internet throws light on consumer needs.

A copy of this pocket book is available in pdf format at

http://www.ukonline.net/pocketbook/pdf/iodpocketbook.pdf

Pipex renews its broadband offer, drops “Unlimited” policy

Angeline — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:13:17 +0000

After reworking on its packages, Pipex has eliminated the “unlimited” from Pipex Max. The old broadband packages (Mini, Midi and Max) exist, however a new one called Pipex Pro has been introduced. Most importantly, usage allowance has been incorporated thereby enabling users to pay for the required usage allowance. If any user needs to go beyond the monthly cap, they charge Â£3 for 3GB top up usage. This applies to all Pipex customers except Pipex Pro who will pay just Â£3 per month for top up usage. Download speeds remain unchanged (8mbps) but monthly download limits vary from package to package.

They also offer a scheme wherein one may cancel the services after 30 days and get a refund on connection fee and service of the first month alone. The web site also has been revamped allowing easy navigation and a monthly usage bandwidth calculator has been incorporated too. While the Mini and Midi options come with a SpeedTouch 510 basic modem, the Max and Pro types have the SpeedTouch 585 Wireless one. It is also possible to get the wireless with the Mini and Midi packages for an extra payment of Â£20.

Though this move by Pipex can steer a way for other broadband providers to follow and be straightforward and reasonable, there is still the main issue to be looked upon – Â£39.99 for 100GB!

Visit broadband suppliers site to find broadband bandwidth calculator and compare broadband offers & packages.

BBC unveils its iplayer service

broadband analyst — Tue, 15 May 2007 12:46:08 +0000

After two-months of public consultation over Private Value Test (PVT) regarding its on-demand proposals, BBC Trust published its final conclusions by the end of last month. Prior to it, BBC Trust received more than ten thousand submissions most of which were from industry stakeholders that include broadcasters, independent producers, organisations representing consumers, the BBC audience councils and the BBC Executive.

Diane Coyle, a BBC Trustee of the PVT group, commented:

“We are delighted so many people responded to the consultation and thank everyone who participated for their contribution. The consultation has demonstrated considerable public support for the on-demand proposals.

“Thanks to the thorough assessment through the Public Value Test, and with the modifications which resulted from the test and the consultation, the Trust is satisfied that the BBC’s new on-demand services will create significant public value with limited market impact. We have therefore given our final approval for the services to be launched.”

Accordingly, the on-demand proposals are expected to cover following elements which are subject to alteration:

weekly catch-up television over the internet;
weekly catch-up television over cable;
simulcast television over the internet (live streaming of television networks);
non-digital rights management (non-DRM) audio downloads over the internet

After considering public views delivered by Public Value Assessment (PVA), the trust made following alterations to minimize adverse market impacts:

All episodes of a series can be downloaded by users beyond the weekly catch-up period.
The users could store a programmed file for a month, not for 13 weeks.
The users of Apple and Linux systems should get access to television over the internet within two years.
Normally book readings and classical music could not be downloaded.
There must be provision for parents to protect their children from viewing unsuitable content.

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