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Current broadband news

November 2005

UK Small Businesses risking disaster (03/11/05)
SMEs fail to back up electronic data remotely. Less than 20 per cent of UK small businesses backup their data remotely, even though 82 per cent* admit they could not function without it, according to research from BT.

October 2005

New Website Reinforces ISPs Efforts Against Phishing Scams (20/10/05)
The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK) – the UK’s leading Internet trade association - is supporting a new website launched by EuroISPA to raise awareness of the dangers of phishing, and offer advice on how to avoid phishing scams ( www.euroispa.org/antiphishing/ ). EuroISPA is the federation of European Internet trade associations.

BT broadband brings together two remote UK communities (04/10/05)
High-speed broadband communications will bring together schools in two of the most remote locations in the British Isles as BT delivers on its promise of making broadband almost universally available across the UK. A link-up between Five Islands School, on the Isles of Scilly, and Baltasound Junior High School, on the northern tip of the Shetland Islands, marks the success of BT's £1.5 billion broadband investment programme, which has involved the upgrading of more than 5,200 BT exchanges.

August 2005

100,000 wekly requests for BBC Radio podcasts (11/08/05)
BBC Radio's download and podcast trial is proving to be hugely popular, averaging over 100,000 download requests a week during July. [read more]

Death of the ad break quickie (30/08/05)
From meal times to sex, new research from Telewest Broadband reveals that many aspects of our lives are being squeezed between our favourite television programmes. [read more]

Thirty UK charities and community groups boosted by Internet awards (30/08/05)
Innovative use of the Internet has secured AOL Innovation in the Community Awards of £2,000 for 30 forward-thinking charities and community groups across the UK. The winning projects demonstrate the positive impact the Web can have in areas such as protecting the environment, developing new writing talent, the representation of ethnic minorities, and encouraging young volunteers. [read more]

Brits prefer online diagnosis (24/08/05)
Fed up with their local doctor’s waiting room, almost half the population (45%) use the Internet to find medical advice, according to PIPEX a leading broadband provider. [read more]

Wanadoo broadband reveals the key to family bliss (24/08/05)
It’s official; one-in-ten Brits believe access to the internet causes more family arguments than sharing the bathroom – that is according to the findings of new independent research by Europe’s number one broadband provider Wanadoo. Interestingly, of the whole family, it is the daughters in particular who are the first to throw a wobbler if they can’t get online. If they’re not e-mailing friends, the likelihood is they’ll be shopping as 74% of daughters voted this their next favourite online pastime. In contrast, 83% of sons who voted say randomly surfing for new and interesting content is their favourite activity, with Mums and Dads choosing to keep abreast of the latest news. [read more]

Wi-Fi Glasgow: Scotlands largest city becomes wireless (16/08/05)
Glasgow has become the first city in Scotland to have a BT Wi-Fi enabled city centre, thanks to a joint initiative between Glasgow Council and BT. The installation of six BT Openzone hotspots will enable citizens to enjoy high-speed internet access via wireless enabled laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). The hotspots are in the central pedestrianised area of the city. [read more]

BT reveals insight into the future (16/08/05)
Imagine your next holiday destination – somewhere above the earth’s surface. As beaches get more crowded and quiet corners become harder to find, by 2017 you could be taking off for a stay at a hotel in orbit, with the peace of mind that robots were tending the garden in your absence, making sure the kaleidoscopic flowers were well looked after. [read more]

Fulham FC signs PIPEX as main sponsor for next two seasons (12/08/05)
Fulham FC is celebrating the start of the new season with Internet and communications provider PIPEX as Official Main Team Sponsor and exclusive broadband partner for the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 Premiership seasons. The club officially welcomed PIPEX at its pre-season press conference, held today at Craven Cottage. [read more]

Which? Broadband ISP satisfaction survey of 15,000 internet users (09/08/05)
Which? have just published results of a member survey examining ISP satisfaction amongst 15,538 UK internet users, the full results being published in their August edition (available now). With a bewildering array of broadband deals now available, this enlightening article is excellent reading for the remainder of UK internet users who have yet to take advantage of the faster surfing speeds and other benefits that broadband can offer. [read more]

Thousands of students take part in Tate's 'Our Picture of Britain' online project (03/08/05)
Tate Online, which is exclusively sponsored by BT, now showcases the work of over 1300 students who participated in Tate's 'Our Picture of Britain' schools project. The scheme was organised in conjunction with the Tate Britain exhibition and landmark BBC One Series 'A Picture of Britain', which explored the connection between artists and the British landscape. [read more]

Searching for the Champions of the UK Internet Industry (02/08/05)
The Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) in association with Epitiro (formerly Purple Sun) has launched this years' search for the Internet industry’s champion performers. The 2006 ISPAs - the 8th annual UK Internet industry awards – will build on the success of last year’s awards where 120 Internet services were independently monitored by Epitiro . The 2006 ISPAs will be made up of two divisions; the ISP division and the Special Awards division. [read more]

July 2005

Live 8 and Glastonbury bring record online traffic (30/07/05)
The BBC's Live 8 website (bbc.co.uk/music/thelive8event) generated an unprecedented 14.6 million page impressions over the course of three days in early July; the largest ever volume of traffic to a BBC Radio & Music website over a three-day period. The Live 8 WAP site for mobile phones generated 112,000 page impressions over the same three days. [read more]

Best of Chris Moyles now available as weekly Podcast (29/07/05)
As part of the BBC's 'download and podcast trial', Chris Moyles fan's can from this week download weekly highlights of his popular Radio One show as an MP3 file. New files will be made available every Thursday at 6pm, with subscribers being able to perform automatic downloads. This service is being provided free of charge. [read more]

Advertising Standards Authority adjudicate against BT broadband commercial (27/07/05)
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have this week adjudicated against BT following two complaints in relation to BT's 'Long lasting lightbulb' TV commercial. This commercial, promoting BT Broadband took place in a hardware shop, with a man buying light bulbs being told "You know we have these super long lasting light bulbs for about the same price as your normal ones?" [read more]

Lumison announce 72,000 downloads per hour of Everyman cancer awareness campaign (25/07/05)
Lumison, the internet host of www.rachelgetsfruity.com the cheeky cancer awareness campaign, is experiencing 72,000 downloads an hour on the site. Fronted by Rachel Stevens, who rolls plums provocatively to encourage men to sit-up and take notice of the warning signs of testicular cancer, hit rates for the campaign have surpassed all expectations. Within 10 days of launch, the site had 500,000 hits, at which point campaign managers realised the need for a bigger and better website host. [read more]

Beethoven downloads top one million (22/07/05)
Live performances of Beethoven's complete symphonies have attracted 1,369,893 download requests in a BBC trial which was offered as part of Radio 3's The Beethoven Experience. The downloads were from Radio 3 programmes featuring live performances, from Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, of Beethoven's nine symphonies by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and introduced by Radio 3 presenters Petroc Trelawny and Sarah Walker. [read more]

Ofcom announce restructure (21/07/05)
Ofcom today confirmed details of an organisational restructuring. This is intended to increase Ofcom’s operating effectiveness, build on the past two years of post-merger efficiencies (including a 32% reduction in headcount and an 8% reduction in operating budget in real terms for 2005/6) and to anticipate the regulatory needs of the communications sector over the next 3-5 years. [read more]

UK Broadband access reaches 50.7% (20/07/05)
In May 2005, the level of broadband Internet connections overtook dial-up Internet connections, according to data published today by the Office for National Statistics. [read more]

Internet poses greater danger to kids during summertime (15/07/05)
A survey of British children and their parents carried out for leading electrical retailer, Comet, has revealed that internet usage amongst children dramatically increases over the summer holidays, and with it the risk of exposure to unsuitable material and inappropriate adults. [read more]

Ofcom research published - More broadband, more digital, more mobile (13/07/05)
Ofcom today publishes research revealing changes in the communications sector as consumers and businesses adopt digital networks and formats with increasing enthusiasm. In its second annual Communications Market report, Ofcom has identified a range of new trends in broadband, digital broadcasting and other communications services. [read more]

Secure Computing Helps the IWF Minimise Illegal Content (13/07/05)
Global security solutions provider Secure Computing has become a member of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the UK organisation that works to minimise the availability of illegal content online, with specific reference to images of child abuse. [read more]

Nortel, BT help Tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka guest house and catering business get up and running (12/07/05)
HONG KONG – A popular family-run beachside guest house on Sri Lanka’s tsunami-devastated southwest coast now has the communications system it needs to rebuild its tourist business and provide catering for a nearby industrial park thanks to the donation of a new PBX system by Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] in association with BT. [read more]

Audiences turn to the BBC for news and analysis of the London bomb attacks (11/07/05)
Audiences turned to the BBC in record numbers for news and analysis of the London Bomb Attacks that took place on 7 July last week. The BBC News website recorded the highest volume of traffic in the site's history on the day of the attacks, with an estimated figure of 115.7 million page impressions. And last night's Panorama Special: London Under Attack is the highest rating Sunday night Panorama for over a year with an estimated 3.7m viewers. [read more]

AOL makes it 'Live L8' after Live 8 (06/07/05)
Any Internet user who misses the Live 8 concerts on July 2, or who simply wants to relive their favourite moments, will be able to see live concerts and exclusive highlights packages on www.aol.co.uk/live8 for six weeks after the concerts. The AOL UK portal will include highlights of the performances and the opportunity to learn more about the cause. There is also a link to the Live 8 List, a Web site created by AOL for Live 8, where visitors can add their names to a global petition urging the leaders of the G8 nations to put an end to world poverty. [read more]

June 2005

UK’s first wireless broadband project for tourists at Stratford-upon-Avon (29/06/05)
Visitors to Bard’s home town get all the up-to-the-minute answers, thanks to the UK’s first wireless broadband project for tourists. It promises to be a tale of tourism as Shakespeare would have liked it. Visitors to Stratford-upon-Avon will be able to access the latest tourist information - literally into the palms of their hands – and surf the net as they explore the streets of the Bard’s home town, thanks to the novel application of new broadband technology. [read more]

Ofcom backs ISPA’s 'regulate not separate' proposal (24/06/05)
The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK) – the UK’s leading Internet trade association – welcomes Ofcom’s statement announcing a new regulatory approach to achieve equality of access to BT’s networks without the enforced break-up of BT. However, ISPA eagerly awaits the full detail of the new arrangements as concerns remain about the practical arrangements to accompany the behavioural changes required of BT. [read more]

Users prioritise price over quality when choosing an Internet connection (13/06/05)
A survey conducted by the Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK), the UK’s leading Internet trade association, has highlighted concerns that consumers consider price to be more important than quality of service when choosing an ISP. The survey asked Internet users; “When choosing an ISP, what's most important to you?” The results of the survey show that a third of Internet users (32.6 per cent) felt that price was the most important factor when choosing their ISP. Just over one in four (26.91 per cent) felt the service performance was more important than the price they paid. [read more]

Mums Do Homework Whilst Kids Sleep (02/06/05)
Never mind relaxing after a hard days work, one in five (20%) British mums stay up and use the internet to help finish their child’s homework, according to new research from PIPEX, a leading UK broadband provider. In addition to helping their little ones with tricky assignments, British mums also use their evening internet time to research medical ailments (14%), and put off by trawling the shops on the weekend, 16 per cent research gift ideas for friends and family. [read more]

May 2005

Silver surfers fuel Internet boom (27/05/05)
It is not just the youth of today that are finding new ways to use the internet, ‘silver surfers’* are in fact fueling the internet shopping boom, according to leading UK broadband provider PIPEX. With previous PIPEX research showing Britons spend £800 million each month online, the latest findings show one in two (45%) ‘silver surfers’ have purchased goods or services online during the last month, spending an average of £170 each - more than twice the monthly spend of British twenty-something’s (£87). [read more]

'Wipe it Out' Campaign Event (25/05/05)
As part of the recently launched 'Wipe it Out' campaign the IWF is hosting an event in order to highlight the importance of dealing with child pornography which might be accessed in the workplace & via electronic corporate equipment. This event addresses the practical, legal, ethical and corporate social responsibility issues around this topic and provides access to expert speakers who will be able to give advice and guidance in accordance with UK law. This includes an opening address from Home Office Minister Paul Goggins, who has responsibility for internet crime & child pornography within his remit. [read more]

Workers organise lives at their desks (06/05/05)
More than one in three (40%) Britons have made an online purchase, at work, during the last month, and even more have booked holidays, done their banking and sent emails to friends and relatives, according to leading UK broadband provider PIPEX*. At a time when long working hours are reducing Britons spare time, the latest findings reveal how access to the internet during office hours is allowing workers to make the most of their weekends – undertaking their mundane day-to-day tasks at their desks. Two in three (64%) workers plan their holidays – researching destinations and prices, and a further 61 per cent (61%) use their lunch hour to stay in touch with friends and relatives, regularly sending and receiving personal emails. In addition, 29 per cent (29%), put off by long queues, do their banking whilst at work. [read more]

No respite in the hunt for online paedophiles (05/05/05)
A report published by the Cambridge Evening News on May 4th reviews police operation 'Solomon' which tackles child abuse images online and related offenders in the Cambridgeshire region. This is a reproduction of the story as it appeared. PAEDOPHILES are being hunted down and brought to justice by detectives in Cambridgeshire. A crackdown on child porn websites, dubbed Operation Solomon, has brought 28 internet paedophiles to court in the last three years, with more arrests to come. [read more]

April 2005

‘Net baffled’ parents may reduce children’s job and education prospects (29/04/05)
The lack of internet skills and experience among many UK parents is potentially harming their children's education and job prospects and could be placing them on the wrong side of a growing digital divide, says new research by academics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. According to the research, many parents lack the skills to guide and support their children’s internet use, yet it also demonstrated that internet-literate parents have internet-literate children. [read more]

MTV launches broadband TV channel (08/04/05)
Viacom-owned music broadcaster MTV Networks is launching a new broadband channel, MTV Overdrive, giving internet users access to songs, news and streamed video content - and giving advertisers new access to the key youth market. MTV is growing its online offering at a time when online advertising is taking off, and the Overdrive channel will carry 15-second ads cut into its programming. [read more]

National Centre for Child Protection on the net is approved (01/04/05)
As part of “Connecting the UK: the digital strategy” to be outlined by the Prime Minister, the Home Office today announced that the Government is to set up a new Centre for Child Protection on the Internet to support the police and child protection agencies. The Centre will target paedophiles using the internet to distribute illegal images and ‘groom’ children. The Centre’s aim will be to reduce the harm caused to children, families and societies by child abuse facilitated through the internet. [read more]

March 2005

ISPA Supports Worldwide Sweep On Spam (16/03/05)
In February 2005, the Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) supported the World’s first ever coordinated, global sweep against spam organised by The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN). As a signatory of The London Action Plan (LAP), ISPA encouraged its members to participate in the 2005 Sweep on spam. The LAP is an international plan of action by government agencies and private sector organisations to communicate and cooperate on tackling spam and became involved in the Sweep for the first time in 2005. [read more]

February 2005

London Web helps DEC Tsunami Earthquake Appeal Break a World Record (02/02/05)
Officials at Guinness World Records have announced that the response from the British public to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Tsunami Earthquake Appeal has broken a World Record. Between 6.16pm on 30th December and 6.16pm on the 31st December 2004, the DEC website hosted by London Web Communications and BT, raised £10,676,836 for the Tsunami Earthquake Appeal. This is the most money ever donated online in 24 hours. [read more]