UK Broadband Internet Service Provider News: 2006/09

UK broadband Internet service provider news and the latest broadband company press releases. Access the latest new broadband deals and broadband service updates, including broadband news from BT, AOL, Tiscali, Eclipse, Orange, Utility Warehouse, TalkTalk, Virgin & Telewest.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Britain’s first quadplay package offers ‘4 for £40’

From today, consumers have the opportunity to join the future of digital technology while cutting household bills by as much as £400* a year, with a ground-breaking new package from ntl Telewest and Virgin Mobile.

‘Quadplay’ includes multi-channel digital TV with state-of-the-art video on demand, unlimited broadband, home telephone and a feature-packed mobile service for just £40 per month.

Bringing these four services together not only means unbeatable value, but places cable customers at the forefront of the digital revolution set to transform entertainment and communications.

With quadplay, customers can watch their favourite programmes and films on demand, while they download music, read celebrity interviews on their mobile and enjoy unlimited weekend landline calls. And as these different technologies converge further, customers will also be equipped to enjoy next-generation services, accessing the content they want – exactly when, how and where they want.

The ‘4 for £40’ package includes:

Broadband

• Up to 2Mb with no limits on downloads
• Firewall and anti-virus software included
• Installed by an expert and modem included

Digital TV

• Over 30 channels, including Sky One, UKTV Gold, E4, Film4, ITV2 and LIVINGtv
• On demand access to a huge library of programmes and films – watch what you
want, when you want
• Set-top box included and no need for a dish

Home phone

• Unlimited weekend calls to any UK landline
• Highly competitive mobile rates and simple tariffs at other times
• Standard features including 1471 and 1571 voicemail

Mobile

• A Virgin Mobile SIM
• 300 texts and 300 minutes a month, plus free voicemail
• Access to Virgin Mobile Bites entertainment service

In addition, the mobile element of the new bundle is available to any new or existing cable customer for £10 a month, increasing the flexibility of the company’s packages even further.

This is the first move from the newly united ntl Telewest and Virgin Mobile, ahead of their re-branding next year to form the UK’s most versatile entertainment and communications provider.

Neil Berkett, chief operating officer of ntl Telewest, commented: “Quadplay demonstrates the unique power of the cable-Virgin Mobile union and this is just the beginning. Our new package represents unbeatable value while meeting a wide range of consumers’ entertainment and communication needs.

“It’s more than just another cut-price offer, because it also equips customers for the infinite possibilities presented as these different technologies increasingly interact.”

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

BT invests £1 billion in Scotland's 21st century communications revolution

BT today outlined plans to invest £1 billion over the next five years to provide Scotland with a world-leading communications network designed to carry both today’s and tomorrow’s voice, data, video-on-demand and broadband services.

The first customers in Scotland to be switched over to the next generation network will be in parts of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, Stirling, Perth and Paisley as well as towns including Dunfermline, Falkirk, Musselburgh and Newton Mearns. The switch-over is planned to start in January 2008 and will be substantially complete by the end of the decade.

BT is developing what promises to be the world’s most advanced communications infrastructure to give increased customer choice and flexibility, and to enable the introduction of new services for all the UK’s communication providers more quickly in the future.

The Scottish programme is part of BT’s multi-billion pound 21st Century Network (21CN) investment in a next generation network, with one of the benefits being access to wholesale broadband services with speeds of up to 24 Mbit/s – triple the fastest speeds currently available for most UK customers.

Brendan Dick, BT’s national manager for Scotland, said: “Our investment in the world’s most advanced communications infrastructure will benefit everyone in Scotland and create an environment capable of transforming everything we do.

“It opens the door to a range of new products and entertainment options being developed by service providers, which customers will be able to enjoy once they are migrated to the new network, building on emerging innovations such as television down your mobile phone and video over broadband.

“As well as providing indigenous businesses with a competitive edge, it will help attract and retain inward investment in Scotland. So today we’re urging business leaders – and consumers – to be prepared to capitalise,” he added.

BT is making 21CN available to communities in more rural parts of the country as well as densely populated towns and cities, and in doing so is the only communications company in the world to bring next generation network services to all people, regardless of where they live.

For example, Crathie and Dufftown will be connected to 21CN voice services in the same phase as large parts of Aberdeen, and the rural community of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull and the islanders of Gigha at the same time as wide areas of Greater Glasgow.

The project will involve the replacement of equipment at 1070 exchanges across Scotland. Eight super exchanges – known as metro nodes and providing routing and signalling for the unified 21CN network for voice, data and video – will be located at strategic points across the country.

More than 2.2 million lines in Scotland – serving business and residential customers of all UK telecommunications operators – will eventually be transferred over to the new network, as part of the biggest transformation the UK communications industry has ever seen.

Today’s announcement follows months of detailed consultation with the UK telecommunications industry.

The programme will enable the delivery of up to 24Mbit/s broadband services to around 50 per cent of the UK from the beginning of 2008. Among them will be around 570,000 customers served by 35 Scottish exchanges. As the 21CN transformation progresses, these services will become available across the rest of the country.

Bt broadband

Labels: bt-broadband

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Tiscali expands user mailbox capacity tenfold

Tiscali, the internet and broadband company, today announces plans to increase user mailbox capacity for all web members, narrowband and broadband subscribers.

The standard Tiscali mailbox, available to any internet user at www.tiscali.co.uk, will expand to 100MB from the previous 10MB while users who had previously paid for the 100MB service at £9.99 per annum will find their mailboxes expanded to 1GB.

The maximum message size will also increase to allow messages of up to 10MB, making Tiscali the first UK ISP to allow messages over 5MB.

In addition the company will be introducing a new product offering customers 1GB of extra storage for £12.99 a year.

Alex Hole, Commercial Director, comments: "People have grown accustomed to using the internet to sending large files at work. Our new service will offer customers and portal members a similar service for their personal mailboxes, giving them all the tools they need to make the most of the internet."

Labels: tiscali-broadband

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

BT close to completing NHS broadband network

BT today revealed it is close to completing the national broadband network that will support and underpin the National Programme for IT, the £6.2 billion project to update the NHS’s IT systems in England.

More than 15,000 sites in England have now been connected to this private network – known as N3 – meaning the roll-out is 85 per cent on its way to completion. BT believes it will connect all 18,000 sites in England – including hospitals and GP surgeries – by the target date of March 2007.

BT was awarded the £530 million contract for N3 in February 2004 along with the local service provider contract for London and the contract to build the central patient record database known as the "Spine".

BT is making strong progress with all three contracts according to the chief executive of its Global Services division, Andy Green. He said that BT is delivering according to current plans in all three areas and that the company has received hundreds of millions of pounds in contractual payments to date. He also said BT expects to make a profit on the contracts over their lifespan.

He said: "BT is very pleased with the progress it is making on its various NHS contracts. This is a challenging project - and we have learnt lessons along the way - but we are now in good shape.

"N3 is an area where we have made some of the strongest progress. We have quietly created Europe’s largest virtual private network that will connect every NHS site in England, enabling information to travel at great speeds between those sites. We are also rolling out a similar network in Scotland.

"The increasing sophistication of NHS services and procedures means that this high-capacity has never been more essential. Today, it is already benefiting clinicians and patients alike by enabling clinical information to be shared quickly and securely.

"This is an important achievement as N3 underpins the whole programme to modernise the NHS. It’s fair to say that the foundations are now in place for this important programme"

The National Programme for IT is an essential part of the Government’s ten year plan to modernise the NHS. It aims to improve patient care by creating an integrated computerised system to handle all the records for 50 million patients in England and Scotland.

It will benefit patients by speeding up significantly the transmission of clinical data within the NHS. GP surgeries, community pharmacies and hospitals will all benefit from faster, secure access and will be able to share and view large data files, patient records, video links and visual materials such as x-rays and scans.
For example, patients can receive the convenience of local specialist advice and treatment instead of the inconvenience of travelling to specialist centres. The highest quality images and video examinations can be sent to specialists who conduct the diagnosis remotely.

Today around 48 million patients are potentially benefiting from N3 and more than 830,000 NHS employees are able to make use of N3 which not only offers a more secure and efficient service than its predecessor, NHSnet, but is also less expensive to run, saving the NHS on networking costs.

Patrick O’Connell, managing director of BT Health, said: "This is a tremendous achievement for BT and the network providers we have contracted with. We have gained momentum and we are on schedule to hit the end goal of 18,000 connections in England by March 2007."

Labels: bt-broadband

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Pipex aims to get Hasselhoff to number one

Following the success of the advertising campaign for broadband provider Pipex, David Hasselhoff returns to the UK for a new project - the release of his latest single ‘Jump In My Car’.

Pipex, the multiple award-winning provider of integrated telecommunications and internet services, is delighted at how their recent ‘Powered by Pipex’ campaign has boosted David Hasselhoff’s popularity in the UK. Since Pipex signed him to become the face of their new marketing campaign for 2006/7, interest in the 'Jump In My Car' track has skyrocketed, gathering an army of fans around the country. Pipex has now bowed to the pressure from fans to release the single in the UK, as part of a newly funded venture entitled Skintight Recordings.

Peter Dubens, Chairman of Pipex said, “David needed no encouragement when we approached him about the release of ‘Jump in My Car’. He is delighted that fans liked the Pipex advert and said he’d love to release ‘Jump in my car’ in the UK.”

In a survey commissioned by Pipex earlier this year, Hasselhoff was voted "King of the Internet". The survey found that he was the cult star most searched for on the Internet. The survey also revealed that ‘The Hoff’ is the male star most likely to feature in emails - with 30% of young people emailing ‘The Hoff’ to friends, family and colleagues.

The new single ‘Jump in My Car’ is set for release on Skintight Records in early October, and was premiered exclusively on Radio One by DJ Scott Mills.

Pipex broadband

About Pipex

Pipex has a broad customer base including small/home-offices and blue chip companies, Pipex provides a comprehensive range of consumer, business and corporate voice, broadband, security domain name registration and shared and dedicated hosting solutions.

Pipex’s focus is simple: enabling businesses and consumers to achieve their aspirations through proven communications services and emerging technologies. This is achieved through an extensive portfolio of high-speed Internet connectivity, managed services and hosting, security and voice products - combining exceptional performance, innovation and a commitment to customer service.

Owning one of the UK’s most extensive communication networks, Pipex boasts more than 100 Points of Presence (PoPs) nationwide. In addition, state-of-the-art data centres, which are manned and monitored 24x7, ensure the security of Pipex’s customers’ business critical applications. Its commitment to investing in its technology infrastructure ensures that Pipex continues to deliver the most scalable, resilient, secure and reliable services.
For further information please visit www.Pipex.com

About David Hasselhoff

David Hasselhoff has one of the most recognised faces on TV throughout the world. David is not only an actor, but a producer, director, singer and broadway star. David first got the acting bug at the age of seven, when he took up singing and acting lessons.

David originally intended to forge a career on the stage, however, he was offered a part on TV as ‘Dr. Snapper Foster’ on the CBS programme ‘The Young and The Restless’. He starred on the programme for six years, becoming one of the most popular day-time television stars, which itself led to a huge fan following.

The desire to move up to prime time led David to take on the role of Michael Knight in the award winning, ‘Knight Rider’. During his four years here, David earned The People’s Choice Award for most popular actor. ‘Knight Rider’ ended in 1986, but its popularity continues, and the show still airs repeats in over 80 counties around the world.

The ending of the show meant that David could concentrate pursuing a singing career and, with the help of Jack White, an acclaimed German composer and producer, he recorded his first single, ‘Looking for Freedom’.

The success of ‘Knight Rider’, both internationally and nationally, made him the ideal choice for the producers of new series ‘Baywatch’, which first aired in 1989. The hour long series was about the adventures of L.A. lifeguards but, despite its popularity, the show was cancelled after only one series. Determined to make it work Hasselhoff managed to get the rights to the show and, with a little financial funding, brought the show back in 1991.

Since then David has involved himself with almost every aspect of performing, not only acting on television, but producing, directing, performing in musicals on and off Broadway, singing, touring and, given his popularity as a singer in Germany, he even performed on the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Labels: pipex-broadband

Friday, September 08, 2006

Tiscali signs deal with Inspired Broadcast Networks to provide broadband over LLU network

Tiscali, the internet and broadband company, has signed a two-year deal with open-server based gaming, betting and entertainment company, Inspired Broadcast Networks (Inspired). Inspired will provide a broadband connection over Tiscali's Local Loop Unbundled (LLU) network to over 90,000 digital entertainment terminals to keep them regularly updated with the latest content, including games, music downloads and a range of other digital services.

Nathan Francis, general manager for Tiscali Business Services says: "We are delighted that yet another business is taking advantage of our LLU network to deliver cost savings to its customers. The new partnership really helps to cement Tiscali as a leader in wholesale LLU." Tiscali began its investment in LLU in 2005 and is currently rolling out its LLU network, with a target of 600 exchanges nationally by the end of 2006.

Connections to the Tiscali network will run over two links in two different sites, providing a more robust service and better experience for Inspired's customers.

Norman Crowley, joint CEO at Inspired, says: "As the global leader in Server-Based Gaming we require the most sophisticated broadband service to supply our clients. Tiscali is a fast-moving, innovative company which has a very similar outlook to us here at Inspired. When we decided to take advantage of LLU and move away from BT, we looked at a number of potential partners but felt Tiscali was best suited to fulfil our needs."

As well as proving a more cost-effective network, the Tiscali deal will also be allowing Inspired to build a data recovery facility within Tiscali's Milton Keynes data centre.

Tiscali broadband deals

Labels: tiscali-broadband

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Pipex Wireless’ first WiMAX deployment

Pipex Wireless (www.pipexwireless.com), a joint venture between Pipex Communications plc (AIM:PXC.L) and Intel Corporation focused on developing and providing wireless services, has announced that it is to deploy a trial WiMAX network in Milton Keynes. Base station equipment and subscriber terminals will be provided by wireless solutions provider Airspan Networks (NASDAQ: AIRN) and Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) will build and operate the radio network and required roof-top infrastructure.

The trial has been designed and planned in close cooperation with Milton Keynes Council, which already has an existing broadband supply relationship with Pipex. Trial base stations will be sited in areas of the town to evaluate WiMAX product propositions to both business and residential customers and to provide coverage where DSL broadband provision is currently limited or unavailable. The trial will commence in December 2006 and continue for six months, and if successful, will be extended to provide wider coverage across Milton Keynes.

Pipex Wireless will initially deploy five Airspan HiperMAX-Micro base stations and provide services using indoor and outdoor subscriber terminals, both with integrated WiFi available. Working with Milton Keynes Council, Pipex Wireless will initially offer the trial to approximately 500 users, providing connection speeds of between 2Mbps and 10Mbps. Currently, due to its telecoms infrastructure, many Milton Keynes residents either have a limited broadband service or are unable to get broadband Internet connections. The trial service offers faster connection speeds and the ability to send, as well as receive, high volumes of data. Further details of the service proposition will be provided in a release closer to the launch date.

“WiMAX is an exciting opportunity for Pipex and we’re delighted that we are now able to trial the technology in a customer environment,” said Mike Read, CEO of Pipex. “This will be the first such trial in the UK and positions Pipex Wireless as the lead WiMAX provider in the market.”

Milton Keynes Council Head of IT and e-Government, Steven Jewell added, “We are pleased to have attracted Pipex Wireless to trial WiMAX in Milton Keynes. This reflects our continuing commitment to the digital economy in our town and to improving broadband provision.”

Jacqueline Hey, Managing Director of Ericsson’s North West Europe Market Unit said, “We are delighted that our company has been selected to engineer the Milton Keynes WiMAX network with Pipex Wireless. Ericsson has extensive global experience of wireless deployment using multiple vendor and technology platforms and our recent success in outsourcing makes us an ideal operating partner as Pipex Wireless builds its own capabilities.”

Airspan's Marketing and Product Vice President, Paul Senior, commented, "It’s early days for WiMAX in the UK, but we’re excited with the progress so far. The combination of range and throughput demonstrated at the Stratford-upon-Avon trial site has helped Pipex Wireless’s readiness for customer operations. The deployment of the future proof HiperMAX-Micro platform with integrated WiMAX/WiFi in Milton Keynes demonstrates our continuing commitment to help Pipex develop a robust WiMAX deployment model."

Pipex Wireless was created in April 2006 by Pipex and Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s venture arm, to develop unique fixed and portable broadband wireless services for consumers and business customers in the UK. The company intends to announce roll out of new services in several major metro areas in 2007.