Aug 18, 2010 Digital Divide, Government, iPlayer
Earlier this month a discussion broke out in the industry in response to the publication of a report by David Graham from the Adam Smith Institute. Mr Graham’s report suggests universal broadband will lead to the abolishment of the BBC’s license fee and he argues that this will be a positive move as it will force the BBC to become more competitive.
Elsa Chen, General Manager
Whilst I agree in theory that abolishing the license fee would force the BBC into providing a more competitive and therefore hopefully higher quality service, I struggle to believe that broadband will be the catalyst for this.
Firstly despite the promised, yet now delayed, 2Mbps USC the UK is still a long way off enjoying truly ‘universal’ broadband, especially at the speeds required to easily support IPTV services. Besides which even if UK residents had universal access to high speed broadband they would still (currently) be legally required to purchase a license if they intend to watch programmes as they are broadcast (e.g. streaming). Although, a license is not required for ‘on demand’ services (e.g. BBC iPlayer).
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Aug 10, 2010 21CN, BT, Polls, Reselling
We recently launched our new Annex M service which provides users with an increased upload speed by trading some of their download speed. So far we have seen a high level of interest and we would like to know what you plan to use the new service for. Therefore we have added a new poll asking for your feedback.
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Aug 5, 2010 21CN, Copyright, Digital Divide, File Sharing, Government, Regulation
In April 2010 the controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB) was passed through the parliamentary wash-up and hastily implemented into law, much to the annoyance of many ISPs, Internet users and industry bodies. Then in May we saw history made with a new coalition government taking power. We were initially hopeful that the new government would put right the wrongs of the rushed DEA (Digital Economy Act) but have since seen little in the way of progress. Yet despite this lack of government action, over the last three months the industry news has continued to provide a steady stream of DEA related updates. We take a look at what’s been going on and provide you with an update.
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing
To repeal or not to repeal?
It appears the proposed tackling of copyright infringement is still the main focus of unease within the DEA. At the end of June, Liberal Democrat MP, Julian Huppert, tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) to repeal sections 9 – 18, the sections that cover the issue of illegal copyright infringement. Unfortunately the EDM gained little support and appears to have dropped off the radar.
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Jul 22, 2010 21CN, BT, Reselling
Early next month BT Wholesale is rolling out the latest of its next generation services – Annex M. It will be available on all ADSL2+ broadband connections and Entanet partners will be able to order the new feature from mid August. Therefore we thought it was about time we discussed the three important questions: What is Annex M, what benefits does it provide to end users and how can our reseller partners make money from it?
Neil Watson, Head of Operations
So, what is it and what does it do?
Annex M is a new feature that is only available on ADSL2+ connections. It enables the broadband user to increase the upload speed of their connection by trading some of their download speed. It also guarantees an upstream throughput of 85% of the upstream sync rate between the hours of 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday, excluding UK public and bank holidays.
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Google: From advocate to adversary?
Cat on 
cjp on 
meeb on 
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