Tag Archive
Massachusetts Miracle in the Making
Came across a patriotic video that will have your patriotic heart soaring – at least for the first 42 seconds. After that, how you view this video depends on how you view the current Obama administration. The premise of the video is how on April, 19, 1775 Americans first fought the British... »
Will Android Pay for Google’s Moves in China?
British scribe Paul Carr is not one to mince words. For him, Google’s newfound morality around censorship and China is too little, too late. Four years too late, to be precise. And I agree with him — up to a point. Morality has to be absolute; it cannot be used as a tool of... »
Orange, T-Mobile Seek Merger Approval from European Commission
Zacks.com submits: European telecom giants Deutsche Telekom (DT) and France Telecom (FTE) have reportedly filed their appeals to the European Commission for approval of the proposed merger of their UK units in a 50-50 joint venture. The European Commission will review the merger proposal and is expected to provide an initial ruling in... »
British Council Focussing on Digital Technology in Pakistan
The head of British Government agency that promotes the use of information and communications technology has appreciated the computer usage in Pakistan and said the country has a good level of computer literacy. Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive, BECTA, was speaking to the members of the international media at the opening of the three-day “The... »
Mobile-phone culture: The Apparatgeist calls – how you use your mobile phone has long reflected where you live. But the spirit of the machines may be wiping away cultural differences
Technologies tend to be global, both by nature and by name. Say “television”, “computer” or “internet” anywhere and chances are you will be understood. But hand-held phones? For this ubiquitous technology, mankind suffers from a Tower of Babel syndrome. Under millions of Christmas trees North and South Americans have been unwrapping cell phones or... »
Mobile VoIP: 2010 Will Be An “Exit” Year
A few days ago I posted an article about VoIP as the “industry of the decade“, meaning that VoIP has been the industry with the highest growth in terms of cumulative revenues. 2008-2009 has also been an important period in terms of market consolidation. Ribbit has been acquired by British Telecom after a very... »
BT protest over mobile 3G licences falls on deaf ears
Lord Mandelson is to forge ahead with a consultation to extend indefinitely mobile phone companies’ 3G licences, despite the threat of a judicial review from BT. The fixed-line phone group has written a “letter before action” to the Business Secretary, condemning plans to hand over for good the valuable licences to Vodafone and its peers... »
BT warns of court fight over digital spectrum plans
The government’s plans to bring broadband within the reach of every home by 2012 have been put in jeopardy by BT. The telecoms operator has warned that it will take legal action if the government presses ahead in the new year with plans to liberalise the nation’s mobile phone spectrum. BT’s move could derail a... »
BT to complete super-fast broadband network by 2012
BT’s superfast broadband network will be completed in time for the 2012 Olympic Games, the firm has announced. The £1.5bn fibre-optic network will offer speeds of up to 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) for some customers, supporting high-definition video. However, it will only reach around 40% of homes, mainly in towns and cities. To read this BBC... »
BT and Google in talks over creating video delivery network for ISPs
BT is believed to be in talks with Google about an online tie-up that would deliver huge improvements in the quality of internet video programming. As the internet becomes congested by on-demand video streaming, such as the BBC iPlayer and 4oD, BT is understood to be working on a deal to make Google’s video content... »
Lawyers target thousands of British ‘illegal’ file-sharers
Around 15,000 suspected pirates may soon get legal letters accusing them of illegally sharing movies and games. ACS:Law plans to send notes to the accused in the new year offering a chance to settle out of court for “several hundreds of pounds”. A lawyer who has defended people who have received similar letters described it as... »
65% of British mobile broadband users on less than 1Mbps
Two thirds of mobile broadband users are getting an average speed less than 1Mbps, says Broadband Genie. The broadband comparison site conducted 3,000 speed tests up and revealed that just 16 (0.5 percent) managed a speed of 3Mbps or more, despite the fact that the majority of mobile broadband packages from operators including 3, O2,... »
Smartphone growth to continue strong in 2010
The wireless chip industry expects smartphone market surge to continue, with British microchip designer ARM saying growth would likely even accelerate further next year. The smartphone market slowed drastically in the September quarter, but chip makers — whose products are sold weeks, if not months, before phones are sold to consumers — said they were... »
British government lays out digital plans
The government has laid out its plans to deal with illegal file-sharers as part of its Digital Economy Bill, outlined in the Queen’s Speech. It includes the power to disconnect persistent pirates. But its controversial broadband tax is not mentioned and will be launched as part of the Finance Bill, due next year. Other elements of the... »
How the British market proved no panacea for BT
It is 25 years since the public offering of a 50.2 per cent stake in British Telecommunications. Never before had a major state-owned utility been transformed into a public company with dispersed share ownership. The flotation, five times larger than any previous offering on the London Stock Exchange, was not the product of a... »
Britain’s Phone giants Vodafone and BT eye more cuts
Britain’s two flagship telecoms companies will this week announce deeper cost cutting to compensate for sluggish sales growth, reports The Sunday Times. Alongside half-year results, Vodafone and BT are expected to increase savings targets from £1 billion and “well over” £1 billion respectively. To read this report from The Sunday Times in full, see: business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6907911.ece … >>> Rest... »
With Ribbit, BT Is Rethinking Its Voice Business
When BT, formerly known as British Telecom, splurged and bought Mountain View, Calif.,-based Ribbit for $105 million some 15 months ago, I dismissed it as an attempt by an aging incumbent carrier to reinvent itself as a web-savvy, next-generation communications provider that was unlikely to succeed. “BT has always been long on promise, but... »
Driven to Distraction: When Texting Kills, Britain Offers Path to Prison
Inside the imposing British Crown Court here, Phillipa Curtis, 22, and her parents cried as she was remanded for 21 months to a high-security women’s prison, for killing someone much like herself. The victim was Victoria McBryde, an up-and-coming university-trained fashion designer. Ms. Curtis had plowed her Peugeot into the rear end of Ms. McBryde’s... »
British youth ‘cannot live’ without web
A survey of 16 to 24 year olds has found that 75% of them feel they “couldn’t live” without the internet. The report, published by online charity YouthNet, also found that four out of five young people used the web to look for advice. About one third added that they felt no need to talk to... »
75% of British mobile broadband users unhappy with speed
More than three quarters of mobile broadband users are not satisfied with the speeds provided by their service providers, says Thinkbroadband.com. Research by the broadband advice website also revealed that 60 percent of users said coverage was ‘poor’ while only three percent think their coverage is ‘excellent’. To read this PC Advisor report in full, see: www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=3203835 …... »
Carphone Warehouse benefits as British consumers reject mobile internet
Consumers are falling out of love with mobile broadband, ditching their “dongles” and returning to fixed-line services. Amid dissatisfaction with the speed and limited coverage of wireless internet access, they are also switching to a pre-pay package instead of a long-term contract. The rise of smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone that can access the... »
BT to double homes on ultra-fast broadband
BT is to more than double the number of homes able to use the company’s ultra-fast broadband network, in a major revision of its next-generation infrastructure plans. BT’s network – offering download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second – will run past at least 2.5m homes by 2012, or 10 per cent of... »
BT accused of download throttling UK customers
Britain’s biggest broadband supplier has been accused of limiting download speeds on its cheapest package without giving users a clear warning. BT Broadband cuts the speed users can watch video services like the BBC iPlayer and YouTube at peak times. A customer who has signed up for an up to 8 megabit per second package can... »
BT to increase broadband speeds up to 20 Mb/s
British telecoms group BT is to more than double the headline broadband speeds for millions of its residential and business customers for no extra cost and will also trial super-fast fibre-based services, it said on Wednesday. To read this Reuters report in full, see: in.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idINIndia-40070520090603 … >>> Rest of the Story Related Topics: British, British Telecom, broadband, BT,... »
Fury at BT as Barrault gets £1.6m golden handshake
BT executives will not receive bonuses this year for financial performance after missing all its targets, but the group revealed that the executive who oversaw the division that pulled the business into a full-year loss received a £1.6m pay-off after he quit. The UK telecommunications giant yesterday published its annual report for the year until... »
Phone companies join forces to lower call rates
The UK telecom giant BT today announced a joint initiative with the UK’s fifth largest mobile phone provider, 3, to reduce the cost of mobile phone calls in the UK. The two companies have set up a campaigning website, which invites members of the public to sign an online petition to reduce the UK’s mobile... »
Nortel and BT sign 4-year enterprise telephony deal
Nortel and British Telecom announced they have extended their global trading agreement for Nortel’s enterprise telephony equipment and services for four years. The companies said in a release the deal will enable them to “address customers’ needs whether it be voice, contact centres, routing, LANs or VPNs.” The deal extension is good news for Nortel;... »
BT to speed up next-gen broadband rollout
BT is planning to double the pace of its forthcoming next-generation broadband fibre rollout, bringing up to 100Mbps broadband within reach of more than a million premises next year. The move comes after the telco reported tough financials and announced a further 15,000 job cuts. CEO Ian Livingston said a faster fibre rollout would help... »
BT’s Livingston is ‘drinking at the last-chance saloon’
When Margaret Thatcher used British Telecom to kick off her programme of privatisation in 1984, the company, still armed with its monopoly status, proudly employed around 241,000 staff. Twenty-five years later, BT is a shadow of its former self. While the effects of competition have played a part in its fall from the top of the... »
Vodafone UK to abolish mobile roaming charges for 3 months
Vodafone UK, the British arm of the world’s largest mobile phone company, will announce on Thursday that it is abolishing roaming charges to its customers for three months, starting June 1. The offer is open to all existing Vodafone UK customers who register for the company’s optional free Passport service. It means that Vodafone customers... »