Broadband charges set to tumble

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by Muzzer

Hi Throb,
I'm not sure if you mean the same thing, but you should be able to get your MAC address by opening up a command prompt (Start then Run then type cmd and click OK assuming you're running Windows 2000/XP) and typing

ipconfig /all

This will display the configuration of your network adapter(s)
Tha MAC address is listed as the "Physical address"

HTH

Muzzer

This is a different MAC code - a bit like a PAC code you use when transferring your mobile number to a different operator.

I Quote;

Migrations Authority Code (MAC) Code.
A new Industry code of practice has been published, which should make ADSL migrations considerably simpler.

This also means the end of the "CBUK method" of migrations - its to be replaced by a new system using a Migrations Authority Code (MAC) number instead and works much more like PAC codes do with transferring mobile phone numbers between networks.

The new process can be broken down into 3 steps:-

1. A customer wishing to change their service provider must first contact their existing service provider to agree termination of the existing service contract and obtain an authorisation code
2. The existing service provider will send the authorisation code within 5 working days and will provide information about the validity period of that code
3. The customer must present the authorisation code to the provider they wish to migrate to before the new service can be connected.

Interestingly it seems that an ISP cannot reasonably refuse to provide a customer with a MAC code unless the request is not made by the account holder or the contract has already been terminated and the connection ceased. Withholding to force debt collection is not a valid reason according to Ofcom, although the customer isn't freed from contractual obligations associated with the ISP.

[Muzzer]

The dreaded TLA's strike again
Might have guessed that really, the comms and IT industries (and others) seem to really enjoy annoying people by using the same abbreviations for entirely different things.
Good luck anyway,

Muzzer

[Mr T.]

Britain hits broadband milestone




Downloaders could be driving the take-up of broadband



This week BT is expected to connect its five millionth broadband customer. The milestone comes a year ahead of the telecoms company's own predictions and includes broadband connections sold on by third party firms.

Lower prices and higher speeds forced by strong competition among broadband suppliers are thought to be behind the sustained growth in faster net access.

The figures suggest that soon more than half of all net users in the UK will be on a broadband connection.

Higher and higher

The five millionth customer will be connected by BT Wholesale, the arm of the company that re-sells fast net links to BT and many other telecommunications companies.

The five million customers are shared among the 200 companies that re-sell BT lines. BT's own broadband business has a 35% share of these high-speed users.

In a statement, Ben Verwaayen, chief executive of BT, said: "The momentum of broadband is continuing to build."

Prime minister Tony Blair, welcomed the announcement and said that broadband was of vital importance to everyone in the UK.

He said: "Broadband has the ability to transform the way we live our lives - whether in business, education or in how we use our leisure time."


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"Most significantly of all," he said, "the adoption of broadband technology will enhance the UK's ability to compete in the modern knowledge economy."


In the last four months BT said it had connected up one million people to broadband.

This stands in stark contrast to the early days of high-speed net access in the UK as, according to government figures, it took about two years to sign up the first million.

BT said that, by the summer, 99.6% of British homes will be connected to exchanges that can provide fast net access.

Cost cutting

The main factor that has sustained interest in broadband is thought to be its sharply lowering price.


Broadband leaves your phone line free for others



"Historically broadband has been priced at a premium over dial-up, but increasingly that's not the case," said Ian Fogg, broadband and personal technology analyst at Jupiter Research Europe.

"It's not a case of why get broadband but why not?" he said, "The price difference is either small or has ceased to exist."

Although the numbers of people playing games online, downloading music and movies is growing, so far, said Mr Fogg, this is not thought to be driving take-up.

People switch to broadband for very basic reasons, he said.

"It's about speed, not blocking the phone line and always on connections," he said.

The fact that last year BT reduced the cost of getting access to its exchanges so rivals can offer cheaper fast net services has also boosted numbers.

Despite this, according to the Office of National Statistics, more people still go online via slower dial-up connections.

Although the number of dial-up users is on a slow decline, in January 2005 59% of all net connections were dial-up.

But with fast net connections growing at 5% per month, broadband will soon be the dominant method that Britons use to go online.

As well as the five million broadband customers connected via BT, there are thought to be more than two million people going online via cable connections from Telewest and NTL.

Mr Fogg said BT's announcement was more about past achievements that the future.

"The speeds available are very poor compared to other parts of Europe," he said.

Mr Fogg would like to see BT set new targets that commit to getting a proportion of customers on to higher speeds by fixed dates.

"It's a reflective release rather than one that's forward looking," he said.

[Allan Carr]

Originally Posted by Mr T.

I've just received a BT Business letter telling me that they are going to upgrade, where they can and when your line supports it (they'll do a line test too), my current 500K broadband to 2000k (2Meg) between now and April for no extra charge.

You can check if your line/exchange will allow you to join the fun on BT's 'number checker' website below:

www.btbroadbandoffice.com/speedchanges

BT have just told me that my line won't support the 2MB speed - I'm currently on 1MB. No reduction in price though!

[Mr T.]

Broadband revolution speeds up
By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor
(Filed: 09/04/2005)

A price war that has seen the cost of broadband tumble over the past few months is poised to change forever home use of computers.

Price is no longer an obstacle for most people wanting to upgrade to a fast internet connection and the speed of broadband has doubled for millions of homes since Christmas.

The faster services mean that PCs can increasingly be used for downloading music, games and videos, or as a cheap alternative to a conventional telephone.

BT Wholesale last week signed its five millionth home to broadband over the phone network. One million were signed up in the past four months while another two million homes are connected via cable. A third of Britain's three million dial-up users are expected to switch by the end of the year, according to Ofcom, the regulator.

In the past two months, AOL, Virgin, Freedom2Surf and Nildram have dropped their broadband prices, while BT and NTL have doubled their connection speeds.

Britain is now the most extensive broadband market in the G7, ahead of Canada, Japan, the United States, Germany, France and Italy. Soon more than half of all British net users will have a broadband home connection.

The Government has said the target of 99 per cent broadband availability across Britain will be reached "within weeks".

Andrew Craig, deputy editor of Web User magazine, said: "In 2005 prices have tumbled and speeds have accelerated beyond a lot of people's expectations. It's been driven by the number of people who want broadband. Old dial-up internet is extremely slow in comparison and there's no longer a huge price difference." Most people in Britain can get broadband through an existing phone line or from a cable television company.

It is at least 10 to 20 times faster than dial-up connections and can be left on all day and allows users to use their phone while on the internet. The speed of broadband, or bandwidth, is measured in bits per second. A dial-up service has around 56,000 bits per second (56Kb). The slowest broadband services have around 512Kb, while one million bits (1Mb) or higher are now standard.

For most home computer users, speeds of 2Mb, 3Mb or 4Mb are probably unnecessary. But as computers are increasingly used to download music and films, these higher speeds will come into their own.

Phone lines are unlikely to be able to cope with speeds higher than 20Mb, but that would be enough to watch high definition television. "The only thing left is to find the compelling reasons for everyone to want broadband," Mr Craig said. "Video and telephone services and music are going to be that catalyst."

Southern Railway and T-Mobile will unveil details next week of the world's first train wireless broadband service. The T-Mobile HotSpot service will allow up to 8,000 daily commuters on the London to Brighton route to access the internet. It will be launched in the summer. Broadband prices are unlikely to fall below around £15 a month. Sean Stephenson, of the broadband provider Nildram, said: "Anyone who goes below that level may be cutting their margins too much and damaging themselves."

Speeds, however, are likely to increase. Last year BT Wholesale loosened its stranglehold on exchanges, allowing UK Online to launch the first 8Mb service.

[dry suit diver]

I read somewhere that the Government wants to tax broadband users as lots of them have ditched Televisions and download the BBC to their computers using the beeb broadband service , don't know how true it is but if it is , isn't it typical of them -get every body on broadband and then introduce a tax on it.

[Mr T.]

UK prefers broadband to dial-up



The price of broadband connections has been falling

Broadband has officially overtaken dial-up as the most popular way for Britons to connect to the internet, government statistics show.

Take-up of broadband connections has outstripped dial-up for some time.

But it is the first time broadband has accounted for the majority of all net connections in the UK.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), broadband overtook dial-up in May, making up 50.7% of all net connections.

Broadband connections have grown by nearly 80% over the last year, due to falling prices and greater publicity about the technology.

Dial-up's twilight years

It has been a remarkable period of growth for high-speed net access. In January 2001, when the ONS began compiling net data, broadband accounted for less than one percent of connections.

What we are seeing is the twilight years of dial-up, its slow retirement in the UK


Ian Fogg, Jupiter Research

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By contrast dial-up connections have been in decline for the last three years.

Broadband is increasingly becoming an attractive proposition, with many internet service providers upgrading their customers to faster speeds of 1Mbps (megabits per second) and 2Mbps for no extra cost.

Most recently, there has been a flurry of super-fast (8Mbps) services becoming available.

Jupiter Research predicts that by 2010, 80% of online households in Europe will have a broadband connection, with the figure likely to be even higher in the UK.

Jupiter analyst Ian Fogg said that those clinging on to their dial-up connection are doing so because of inertia.

"Some think they don't use the net enough to justify the hassle of switching," he said.

But the days of dial-up are numbered.

"What we are seeing is the twilight years of dial-up, its slow retirement in the UK," he said.

[addive]

hello you all
this is some info for you that are on ntl i have the bottom priced service and saw that for the same money they were offering 1meg broadband so i rang them up and ntl said they can up grade me ithink they could do this with out me ringing but if you are with ntl ring them and get upgraded free of charged
go luck addive

[chrisch]

Originally Posted by Mr T.

Prime minister Tony Blair, welcomed the announcement and said that broadband was of vital importance to everyone in the UK.

!!!!! Government plot to turn UK population into sad video gamer internet porno wankers shock........

Chris

[Mr T.]

Originally Posted by chrisch

!!!!! Government plot to turn UK population into sad video gamer internet porno wankers shock........

Chris

Shouldn't that carry an addendum of: ".....at least more than they already are..."