|
It's just so British. First we lead the way with Broadband and then we fall behind everyone else. What is it about this culture that was the first to make the world alive to the possibilities of this technology and then all of sudden we are left standing? What has happened and why?
You are unlikely to be surprised to hear that the chief hold-up is down to BT and the snail's pace at which it is unbundling the local telephone network - a process imaginatively known as local loop unbundling! Carried out efficiently, this would have meant that broadband services such as video on demand, live digital TV, computer games, e-mail and high-speed Internet access would now have been winging their way into your homes via your household telephone connection using DSL (digital subscriber line) technology. That means using the existing copper wires to send the content.
All very well, but when BT has the monopoly on the network and starts by releasing only rural loops to the competition, the whole process stalls. Even when BT has installed its own DSL equipment, the cost of using it is very expensive: about 600 pounds for every customer connected for 2.3MBPS of bandwidth and a payment of 60 pounds per month per line. Compare that to Australia where the cost is a fraction of that for 50MBPS of bandwidth. So guess who's taking the lead now?
We keep hearing that Oftel is on the case and intends to make it happen more quickly but BT seems to just put its head in the sand, or rather its loops in the ground.
Should we care? Well the answer must be YES. If the UK wants to lead or even be among the leaders in the new economy then we must have access to broadband. Naturally there are alternatives now which are coming into play simply because unbundling is still being bungled, but BT should be brought to task - and quickly. And that's quickly Planet Earth time, not quickly BT time...
Annie Millar.
Managing director, XXIST.com
BACK
| MULTI-MILLION KICK-START FOR BROADBAND |
|
The government has launched an action plan to solved the problem of limited UK broadband distribution. E-minister Patricia Hewitt and e-envoy Andrew Pinder joined forces to launch a 30million pound fund aimed at kick-starting broadband uptake.
"We do not want a nation of have-nets and have-nots," said Hewitt. "The fund is to help ensure that a digital divide in high-speed Internet access does not open up between urban and rural communities." She also promised to get more directly involved in broadband roll-out with plans to set up a broadband stakeholder group which will deal with industry problems and force BT into action.
The report pledges that money will be spent on driving broadband into rural areas. By introducing broadband connections to the public sector such as schools, GP surgeries, police stations and town halls, the government is hoping it will encourage the private sector to speed up further roll-out.
BACK
| FACING UP TO THE SECURITY ISSUE |
|
When even Internet giants such as Microsoft are vulnerable to hack attacks, then security has to be a major issue facing companies on the web. Statistics in this area are hard to come by as very few companies are prepared to admit that they have succumbed to hackers. This is not surprising given that for the general public concern about security is given as one of the major reasons for reluctance to shop on the Internet.
Experts in this area agree that there is huge under-reporting. Andrew Kerfoot, sales manager for Westpoint, a company which specialises in security scanning services, says the main reasons for this are clear: "It is thought that about 85-90% of attacks go unreported," he says, "we really only hear about the tip of the iceberg. This month alone, there have already been two dozen well known but a total of 500 companies who have admitted to attacks reported - and it's only February 19th! We only hear about the high-profile ones. From a public relations point of view, it does not reflect well on your company and if your business depends on the Internet, then it could be a disaster."
Westpoint was started 18 months ago by the amalgamation of two companies, one involved in software development and the other in security services and the result is one of the leading providers of vulnerability scanning in the UK.
Kerfoot outlines the main problems companies face: "If you're a big company then you have a security department with experts who know what they're doing. But the smaller the company the lower the profile and it's often left to the IT department to take care of security. And when it comes to security, there are the experts and the rest who are not very experienced and there's no in between. There's not much budgetary commitment to it. This person is usually regarded as a bloody nuisance - that is until a hacker gets in. It's about as sexy as car insurance. You know you have to have it but you resent paying for it - until you have a prang."
What Westpoint offers is a cheaper and more reliable service. What the company does is thorough regular monthly checks to find out ifyour system is vulnerable. "The great majority of problems we uncover can be fixed by the average systems manager. People imagine that because they've had a new up-to-date system installed, then they are safe. But within just a couple of months they are vulnerable again. The most common thing said to us is: 'we have a firewall' but these are not hacker-proof. It's no good if the server behind the firewall is totally unsecured.
"Each system will have at least 65,000 ports that can connect to the Internet. Very few of these willactually be open and in use. But there are always ports left open and unused which hackers can get through. I have to say, it doesn't matter how big the company and how good their security, we always find something." To find out more about this service go to http://www.xxist.com/hackers.html
BACK
| HACKER CONFESSES TO ANNA VIRUS |
|
A hacker who calls himself "OnTheFly" turned himself in to Dutch police and was detained on suspicion of damaging computer programmes and property. He could face a prison sentence of up to four years. He allegedly posted a letter on the Internet confessing to the creation of the virus which struck computers around the world. He claimed he was inspired by devotion to the Russian tennis star and research indicating that web users were still not taking adequate measures to protect their systems. The letter also confirmed security experts' suspicions that the virus had been created with an easily available "kit" developed by an Argentinian programmer. Though not destructive, the virus spread quickly and clogged computer systems, especially in America.
BACK
| INTERNET BANKS FAIL TO CAPTURE CUSTOMERS |
|
A tiny 0.5 per cent of customers use the Internet exclusively for their banking according to new research from the Henley Centre commissioned by BT. Customers apparently still prefer the comfort of visiting a branch for their banking with almost 75 per cent of current account holders carrying out all their banking transactions at branches. The rest are happy to mix and match, using branch, telephone and Internet banking.
These findings are backed up by analysis from Gomez the Internet measurement company. The rush for banks to create an online presence has slowed in the last year. Each quarter Gomez surveys Internet customers to find out which online bank is the best. Overall winner for the third consecutive time was the Co-op's Smile with Abbey National's Cahoot top in terms of cost.Nationwide was the most popular for ease of use and service.
BACK
Web site crashes cost British businesses 128 million pounds last year according to a survey by the services provider Hostmark. The main reason for losses was that people unable to spend money on a site went elsewhere according to the study.
BACK
| ONLINE LAWYERS HARASSED BY E-MAI |
|
Six 'virtual lawyers' - photographs of models - used to guide people round an online legal site have proved so popular with users that they have begun to attract their own fan mail. So Freelawyer.co.uk, the online service offering free legal information and referral to local law firms has had to change the design of the"about us" part of the site. Far from wanting help with legal problems, users e-mailed the virtual lawyers with queries such as: "How old are you?" "What time do you finish work?" and "Are you seeing anyone?"
BACK
| BIG BROTHER FEAR TRIGGERED BY NEW SOFTWARE |
|
The launch of software which can trace UK consumers' daily movements is worrying the Information Commissioner's Office which fears 'Big Brother' marketing tactics could soon become widespread.FastTrac built by Data Discoveries, overlays the Electoral Register, the Royal Mail's change of address file and the Births, Marriages and Deaths Register with Experian and Claritas data. Though the software is compliant with the Data Protection Act and is screened against the Mail Preference Service suppression file, the Information Commission is calling for stricter controls on the commercial use of data. The new scheme is being targeted at financial services companies.
BACK
| TRYING TO STUFF THE GENIE BACK INTO THE BOTTLE |
|
So American judges have closed down Napster - well nearly. They can carry on depriving those poor rock megastars of their royalties until the wording of the legal document is finalised and barring further appeals, of course. Until then, Napster is groaning under the weight of users trying to download and could well sink. But it won't end there, because Napster is just the best-known of a growing number of sites offering the same service. Except that they have acted to avoid Napster's fate: they do not use a central database, so the record industry will have to sue the individual user.
Napster saw a while ago that the writing was on the wall and made noises about a fee-based service, making users pay and giving record companies their cut. But that was not good enough for the record companies who wanted more. It's more than likely they will come to regret losing the opportunity to control thetechnology. Goodbye Napster, but hello Gnutella, OpenNap, Bearshare and the rest.
BACK
| ICANN UNDER ATTACK FOR SECRECY |
|
We know more about how the Pope is elected than we do about how ICANN makes its decisions, according to one of its own members. Karl Auerbach, an elected member told a US Senate Committee that the group's activities are even secret to him. The non-profit organisation has come under attack in the Internet domain naming process which requires a non-refundable $50,000 fee just to submit a proposal. There have been repeated charges that ICANN's decisions are arbitrary and that its refusal to explain its decisions conflicts with its democratic mandate. One American law professor and cyber-activist said the decision making process is flawed. He gave the example of trademark holders who have an interest in minimising the number of new names to reduce infringement, while category operators who sell domain names want to cut competition from companies maintaining the new domain categories.
BACK
British e-tailers are better at moving their services online than their European counterparts according to a new report. Nielsen/NetRatings, the Internet audience measurement service found that France and Germany, two other big European e-commerce markets, are not as good at using their established brand names online. Even Amazon has not performed as well in France as the rest of Europe. In Germany, none of the top ten e-commerce brands were clicks-and-mortar retailers in the run up to Christmas.
BACK
| HOLIDAYS ARE FAVOURITE ONLINE BUYS |
|
British online shoppers spend more on holidays and travel than on any other online purchase, according to NOP Research Group. They estimate that 480,000 people shopped for holidays and travel online in the four weeks leading up to Christmas 2000 - and the prime travel season is just beginning.
Satisfaction with online shopping remains very high in Britain, with only two per cent of online shoppers expressing overall dissatisfaction with the process. Even the most popular complaints attracted fewer than one in ten dissatisfied customers. Cost and speed of delivery were the main problems.
BACK
SEE THE LATEST INTERNET STATS
Back to Top
Back to Home
Suggestions and article submissions welcomed, click here
Regrettably, the editorial staff of NOW XXIST cannot answer your specific marketing questions. But suggestions of topics to cover in future issues are welcome.
Would you like to sponsor NOW XXIST? Contact Annie Millar on 0161 907 3309
(c) Copyright 1999 xxist.com - The Internet marketing and ecommerce specialists
NOW XXIST may only be redistributed in its unedited form. Written permission from
xxist.com must be obtained to reproduce the information contained within this newsletter.
|
