The Welsh Assembly Government and BT have announced the dates
for providing DSL broadband through most of the remaining telephone
exchanges in Wales.
Under the Regional Innovative Broadband Support Scheme (RIBS)
the majority of exchanges in Wales will be broadband enabled by the
end of September 2006.
In parallel to this work, the project is also identifying
areas where people live inside broadband enabled exchange areas but
still cannot access a broadband service. There are many
reasons why broadband is not available in enabled areas. The common
reasons are: the line distance between the site and the exchange is
too long; there is a line sharing device attached to the line or
part of the line is made from aluminium cabling (broadband does not
travel over aluminium cable).
Once identified, appropriate solutions to enable these areas
will be costed. It is hoped that this will push the broadband
availability for all of Wales to nearer the 100%.
Andrew Davies, Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and
Networks and eMinister for the Welsh Assembly Government said:
"This landmark announcement will now push Wales across the line in
meeting our target of developing a competitive and sustainable
broadband infrastructure for Wales by March 2007."
RIBS is part-financed by the European Union Objective One
Programme through the Welsh Assembly Government.
Regulatory Round-up
_________________________________
Wireless Licences
Ofcom has awarded 12 wireless licences for the "development of
a range of new and innovative competitive services".
The licences are for a total of 6.6MHz of spectrum to be used
on a low-power basis for the frequencies 1781.7-1785MHz paired with
1876.7-1880MHz.
Ofcom has mentioned one possible use as "private GSM mobile
phone networks in office buildings or campuses".
The licences have been awarded to:
- BT £275,112
- Cable & Wireless £51,002
- COLT £1,513,218
- Cyberpress Ltd £151,999
- FMS Solutions Ltd £113,000
- Mapesbury £76,660
- O2 £209,888
- Opal Telecom Ltd £155,555
- PLDT ( UK) Ltd £88,889
- Shyam Telecom UK Ltd £101,011
- Spring Mobil AB £50,110
- Teleware PLC £1,001,880
Orange and Zynetix were both outbid at £50,000 in the sealed
bid auction.
Media Literacy Research
Some 40% of 8-11s and 71% of 12-15s say they mostly use the
internet on their own at home, according to a report published by
Ofcom on the ability to access, understand and create
communications in a variety of contexts.
How Safe Do You Feel You Are Online?
The eCommerce Innovation Centre (eCIC) at Cardiff University
is very keen to understand the way Welsh consumers use the Internet
in order to better understand how people in Wales engage and
interact through digital channels and their perceptions of on-line
security and trust.
As part of the project, we have developed a Web based
questionnaire. We are interested in the opinions of anyone who owns
a computer and goes on-line, whether you are a business or domestic
user. The survey should take about five minutes to do, and is
completely anonymous.
If you are interested in taking part, please visit the survey
Web site at:
Closing date of survey is 31st July 2006.
Consultations
Ofcom has launched a consultation in to proposals to release
licences for the spectrum band 872-876 MHz paired with 917-921
MHz.
Closes – 21 June 2006
Ofcom has launched a consultation in to proposals to release
licences for the spectrum band 1452 – 1492 MHz.
Closes – 9 June 2006
Ofcom has launched a consultation in to geographic variations
to competitive conditions in the leased line market – included
leased lines used for broadband.
Closes – 8 June 2006
The European Commission (EC) has called for input on the White
Paper on a European Communication Policy.
The consultation calls for comments on five areas for which
the White Paper proposes joint action to be taken:
· defining common
principles guiding the communication activities on European
issues
· empowering
citizens
· working with the
media and new technologies
· understanding
European public opinion
· doing the job
together
Closes – 31 July 2006
Market News
_________________________________
BT Reports Broadband Growth
In their preliminary annual results, BT have an announced an
increase in broadband use over BT lives by 0.8million in three
months.
This brings the total number of DSL and LLU lines to
7.9million – up 58 percent on a year ago.
BT Retail claims a 31 per cent share of these customers, the
rest receive their service through another provider using the BT
infrastructure.
In addition, the report described plans to increase BT's Wi-Fi
network: "We have already built the Openzone network in
Westminster and Cardiff and have announced plans to Wi-Fi enable
twelve further cities by the end of 2006."
The report also confirmed that the 21st Century
Network which BT will be rolling out to the whole of the UK
beginning with Cardiff:
"Operational planning to migrate customers to the 21CN in
Cardiff, which will see the first live operation of 21CN in
November 2006, is well advanced. Following successful
implementation in Cardiff, and following a comprehensive industry
review, BT will proceed to a national migration programme."
There is a dedicated website with more information about 21CN
at:
Press Speculation: Mobile Providers Eyeing Broadband
A
new entrant to the broadband market may be mobile provider
O2.
O2, which was formed following a de-merger from BT in 2001, is
now owned by Telefónicaof Spain who are reportedly considering
purchasing an existing broadband company in the UK or embarking on
a Local Loop Unbundling project.
Wanadoo UK, owned by
France Telecom, is likely to be fully merged with sister company
Orange UK. This would effectively see the Wanadoo brand
disappear within the UK, going the same way as the Freeserve brand
which pre=empted it. The process will reportedly involve
2,000 job cuts.
Vodafone have dismissed press speculation that they are
considering a merger with Tiscali or Bulldog.
T-Mobile has announced intentions to compete with
landline broadband providers using its mobile 3G licence.
According to media reports, mobile customers will be able to get
unlimited mobile broadband for £8.50 per month.
These reports follow Carphone Warehouse's announcement to
provide its "Broadband Forever" service and NTL's agreement to
purchase Virgin Mobile.
Unbundling Update
_________________________________
OTA Update for March 2006
The Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator announced on
7 April 2006 that the number of unbundled lines exceeded
360,000. This is up from 3000,000 in February 2006.
The OTA expressed "significant concerns in a number of
areas." Three main areas for concern are outlined in the
update.
Despite these concerns the OTA expects one million lines to be
unbundled by the end of the year. Previous announcements had
suggested a potential to unbundled two and three million by the end
of 2006.
The Telecommunications Adjudicator aims to facilitate swift
implementation of the processes necessary to enable competitors to
gain access to BT's local loop on an equivalent basis to that
enjoyed by BT's own businesses.
Company Unbundling Figures
AOL
Current number of exchanges:
2 unbundled exchanges as of 20/01/2006 due to trial in
London
Target date: First half of 2006
Target number of exchanges: 300
Be Un Limited
Current number of exchanges: 142
Target date: June 2006
Target number of exchanges: 159
Cable and Wireless (Bulldog)
Current number of exchanges: 400
Target date: September 2006
Target number of exchanges: 800
Carphone Warehouse (Talk Talk)
Current number of exchanges: Unknown
Target date: May 2007
Target number of exchanges: 1,000
Pipex
Current number of exchanges: Unknown
Target date: End of 2006
Target number of exchanges: 100
Sky (Easynet)
Current number of exchanges: 259
Target date: June 2006
Target number of exchanges: 379
Tiscali
Current number of exchanges: 53
Target date: Unknown
Target number of exchanges: Unknown
Market Data Analysis
_________________________________
Tiscali has announced it has increased its
number of UK broadband subscribers by 151,000 in three
months. The first quarter report shows that the company now
provides broadband to over 1million users in the UK and just under
1million users in Europe the rest of Europe.
This puts them slightly behind AOL who
announced in press statement in January that they have over
1.1million broadband subscribers in the UK and a total of
2.3million members, including dial up and voice customers.
BT has announced they now have over
2.5million broadband retail customers, an increase of 227,000 in
three months.
Since merging with Telewest, NTL has the UK's
largest broadband customer base, with over 2.8million broadband
customers.
These are mostly provided with broadband through Cable, but
NTL also owns Virgin.net which provides broadband
through ADSL to 193,200 customers.
Broadband from Sky is due to be launched as a
residential service during summer 2006. Current numbers of
broadband subscribers were not contained in their third quarter
2006 results, but they gained approximately 21,000 with the
acquisition of Easynet.
Wanadoo claims to be Europes biggest
broadband provider with 8.1million customers, with 986,000 of those
based in the UK. Wanadoo is owned by France Telecom, who also
own mobile provider Orange. Wanadoo UK is expected to be
merged with Orange UK.
Data Sources:
Useful Links
_________________________________
Broadband Wales Programme
Visit the Broadband Wales Programme website for information on
the benefits that broadband can bring for you
www.wales.gov.uk/broadband
Broadband for Life
Other News and Events
RIBS "Not-spots" Registration Scheme
If you still can't get Broadband after you have been informed
that your telephone exchange has been enabled, please register your
details at
www.bbwo.org.uk/blackspots
.
Details of when your exchange is due to be enabled can be
found at
The scheme is operated by BBWO on behalf of the Welsh Assembly
Government.
Please note every attempt is made to ensure figures published
in this newsletter are the most up to date and accurate figures
publicly available at time of going to press, however, exact
figures may vary.
Thank you for reading the
Broadband Bulletin from the Broadband Wales
Observatory (BBWO). This newsletter is published once a
month.
Researched by:
Edited by:
Rhys Gravell
Published by:
Broadband Wales
Observatory
eCommerce Innovation Centre
Cardiff University
Cardiff Business Technology Centre
Senghenydd Road
Cardiff CF24 4AY
Tel: 029 2064 7030
The Broadband Wales Observatory is managed by
the
eCommerce Innovation Centre
at Cardiff University on behalf of eWales at the Welsh
Assembly Government.