Broadband Bulletin Issue 15: January 2007
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ADSL Broadband Tops 10 million
Connections
BT saw in the New Year with an announcement that ADSL broadband
use in the UK had passed the 10 million mark, smashing its initial
target of 5 million connections by the end of 2006. That target,
viewed as highly ambitious at the time, was set in April 2002 when
there were fewer than 150,000 DSL connections. Broadband
availability at that time was 66 per cent whereas it is now more
than 99.8 per cent.
Ben Verwaayen, Chief Executive of BT Group, said: "2007 is
beginning with broadband firmly established at the heart of the UK
economy, helping businesses to compete and enriching people's
lives. The UK now has over 200 service providers making it the most
competitive broadband market in the world. That means fantastic
choice and value for consumers, and a constant stream of new and
innovative applications."
ADSL connections are made up of:
- BT Wholesale supplies services to more than 8.7 million
customers (via service providers including BT Retail)
- Openreach supplies more than 1.3 million lines to customers via
local loop unbundlers.
Every one of these 10 million connections brings revenue to
BT. The main alternative to ADSL in the UK is cable, which has
approximately 3 million users.
BT state that broadband speeds are set to increase with the
roll out of BT's 21st Century Network, which has begun in Cardiff:
"This will see the speed of broadband increase across the UK and
not just in the city centres where local loop unbundlers are
focusing their investment. Speeds of up to 24 Mbps will be
increasingly available across the UK from January 2008, although
actual speeds will depend on a variety of factors including
distance from the exchange."
Virgin Media to Launch Soon
Customers of
merged cable operators NTL and Telewest are starting to see changes
ahead of the new Virgin Media brand due to be launched in February
2007. A new Virgin TV Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) is
being rolled out to some users.
Uma Thurman is set to lead NTL's £20m campaign to rebrand
itself as Virgin Media in a television ad next month.
Free Broadband for Milford Haven
Milford Haven is due to receive free broadband from TFL-Group,
which has chosen the town to unveil its OpenAccess WIFI Hotzone,
which will allow completely free access to Broadband by anybody
wishing to get onto the internet.
The system takes advantage of the spare capacity that the
company has in its rapidly-expanding network of communication tower
sites. Although Milford is the first, other areas will follow,
including Neyland, Pembroke Dock, St Davids, Fishguard and
Narberth.
Sir Christopher Bland:
How will we communicate in the future?
Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call 130 years
ago.
Since then, the way we talk to each other has changed beyond
all recognition.
The BBC's Jenny Scott interviewed Sir Christopher Bland, Chair
of the BT Group, for the Hardtalk programme. The interview
about how BT has changed and how we are likely to communicate in
the future is available on the BBC website:
Report calls for smarter use of ICT by public sector
Intellect has published a white paper in response to the
Office of Government Commerce's ICT Market Capacity Report, which
was commissioned by the Government CIO Council. "Smarter use of ICT
services capacity by the UK public sector," was prepared by
Intellect's Public Sector Council.
The report details a number of areas where the Council feels
that the public sector could make significant improvements in how
effectively and efficiently it uses the ICT resources at its
disposal. This would enable it to gain better value from the
increased investment in ICT services in the coming years.
Paid Online Content a Key Gaming Vendor
Strategy
Research by In-Stat has shown how console vendors and software
publishers are looking to the online world to increase revenues and
recoup development costs. The report shows how paid
downloadable content and advertising are increasingly becoming key
elements in the gaming business.
According to In-stat: "Sony and Nintendo both launched new
online efforts focused on providing paid downloadable content in
the form of games from past consoles as well as casual games that
will be available for $3 to $15. Meanwhile, Microsoft continued to
be the leader in the online console space in 2006, with its
announcement of a video and movie download service for the Xbox
360."
Feature: Case
Studies
During September and October 2006, 24 Case Studies were
undertaken across Wales to gain an understanding of the change,
impact and benefits of broadband amongst Business, Voluntary
Organisations and Consumers.
Where possible, metrics have been included to show the impact
on profit that broadband has had for each primary unit of
analysis.
Featured here are a number of shortened executive
summaries. Further details are available online and more case
studies will be in next month's Broadband Bulletin.
Punctum Ltd
(Punctum Photographic Cooperative)
A photographic cooperative based in Newport, South Wales was
chosen as the primary unit of analysis due to its former
experiences with 56 Kbps dial-up connection and its current
wireless broadband connection that in theory can reach speeds of up
to 8 Mbps. The body of primary research was conducted by the
Investigator, Neil Coles, by interviewing the directors at their
Newport studios.
Statistically, the photographic sector appears to be under
pressure to offer high quality at minimal cost, due to the growing
amount of businesses offering similar services and with no above
average growth in consumer expenditure.
Pressures for the sector to perform offer an opportunity for
broadband to support Lean processes within the photographic sector,
as has been proven by the interviews conducted with Punctum
Photographic Cooperative.
Broadband has enabled the photographic industry to save time,
money and to introduce new products to the market. These
factors, in turn, are helping businesses to survive, to prosper and
to grow within an industry that has high and growing demands on
business performance.
Some of the actual broadband-enabled applications that are
facilitating business success are email, web-based research,
uploading and downloading speeds and its ability to cope with the
sending of large images. Previously, the cooperative, and
other businesses from the sector would be forced to send images by
post at an expense that impacted against either profit or product
cost. In fact, taking into account employee time and real
financial gains, it is argued that the cooperative has an impact
against its possible profit margins of £922.48 per month or
£11,069.76 per annum.
These figures are impressive and give non-broadband enabled
businesses food for thought. These figures do not take into
account the abilities of broadband to increase cash flow, or to
create new products.
This report raises awareness of the sector and how broadband
helps to overcome some challenges faced.
In opening this report, the Investigator would like to share
the very first comment made by Jay Dyer of Punctum Photographic
Cooperative, "Broadband is infinitely better, for a start it does
not disconnect every little while..." and from here the discussions
and subsequent metrics of financial savings offer multiple reasons
as to why broadband should already be in use across all business
sectors in Wales.
City Canteen and
Bar Ltd
City Bar and Canteen was established in 2002. It had
long been the idea of Mr Jones to open a bar on the site and as
soon as this was possible, due to licensing changes, the
independent style bar started trading. The venue offers a
place to eat (tapas and light snacks), to drink (quality coffees,
fine wines and continental beers), and to socialise. Due to
the success of the bar within the local area, it was expanded after
a year and a half of trading and licensing hours were
extended.
In 2004, City Bar and Canteen changed their Internet
connection from dial-up to a wireless broadband connection.
Several months later, and almost by chance, they realised the
potential of offering the wireless connection to their
customers. The knock-on effect of the wireless broadband
introduction was made evident from the outset. Not only has
wireless broadband enabled the business to run more efficiently
internally, it has also allowed them to offer a unique service
externally.
"Since the introduction of wireless broadband, local business
custom has increased by around 20 to 25%."
Internally, efficiency gains have been made through the
sourcing and ordering of equipment and fresh produce, saving the
business both time and money. Internal communications both
between the Directors, and between the Directors and staff, have
also been greatly improved.
Externally, wireless broadband has enabled City Canteen and
Bar to market itself better within the local market. Their
broadband connection has also encouraged them to undertake more
Web-based market research and to benefit from the efficiencies and
cost savings of direct email marketing. In addition, the
company now has an additional selling point to promote and to use
to its advantage amongst the captive, local professional
market.
Cultural changes in the last 10 years have had a significant
impact on the UK economy, as people continue to eat out on a more
regular basis, spending more time and money in cafes, bars and
restaurants. The recent growth in popularity of the renovated
Cardiff Bay area has resulted in a surge of new developments,
including the Welsh Millennium Centre, several bars and restaurants
and several new luxury apartment developments.
Broadband and the Internet may be aiding the UK's overall
growth within the hotel, restaurant and hospitality
sectors.
An increased use of email communications, adoption of new
technologies and the growing trend to eSource products, could all
be contributing to this open-armed adoption of Internet
technologies within the sector.
"Broadband has certainly increased public perception of the
bar.... it seems to have given it some sort of positive, dynamic
edge."
Town and Country
BroadcastingRadio
Pembrokeshire
Town and Country Broadcasting was founded in 2001 by Jason
Bryant. The company has expanded over the years to include
five radio stations located throughout Wales, including Radio
Pembrokeshire, Radio Carmarthenshire, Bridge FM, Scarlet FM and
more recently Swansea Bay Radio.
In this case study, we focus mostly on Radio Pembrokeshire as
they existed pre and post broadband. Many of the applications
that Radio Pembrokeshire wanted to exploit such as music downloads
were difficult, if not impossible, by using dial-up. In order
to speed up the process of obtaining broadband, numerous
technologies were considered, including satellite, but they "had to
go through the local exchange in the end".
Radio Pembrokeshire finally obtained ADSL (Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line) broadband Internet access in March 2004.
Compared to dial-up, using broadband was a "different world".
As is common with many businesses, broadband has had an effect on
the background operations related to the day-to-day running of the
business, changing working practices and increasing efficiency in
many areas. Importantly, music can now be downloaded from the
Internet, saving both time and money; a task which wasn't
previously feasible.
Whilst broadband has not had a major impact on employee time
and operational overheads, it has led to savings of around £320 per
month. It is hoped that the major effects of broadband will
be seen in the future, in terms of sales revenue.
For broadcasters, the way that external users exploit
broadband is impacting their business. The use of the
Internet as a radio (and media) access mechanism is becoming
increasingly popular. In today's Internet climate, Web presence is
more vital than ever. Increasingly, consumers are spurning
traditional media access methods in favour of accessing their media
on-line.
This has not gone unnoticed by Town and Country who feel that
the existence of a dynamic, interactive Web site is highly
important. New Web sites for each station are to be unveiled in
2007. As well as features such as news, weather, schedules and play
lists, each Web site will have a community area enabling listeners
to post their own content.
Additionally, each station will provide streaming audio of its
broadcasts (currently, this is only supported by Radio
Pembrokeshire). By having dynamic Web sites, Town and Country
are hoping to attract more listeners. As their sales revenue
is directly related to advertising revenue, increasing their
listener base should lead to higher profitability.
Jason feels that broadband Internet access has had a
significant impact on smaller media companies such as Town and
Country Broadcasting. He points out that "the capabilities
offered by broadband have levelled the field and let regional radio
stations compete with the big players".
Wheelies
Direct
This case study will look at how Wheelies Direct, a
rapidly-growing bike business in Swansea, has been able to harness
the power of broadband and to affect change in virtually every area
of their business.
Wheelies Direct has been in business for a number of years,
and like practically every company of its type, has been through
the pain of trying to conduct business by using dial-up. The very
nature of the business, and the demands of their target market,
meant that they had to take the decision to employ broadband
throughout the organisation. Not taking this decision would almost
certainly have stifled growth and lost their competitive
edge. Most of all, it would definitely have meant that the
firm would lose significant sales.
The company has been using broadband for a few years now, but
they can still remember what it was like to use dial-up. At this
time none of the 20 employees in the call centre had direct access
to the Internet from their own work-stations and were reliant on a
single PC to carry out research on behalf of their clients. As you
can imagine, there was quite a backlog in work and from decisions
that could not be made immediately – definitely not an ideal
situation in a highly competitive environment.
Like many businesses, Wheelies Direct has seen direct
financial benefits of installing broadband. It has been
calculated that the IT department is saving around £1,300 per month
in overheads, which would otherwise have been spent updating
software, and on security patches. Within the call centre, where
staff had to spend hours preparing and sending brochures, the
savings have been around £1,600 a month – this does not even take
into account the money they no longer spend on brochures.
Though broadband may have resulted in savings, the real value
of this technology can be seen in the increased productivity and
sales it has generated. Today, every employee has a workstation
with a broadband connection. The time it takes to complete a client
transaction, from initial client call to conclusion, is measured in
hours and not in days. Clients and insurance companies can now send
information as attachments which can be viewed within minutes –
decisions can then be taken that much quicker.
There is one area of the business which, according to Nick
Fluck, General Manager, "would not have got off the ground" had it
not been for broadband, namely, their eCommerce site, Tredz. Every
function within this part of the business is dependant on a fast,
reliable, always-on connection. Broadband is vital to everything
from adding information to the eCommerce site and receiving
processing-details all day, to uploading of large images and data,
and editing and uploading video footage. It also enables Internet
telephone calls, and a whole range of other services.
Jones
Associates
Jones Associates Ltd is an independent financial advisory
service located in the popular and well-known town of Llanfairpwll
(the one with the long name) on the Isle of Anglesey. Its
directors, Mr Huw Jones and Mr Ron Jones are fully qualified
financial advisers, accredited via the Financial Services Authority
(FSA), and they pride themselves on the high level of customer
service they provide their clients. The business presently employs
two additional administrative assistants whose primary role is to
undertake the day-to-day issues of maintaining the office such as
responding to callers, filing, inputting customer data and
arranging appointments. The business' turnover for the last
financial was in the region of £250,000.
Messrs Jones, from the inception of their company, were eager
to utilise the potential that Information Communications Technology
could provide in streamlining business processes and also in the
possibility of boosting the company's bottom line. In a fast
changing sector, historically, drowning in paper, the financial
services industry was in a process of rapid change to embrace the
use of IT and the Internet. From electronic data storage, CRM, and
on-line applications to the rollout of new products and services
transmitted over the Internet. Both directors were fairly IT savvy
having used computers in their previous posts and this has given
them a good grounding in their ability to understand not only the
potential that new software and hardware would provide their
business, but also in seeing how essential a high speed Internet
connection was to the future of Jones Associates.
Jones Associates were fortunate to an extent as the business'
location in Llangefni enabled them to access ADSL fairly early in
its rollout across the island. The local telephone exchange was
enabled on 18th August 2004.
Upon adapting Broadband, the practice could actively look for
the perfect solution, as most technology-led products demanded a
high speed, reliable method of data transfer. This simply would not
have been possible via dial-up.
With strict compliance rules set out by the FSA and IFA, it
was essential that the business conformed and most importantly
found a method of doing so effectively. Messrs Jones felt that
reconciling risk and commission efficiently, a long drawn out task
performed by one of the directors, and introducing an operator
friendly CRM package was crucial to the future of the
business.
Having researched what was on offer for the sector, Messrs
Jones decided to make use of the
Intelliflo system, which had the
potential to answer most of the business' needs. This system
enabled Jones Associates to manage clients effectively, transfer
data between sellers, underwriters and themselves and store
confidential documentation centrally. This system, although on the
surface was expensive at £350 per month, would more than prove to
be a good return on investment. This was because it had the
potential to save the business a substantial number of staff days.
Thus, the directors were free to be generating business
rather than remaining stuck at the office reconciling figures and
assessing compliance procedures. The software also enabled Jones
Associates to turn around new business in a fraction of the time
that it had taken in the past, enabling the business to be paid
quickly, and thus, improving its cash flow.
Creating electronic documentation, as opposed to paper-based
documents, enabled the business to make important savings to major
overheads. This had a huge impact to postage fees and to the amount
of stationery used. But by far, the greatest impact was to the
number of man-hours that were previously swallowed up in dealing
with the post. These hours could be spent more productively, thus
increasing productivity.
Jones Associates have made significant cost benefits from
transferring from dial-up to the use of broadband. However, the
biggest benefit is to the operational efficiency of the business.
This has had major positive knock on effects to their margins, to
their relationship with their customers and to the stability and
effectiveness of the business. Their use of broadband does not
finish here as they hope to take the next step forward and make use
of VoIP in a hope to reduce overheads further.
"Asking me to give a financial breakdown of how broadband has
helped my business is a difficult thing to do. There is no doubt
that it has significantly saved in areas such as telephony and
stationery, but by far the greatest benefit is in how we conduct
our business on a day-to-day basis. It has enabled us to be where
it matters and that is in front of customers. In a very customer
service orientated business, broadband has enabled us to give our
customers a more rewarding experience and this shows in the number
of recommendations we receive."
"Still can't get
Broadband?"
There are 439 telephone exchanges in Wales, and all have now
been ADSL-enabled apart from Rhos and Llawhaden. All of the
exchanges that have been enabled will be able to deliver ADSL Max
services and to be included in any future national upgrade
programmes such as ADSL 2. 33 were enabled under the Regional
Innovative Broadband Support (RIBS) programme.
If you already know you are in a broadband "not-spot" you can
assist us by registering you details on our website
In addition, you may want to ask your neighbours to see if
they are facing the same not-spot issues, and encourage them to
register their details onto the brokerage site, as the more
registrations that are collected in one area, the better the
business case and justification for doing the work.
Wales is the only country in the world that is
addressing not-spots at the same time as enabling its unviable
exchanges.
RIBS Update
The European Commission has received a complaint about the
Regional Innovative Broadband Support (RIBS) project. The Welsh
Assembly Government is working in partnership with BT to deliver
the RIBS project, which has been designed specifically to enable
areas of Wales, described as broadband not-spots, to have access to
first-generation (512 kbps to 2 mbps downstream and 256 kbps to 512
kbps upstream) broadband services, at affordable prices comparable
with urban areas of Wales.
Whilst the European Commission is considering whether to
formally investigate the complaint, BT has decided that they will
temporarily suspend engineering works associated with the
enablement of broadband not-spots across Wales. BT will, however,
continue with identifying solutions and planning work for any
not-spots that are passed to them by the Welsh Assembly
Government.
Planning work consists of:
Obtaining relevant planning permission; liaising with the
Highways Agency; liaising with Local Authorities; ensuring man
power availability; ordering equipment; liaising with manufacturers
etc. There is generally 6-8 weeks of planning to be done prior to
undertaking any large engineering work.
Engineering work will re-commence on enabling broadband
not-spots as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Welsh Assembly
Government will continue to gather information about customers who
are unable to receive a broadband service in order to pass this
information on to BT as soon as work is able to continue. If you
believe you should be able to receive broadband, but are unable to
do so, please register on the Broadband Wales Observatory Brokerage
website www.bbwo.org.uk
The allegations in the complaint are denied and the Welsh
Assembly Government is co-operating fully with the Commission to
bring this matter to a swift resolution.
UK
Consultations
Review of the wholesale broadband access markets
2006/07
Significant developments have taken place in the wholesale
broadband access markets since Ofcom concluded its previous review
in May 2004. Between May 2004 and October 2006, the total number of
broadband subscribers has increased from c.4 million to c.12
million.
At the same time, LLU has developed from a low volume niche
product to one that allows Communications Providers to bypass the
incumbent's wholesale offerings and to instead provide their own.
Increased competitive pressure, particularly from LLU, has resulted
in BT geographically de-averaging its wholesale broadband prices
and in Providers offering retail prices and products that vary by
geography.
Ofcom has attempted to capture these developments in its
approach to reviewing the wholesale broadband access market and to
propose regulatory remedies that are appropriate to the prevailing
market conditions. This consultation document sets this approach
out in detail and Ofcom is keen to hear the views of all interested
parties.
Closes: 13 February 2007
Digital Dividend Review - This document consults on
the proposed approach to the award of the digital dividend spectrum
(470-862MHz)
Closes: 20 March 2007
Regulatory financial reporting obligations on
BT
Ofcom has published proposals to simplify the regulatory
financial report that BT Group plc is required to publish every
year. Ofcom is proposing a shorter and more accessible format
for this report. These changes are designed to deliver a
report which focuses on the key information used by Ofcom and the
industry.
Ofcom expects to implement any changes to the report in time
for the regulated financial statements for 2006-07.
Closes: 23 March 2007
Draft Annual Plan 2007/08
Closes: 20 February 2007
Award of available spectrum: 2500-2690 MHz, 2010-2025
MHz and 2290-2300 MHz
Closes: 9 March 2007
A new approach to public service content in the
digital media age
Closes: 23 March 2007
Participation TV: how should it be
regulated?
Closes: 31 January 2007
Self help TV relays and digital
switchover
Closes: 1 March 2007
Award of available spectrum: 10 GHz, 28 GHz, 32 GHz
and 40 GHz: Spectrum packaging and auction design
Closes: 8 February 2007
Regulatory Round-up
Special Report: Niche ISPs
Ofcom has
published a report into the niche Internet Service Provider (ISP)
market. The research focuses on smaller ISPs, typically those
serving companies with fewer than 30 employees or a small number of
residential customers. The research was commissioned during 2006
following requests from industry stakeholders.
The research found that the UK niche for ISP markets is made
up of approximately 686 service providing businesses, of
which:
390 provide 'Hosting, Connections and other services'
224 provide 'Hosting and other services'
72 provide 'Connections and other services'
In total, they claim to serve approximately 1.9 million
customers (including both business and residential consumers) in
the UK, and the estimated value of turnover is £1.15 billion per
annum. The actual proportion of their turnover relating to Internet
connections (i.e. connections via broadband / dial up and hosting
services excluding all other services) is approximately £740m and
niche ISPs that provide connections and hosting and other services
serve approximately 1.3m customers (both business and
consumer/home) in the UK.
According to the niche ISPs surveyed, 16% of all UK businesses
and 2% of UK households have an internet connection service
supplied by a niche ISP.
The vast majority (83%) of niche ISPs have less than 20
employees, equally split between technical and non-technical staff.
61% of ISPs have only one office location and tend to generate less
than £1m annual turnover. Most of the niche ISPs approached are
located in England and more precisely in the South (South East:
27%, London: 15% and South West: 7%). Wales is home to just
4% of Niche ISPs.
In terms of types of businesses they serve, the focus is on
smaller companies with one to 30 employees. Niche ISPs offer
internet connections, Web-hosting and other IT services, as part of
a tailored, consultative service to businesses. Niche ISPs
claim to offer a higher quality of customer care than large
ISPs.
Ofcom announces new Advisory Committee Members for Wales
Ofcom announced the appointment of six new members to its
Advisory Committee for Wales. The new members are:
- Julie Barton is a media consultant living near Pontypridd
- Charlie Bass lives in Flintshire and runs an eCommerce and
website consultancy
- John Davies is a telecommunications consultant and
communications company director
- Mark Elliott works for Ceredigion County Council as Assistant
Director of Corporate Performance
- Glyn Mathias lives in Brecon and is the Electoral Commission's
member for Wales
- Gary Partridge is a Chartered Accountant and became a Corporate
Finance Partner with PKF (UK) LLP in 2004
Unbundling Update
OTA Update for December 2006
The Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA)
announced on 5 January 2007 that the number of unbundled lines in
the UK exceeded 1.3 million. Back in July 2004 the LLU
industry, OTA and BT jointly set a target for 1 million unbundled
lines by the end of 2006.
The OTA stated: "It is excellent that the volumes continue to
rise and we are in excess of 1.3 million lines
unbundled,"
The OTA continued to list a number of areas it sees as key to
further success, which are covered in full detail on the OTA
website along with a full set of Key Performance Indicators and
historical data.
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.
Wales Unbundling Data
|
Provider
|
Enabled
|
Pending
|
|
Sky (Easynet)
|
16
|
|
|
Orange (Wanadoo)
|
12
|
|
|
C&W (Bulldog)
|
9
|
|
|
Tiscali
|
4
|
|
|
Carphone Warehouse
|
0
|
63
|
|
O2 (Be Unlimited)
|
0
|
23
|
Carphone Warehouse enablement dates currently not known.
|
Barry
|
31/03/2007
|
Vale of Glamorgan
|
|
Llandaff
|
31/03/2007
|
Cardiff
|
|
Whitchurch
|
31/03/2007
|
Cardiff
|
|
Caerphilly
|
30/04/2007
|
Caerphilly
|
|
Cardiff Empire
|
30/04/2007
|
Cardiff
|
|
Cwmbran
|
30/04/2007
|
Torfaen
|
|
Hawarden
|
30/04/2007
|
Flintshire
|
|
Roath
|
30/04/2007
|
Cardiff
|
|
Buckley
|
31/05/2007
|
Flintshire
|
|
Chepstow
|
31/05/2007
|
Monmouthshire
|
|
Llanedeyrn
|
31/05/2007
|
Cardiff
|
|
Newtown Llantwit
|
31/05/2007
|
Rhondda Cynon Taff
|
|
Penarth
|
31/05/2007
|
Vale of Glamorgan
|
|
Llanishen
|
30/06/2007
|
Cardiff
|
|
Llanrumney
|
30/06/2007
|
Cardiff
|
|
Llantrisant
|
30/06/2007
|
Rhondda Cynon Taff
|
|
Maindee
|
30/06/2007
|
Newport
|
|
Newport Savoy
|
30/06/2007
|
Newport
|
|
Bridgend
|
31/07/2007
|
Bridgend
|
|
Newport Chartist
|
31/07/2007
|
Newport
|
|
Pontypool
|
31/10/2007
|
Torfaen
|
|
Pontypridd
|
31/10/2007
|
Rhondda Cynon Taff
|
|
Tonypandy
|
31/10/2007
|
Rhondda Cynon Taff
|
Recent Enablement (Sky)
|
Barry
|
14/12/2006
|
Vale of Glamorgan
|
|
Cardiff Empire
|
14/12/2006
|
Cardiff
|
|
Llandaff
|
14/12/2006
|
Cardiff
|
|
Llanrumney
|
14/12/2006
|
Cardiff
|
|
Roath
|
14/12/2006
|
Cardiff
|
|
Whitchurch
|
14/12/2006
|
Cardiff
|
|
Caerphilly
|
19/12/2006
|
Caerphilly
|
|
Llantrisant
|
19/12/2006
|
Rhondda Cynon Taff
|
|
Pontypool
|
21/12/2006
|
Torfaen
|
|
Llanedeyrn
|
11/01/2007
|
Cardiff
|
Market Data Analysis
Carphone Warehouse released a Third Quarter
trading update on 12/01/2007 stating that it has "2.2m residential
broadband customers with completion of AOL acquisition."
|
Position
|
Name
|
Number of Connections
|
|
1
|
NTL
|
3,222,000
|
|
2
|
BT
|
3,000,000
|
|
3
|
Carphone Warehouse
|
2,200,000
|
|
4
|
Tiscali
|
1,340,000
|
|
5
|
Orange
|
1,029,000
|
|
6
|
Pipex
|
570,000
|
|
7
|
PlusNet
|
198,000
|
|
8
|
Kingston
|
140,000
|
|
9
|
Thus
|
126,000
|
|
10
|
Sky
|
109,000
|
Sky-Google Alliance
Sky and Google have announced an alliance, which will see them
work together in three areas:
- Sky will launch the first global deployment of Google's video
content tools. This will consist of a "multi-platform User
Generated Video (UGV) portal enabling users to upload, edit and
share video.
- A sky branded version of Google Mail using the "@sky.com"
domain for email addresses.
- Google's search tools with integrated advertising will be
rolled out across Sky's portfolio of websites.
James Murdoch, Sky's Chief Executive, said: "In a short
time, Sky has emerged as an effective challenger by offering
high-quality broadband that offers greater value than
traditional cable and telcos. Sky is on track to build a large and
successful broadband business and is increasingly well positioned
to participate in the rapid growth of online
search and advertising."
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/broadbandBroadband 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/not-spots
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 that accurate
figures are publicly available at the 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.