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20
March 2009 |
More than a thousand hackers are using reconfigured cable modems to fraudulently access free high speed Virgin Media broadband, sources have revealed.
The hack has been made possible by the recent launch of Virgin Media's 50Mbit/s "XXL" package. It relies on new equipment running the upgraded DOCSIS 3.0 data transmission standard.
The launch has allowed hackers to apply the new configuration from Virgin Media's official up to 50Mbit/s home modem to legacy DOCSIS 1.0 hardware, to access the DOCSIS 1.0 ... |
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19
March 2009 |
UK enterprises have been given several new broadband options after two internet service providers, Heart Telecom and Star, unveiled new 24Mbit/s business-focused packages.
Star's ADSL2+ service is available with no download limits, although there is a fair usage policy in place. The subscription costs from £39.99 per month with no set-up fee, and Star promises round-the-clock management and support, and up to 16 static IP addresses.
Advertisement
"Whilst there are other providers offering a range... |
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19
March 2009 |
Telecom companies vying for $7.2 billion in broadband funds included in President Obama's economic stimulus plan urged regulators not to mandate a super-fast Internet speed as a criterion for winning the money.
Critics of this approach, though, say no government standards led to the United States lagging its industrialized peers in average broadband speed, viewed as a key driver of economic development.
Telecommunications, Internet firms and others are lobbying to shape the still unwritten rules that ... |
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18
March 2009 |
The Australian communications regulator has issued a stark warning that websites who link out to 'banned' hyperlinks are liable to fine of up to Aus $11,000 a day.
The news comes after web forum Whirlpool was threatened with the fine for posting a hyperlink to a blacklisted anti-abortion website.
Wikileaks blacklisted
One of the newest additions to Australia's 'blacklisted hyperlinks' list is Wikileaks; the website that publishes anonymous submissions of sensitive info on everything from cor... |
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18
March 2009 |
As Washington prepares to dole out some $8 billion to promote the spread of broadband access, don't expect Big Telco to rush to the front of the line.
Some of the largest U.S. telecom operators, including AT&T (T), Verizon Communications (VZ), and Qwest Communications International (Q), are dragging their heels on asking for federal money. Some may sit out early funding rounds entirely or ultimately ask for only a sliver of the total.
Telecom giants are concerned that once finalized, the program will ... |
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17
March 2009 |
According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), this and other blacklisted hyperlinks will cost webmasters $11,000 a day if published on a website. The hefty fine applies to any site containing a banned URL, which was demonstrated last week when the AMA threatened the host of an online broadband disccusion forum after a user posted a link to a banned anti-abortion website.
According to The Syndney Morning Herald, the ACMA's blacklist doesn't significantly impact web browsing by Aus... |
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16
March 2009 |
Fujitsu has announced that, in collaboration with NTT DoCoMo, they have conducted successful field testing for Long-term Evolution (LTE), using 4x4 MIMO technology. The testing took place in the Special Ubiquitous Zone, an area of the northern Japanese city of Sapporo in Hokkaido, designated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2008 as a wireless communications testing area, and used prototypes of the wireless LTE base stations developed jointly by NTT DoCoMo, Fujitsu and Fujitsu Labora... |
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16
March 2009 |
Zimbabwe has paid part of its arrears for international telecommunications links, ending a week-long disruption to internet traffic that had hurt business and personal communications.
Sources said here Saturday that TelOne, the government-run firm responsible for telecommunications gateway to the rest of the world, had accrued arrears of more than US$1 million on fees to service providers for internet connection, resulting in the country being switched off from the international platform.
This led to ... |
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16
March 2009 |
In the wake of objections from incumbent telecommunications operators, the participation of Zambia and other eastern and southern African countries in the Nepad broadband project is on the knife edge as the countries look to fiber-optic alternatives.
Although Zambia's Ministry of Communications and Transport signed on to the Nepad broadband project through the Kigali Protocol, the government has not ratified the project after the Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) raised objections.
The govern... |
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14
March 2009 |
The Irish government has confirmed that it is considering proposals to add a one euro cent tax on text messages. The Green Party originally proposed the tax last year claiming that it would raise around €1.4 billion for the government - although that figure was later revised sharply downwards to €146 million.
The telecoms regulator calculates that on average, some 25 million text messages are sent daily - which even if unaffected by the tax would only bring in around €90 million in taxes.
Minister for... |
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11
March 2009 |
The East Africa Marine System (Teams) project will attract up to $10 billion (Sh790 billion) worth of investments in special economic zones in the next three years.
Most of these will be Business Process Outsourcing firms, or BPOs in short. The laying of the fibre optic cable is expected to start on March 24, and be completed by end of June.
A vicious race and public relations war continues to rage between Teams, and another private sector-driven submarine cable project, Seacom, for bragging rights ov... |
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11
March 2009 |
Bits readers have a serious case of broadband envy. I’ve been writing about the debate about how the government might encourage more high-speed Internet use and you’ve complained loudly that people in other countries have faster, cheaper, more widely available broadband service. Even customer service representatives of Internet service providers overseas are nicer too.
I don’t know about manners, but it’s easy to find examples that American’s broadband is second-rate:
In Japan, broadband service runni... |
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11
March 2009 |
International business travellers are set for a sizeable reduction in their mobile bills after the European parliament voted to regulate the price of cross-border data downloads.
The new rules, to come into effect in July, will extend European Union regulation on international telephone roaming charges from voice calls to the fast-growing data market. The telecoms industry had pleaded for leniency during the economic downturn.
Among the first to benefit from the data price-caps will be executives chec... |
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11
March 2009 |
On Mar. 10, Dan Spatz joined hundreds of other people who crammed into a 500-seat auditorium at the Commerce Dept. building in Washington, D.C. The crowd of executives, entrepreneurs, and local officials had gathered for the first public hearing about how the federal government plans to distribute $7.2 billion in grants and loans to improve broadband Internet access in the U.S.
Spatz, a city official from The Dalles, Ore., took the microphone to ask a relatively simple question: How would the government ... |
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11
March 2009 |
UK ISP Be Broadband (O2) has responded to concerns about the stability of Tiscali's UK service by encouraging the provider’s customers to jump ship and gain a £40 gift credit in the process. The move follows recent news (here) that Tiscali's sale talks with BSkyB had failed, forcing the operator to suspend shares and prepare for an uncertain future.
To that end Be Broadband has offered up some simple advice to help customers migrate away from Tiscali's service. However the process could take up to two we... |
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