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12
May 2008 |
Vodafone yesterday flatly denied speculation that it is looking to mount an audacious £19bn bid for Africa's largest mobile phone operator MTN, which has operations spanning South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, as well as several countries in the Middle East.
Talk of Vodafone's interest had been sparked by news last week that India's largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel has held exploratory talks with MTN about a tie-up. A spokesman for Vodafone said yesterday: "We have no intention of pursuing a bi... |
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12
May 2008 |
As web users' thirst for bandwidth soars, cable broadband purveyor Virgin Media is looking to squeeze four times the capacity out of its optical network, but without the expense of ripping out and upgrading its fibre.
The trend for online video content and popular bandwidth-heavy applications, such as the BBC's iPlayer, has led to concerns among ISPs that their infrastructure will soon be creaking under the strain.
But now Virgin Media — which, with its 20Mbps service, already offers the fastest broad... |
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9
May 2008 |
O2 has confirmed reports that the iPhone is not currently available anywhere in the UK, and customers may have to wait for the putative 3G Apple iPhone.
Last month the price of the 8GB Apple iPhone was slashed to £169 in preparation for the release of a 3G iPhone, which Apple is expected to launch in the US at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on June 9.
Stock of both the 8GB and the 16GB Apple iPhone models, have flown off UK shelves, forcing service provider O2 to admit that n... |
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8
May 2008 |
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a non-partisan research and educational institute – a think tank – whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states; unveiled its 2008 International Broadband ranking. By examining OECD nations through statistical analysis and defining representative parameters (household penetration, price, speed) the ITIF intends to provide a better view... |
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8
May 2008 |
Mobile phone titan Ericsson has received a Sh8.9 billion GSM network order from Telkom Kenya, setting the stage for a bruising battle for control of the local mobile phone market.
The loss making Telkom Kenya is betting on the mobile phone market to push into the profit zone in a move that places the firm in a head-to-head battle with Safaricom, Celtel and Econet Wireless.
Econet is planning to roll out its long awaited network in July, while Telkom Kenya intends to set up its network in September. ... |
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8
May 2008 |
A WiMAX network of the kind to be deployed across the United States by a joint venture dubbed Clearwire may render cable or phone line Internet obsolete and set the stage for free Google mobile telephones supported by advertising.
"It is like mobile Internet in your pocket," said Scenna Pabesh, a spokesperson for nonprofit WiMAX Forum, an industry group that promotes interoperability of networks and devices using the format.
"Anything you could imagine doing in your office or on a hefty Internet conn... |
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7
May 2008 |
Not all limits are unreasonable. If I told my nine-year-old that from now on, she would be allowed no more than 16 cookies a day, I’d get a glassy-eyed “Whatever.”
That’s what came to mind when I saw the post on DSLreports.com that Comcast is considering imposing a cap of 250 gigabytes of data a month for users of its flat-rate high-speed Internet service. Users will pay $15 for every 10 gigabytes over the limit.
A Comcast spokeswoman told me this plan is under active consideration, but the details ar... |
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5
May 2008 |
THE war of words between the feuding telcos and the Federal Government rolls on, with Optus again threatening to pull out of the bidding to build a national broadband network.
Optus boss Paul O'Sullivan said the Federal Government should give an assurance of a "structural separation" between ownership and service provision on the new network.
But Telstra chairman Donald McGauchie said the giant telco would itself pull out of the tender process if it was formally forced to separate its wholesale and re... |
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5
May 2008 |
Comcast is considering a rate hike for broadband customers who consume more than 250 gigabytes of data each month, though there are no immediate plans for implementation.
"Comcast is currently evaluating this service and pricing model to ensure we deliver a great online experience to our customers," the company said in a statement. "We have not made any changes to our current service offerings and have no new announcement to make at this time."
Comcast came under fire last year for cutting off service... |
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4
May 2008 |
As you try to relax this bank holiday weekend while staring out despairingly at the gloomy weather know this: life indoors could soon be getting a lot better.
The gigantic snail also known as British Telecom has revealed to the BBC that it is at last ready to start offering ADSL2+ 24Mbps broadband speeds to limited numbers of people across its national network.
Just one million households will initially be able to get the service which will launch in the second half of 2008 though a statement from t... |
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4
May 2008 |
Singapore Telecommunications-owned Optus has threatened to pull out of the bidding to build the national broadband network unless the federal government extends the deadline.
As well, Optus boss Paul O'Sullivan has called for an assurance from the federal government for "structural separation" between ownership and service provision on the new network.
"We are willing to bid if we get the right assurances from government," Mr O'Sullivan told ABC Television on Sunday.
The Optus boss identified two m... |
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3
May 2008 |
The cost of making a phone call has fallen dramatically over the past few years, with many landline providers now charging nothing more than the monthly line rental fee for customers who only use their phone to make national or local calls in the evenings or at the weekend.
Nevertheless, for those that make a large number of lengthy international or mobile phone calls – home phone packages can still prove pricey.
One solution to keep costs to a minimum when calling abroad, however, is to use one of th... |
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30
April 2008 |
Customers who have unbundled broadband connections are more satisfied that those that don't, according to research.
Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) involves broadband providers installing their own equipment in telephone exchanges so they don't have to rely on BT's infrastructure to deliver services.
Initially, though, providers using unbundled networks were criticised for poor customer service. But recent research from Point Topic shows that LLU customers are now much happier than they were.
Michael P... |
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27
April 2008 |
Back in February I blogged that UK-based broadband users are being fobbed off with vastly under-performing services - the average speed in the UK at that time was a pitiful 2.95Mbps. A few months on and things haven’t got any better, and there are new figures to prove it.
To rub salt into the wound, it seems we are a nation of ‘speed freaks’. According to broadband comparison site Top 10 Broadband, download speed seems to be the primary factor in deciding broadband customer satisfaction. Based on over 90... |
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16
April 2008 |
Super-fast broadband could be delivered via the underground pipes of the UK's water and electricity companies, regulator Ofcom has said.
It is conducting a survey of the UK's ducting network to see its suitability for carrying fibre networks.
Some companies in the UK and France already offer fast broadband via the sewers.
Ofcom also wants to see the three million homes earmarked to be built in the UK by 2020, fibre-enabled.
Change perception
It has opened a consultation - which will ru... |
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