The government in Iran has banned broadband and limited the speed of internet access to 128k. Iran has recently clamped down on the use of satellite dishes, which Iranians use to watch western TV.
Iran has five million internet users. The ban seems to be an attempt to make it harder for Iranian internet users from downloading western music, movies and TV shows.
For more information, see the Guardian report on the issue.
There is strong speculation that Apple is in the process of developing an iPod mobile phone and that they have trademarked the name “iPhone”. An Apple insider claims that in the trademark filing, Apple described the iPhone as “handheld and mobile digital electronic device for the sending and receiving of telephone calls, faxes, electronic mail, and other digital data; MP3 and other digital format audio players,”
Watch this space!
A study by Intelecon Research claims that 90% of the world’s population could have mobile coverage by 2010. It is estimated that approximately 80% of the world’s population currently has mobile coverage, but only 40% (2 billion people) actually have a mobile phone.
It is possible for 100% of the world’s population to have mobile coverage, but governments and mobile operators must do more to help extend networks into rural areas, particularly in developing nations. Many governments collect levies from telecom operators, which is used to extend telecommunication coverage into rural areas. However this usually used to extend the fixed-line network rather than mobile network. Fixed-line networks are far more expensive to build.
According to Point Topic’s latest report, customers are still receiving poor customer service from broadband providers. A quarter of UK households are “irritated and frustrated” with their broadband provider’s customer support.
It is not all bad though, with 91% of users happy with the reliability and quality of the service. 82% are satisfied with download speeds.
Telewest received the lowest rating for value for money. Orange and Tiscali were the most dissatisfied with their bills and pricing. AOL and Orange (Wanadoo) were most dissatisfied with download speeds.
There is an interesting article in the Times about the dilemma facing AOL customers. The Carphone Warehouse has recently purchased AOL UK. AOL customers are likely to be tempted by TalkTalk’s (part of the Carphone Warehouse) free broadband offer. However, TalkTalk has is suffering from the widely publicised problems with connecting people to the broadband service, and its own customer service call centres. The purchase of AOL may actually help TalkTalk, as AOL has more call centres around the UK and a better reputation for customer support.
AOL customers will not be automatically transferred to TalkTalk. Our advice to AOL customers nearing the end of their contract is to look around, because there are plenty of good deals out there besides the TalkTalk one.
Carphone Warehouse will not longer be able to sell Vodafone monthly contract phones. Vodafone has signed an exclusive deal with Phones4u. This places a fundamental aspect of the Carphone Warehouse model in jeopardy. Carphone Warehouse will no longer be able to offer a comprehensive range of mobile deals.
Charles Dunstone, Chief Executive of Carphone Warehouse, claims that Vodafone had approached them about signing an exclusive deal, but they refused it: “”We are surprised and disappointed by this decision,” he said. “But we have to protect the impartiality of the advice we give customers and we just could not sign this type of contract.”
This move means that customers are going to ensure that they shop around, as it is no longer possible to compare mobile deals in one retail store.
The Carphone Warehouse has bought the UK arm of AOL for £370 million. This makes Carphone Warehouse, with its TalkTalk brand, the third biggest internet provider in the UK behind NTL and BT. AOL UK has nearly 2 million customers, with 1.4 million of them on broadband. TalkTalk already has 412,000 active customers, most of which have come on board because of its massively popular free broadband offer.
This purchase will make Carphone Warehouse a serious threat to all other players in the market. Both Carphone Warehouse and AOL UK have invested heavily in local loop unbundling, the process where internet providers take ownership of part of the broadband network. The combined outfit will lead to serious cost savings.
It looks like TalkTalk and AOL UK will be run as separate brands for the foreseeable future.
The number of households with digital TV continues to grow. According to offical Ofcom figures, the percentage of households with digital TV has increased from 69.7% to 70.2% between the end of March and the end of June.
The increase is, in part at least, due to the digital switchover. The analogue signal will be turned off from 2008 and people must switch to digital TV to be able to receive television.
TalkTalk’s head, Charles Dunstone has admitted that they got it wrong when launching the UK’s first free broadband service. TalkTalk has been slammed by the BBC’s Watchdog programme. A staggering half a million people have signed up to TalkTalk’s free broadband service. However thousands have been left with long delays and have been unable to get any joy out of TalkTalk’s customer service lines.
Charles Dunstone said that they were overhelmed by the number of people signing up to the free broadband service and their call centers could not cope with the call volumes. “I got it wrong. I didn’t realise that free broadband was going to have the effect on people it has,” Charles Dunstone said.
“It’s been a bruising experience for everyone at Carphone Warehouse (TalkTalk’s parent company); we are used to being ‘the good guys’ and it’s tough when things don’t go as well as we’d hoped. As things start to improve, I hope people will appreciate that what we did was for the best for all consumers, and whilst giving birth to free broadband was painful, it is now turning out to be a beautiful child.”
TalkTalk and its parent company, the Carphone Warehouse, has been hiring more staff to cope with the demand. It is also allowing customers to break their 18 month contract if TalkTalk has been unable to uphold its end of the bargin.
TalkTalk was the first UK broadband provider to offer free broadband in April of this year. Since then Sky and Orange have followed suit.
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