Big UK ISPs have begun blocking two sites accused of piracy.The blocks were imposed after the Motion Picture Association (MPA) won a court order compelling ISPs to cut off Movie2K and Download4All websites. ‘Internet freedom’ activists have set up a copy of the Movie2K website in a bid to get around the restrictions. The action comes as BPI, the music [...]
Netflix has named Virgin Media the UK’s fastest Internet service provider for the sixth consecutive month, based on its high average broadband speeds. Netflix launched its ISP Speed Index in November 2012, and releases new figures every month to advise customers which is the best ISP for TV and film streaming. “The Netflix ISP Speed Index is based on data [...]
BSkyB subscribers who are HDTV viewers and paying for a Sky+ set-top box are receiving documents and e-mails telling them that from now on they can watch 3D transmissions and have ‘free’ access to Sky’s Formula 1 coverage as part of their core subscription. The messages are part of BSkyB’s fight back over the threat from BT Sport offers which [...]
Google has announced that Austin, Texas, will be its next fibre city, with the first homes connected to the 1Gbps service by mid-2014. Google has been offering gigabit internet and a 200-channel TV package in Kansas City since November 2012, in its first FTTH network project. The same services will be offered in Austin, at similar prices. Customers who pay an [...]
Taiwanese cable pay-TV operator TBC, with more than 1 million connected homes, is looking to mount an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and raising US$800 million in the process. Taiwan Broadband is part-owned by Australia’s giant banking operation Macquarie Group and says it will list the business on the Singapore stock exchange as the Asian Pay TV Trust’. Macquarie’s International Infrastructure [...]
The UK government should help open up access to the national fibre network being rolled out by BT, says Sir Charles Dunstone, chairman of telecoms group TalkTalk and YouView. Dunstone told the FT that Ofcom needs to regulate the cost of wholesale access to BT’s fibre network, which he said would mean lower prices for rivals such as TalkTalk. BT [...]
According to a report from US consumer research body the Consumer Reports National Research Center, with carriers offering introductory discounts as much as half off, it’s little wonder why three quarters of those who bought a triple or quad-play telecom package (cable, Internet, home phone, cell phone) suggest that they would definitely or probably purchase that same bundle of services [...]
UK broadband providers including BSkyB, BT and Virgin Media have been ordered by the high court to block access to three music and movie file-sharing. An order was granted to 10 record labels including EMI, Sony and Universal against six UK internet service providers requiring them to block three file-sharing websites: KAT, H33T and Fenopy. The sites allow customers to [...]
European fibre to the home (FTTH) deployment continues to grow steadily, but the gap between the leaders and laggards is increasing, according to the latest figures from the FTTH Council Europe, revealed during the industry organisation’s FTTH Conference 2013 in London. Russia has emerged as a clear fibre leader in the region. The country added 2.2 million new FTTH subscribers [...]
BT has been fined £95 million (€117m) by Ofcom for “overcharging” rival telecoms firms for access to its network. Cable & Wireless Worldwide, BSkyB, Talk Talk, Virgin Media and Verizon are all entitled to refunds. Ofcom said BT had overcharged these firms for “certain wholesale ethernet services” between April 2006 and March 2011 and must repay them “the full amounts”, [...]
