ZDNet UK Network management Toolkit

How is Digital Britain really doing?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Malcolm Corbett) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:35:01 +0100

Despite recent setbacks, there are still reasons to be cheerful about broadband in the UK, says Malcolm Corbett

Next decade holds new twists for comms technology

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:53:02 +0000

ZDNet takes on the daunting task of predicting what the coming decade holds for communications technology

BT promises super-fast broadband by Olympics

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Tom Espiner) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:06:02 +0000

Ten million homes will have access to fibre by the time the London games begin in 2012, nine months ahead of schedule, according to BT

New Zealand issues 4G spectrum

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Darren Greenwood) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:41:02 +0000

New Zealand has made a push towards 4G network services, with its government confirming the initial frequency allocation from the old analogue TV spectrum

UK internet hit by LINX router failure

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:46:05 +0000

A switch failure in the London Internet Exchange (Linx) yesterday led to a cascading failure and temporary loss of throughput for a number of UK ISPs. Although Linx has a fully-redundant network...

Civil rights groups urge Acta transparency

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:25:33 +0000

A top-secret international copyright treaty should be made transparent, and its disconnection and content filtering provisions should be rejected, according to an open letter sent to the European...

50p broadband tax will be law in 2010

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Nick Heath) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:12:02 +0000

The Next Generation Levy will be introduced in the Finance Bill, which is expected to pass into law next year

Ofcom report uncovers business comms gripes

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Matthew Broersma) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:07:02 +0000

While companies are generally satisfied with their communications services, they are experiencing problems in areas such as availability and customer service, Ofcom has found

Lib Dems to oppose Mandelson copyright powers

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:50:02 +0000

The party has come out against giving the business secretary the power to change existing law, while Tory peers want to amend other parts of the Digital Economy Bill

BT to deliver fibre for BBC's new Manchester home

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Matthew Broersma) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:41:02 +0000

The company will design, build and run the fibre-based network for Manchester's MediaCityUK business complex, whose tenants will include the BBC

Dell creates communications business unit

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Erica Ogg) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:19:02 +0000

Following its smartphone launch, Dell has set up a separate comms business unit to be combined with its small and medium business group

Pan-European Géant network gets 93m funding

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Matthew Broersma) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:26:02 +0000

Better management of Europe's research network will help particle physics, climate studies and medical research, claim the operators

Urban Northern Ireland to get 10Mbps minimum

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:20:02 +0000

Most businesses in Northern Ireland are to get access to fibre-based next-generation broadband through a joint investment by BT and the NI government

Civil liberties groups attack file-sharing bill

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:13:14 +0000

Civil liberties and digital rights organisations have strongly criticised Lord Mandelson's Digital Economy Bill. Liberty said in a position paper on Tuesday that the bill, part of which proposes...

Web giants attack Digital Economy Bill

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Rupert Goodwins) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:46:01 +0000

Google, Yahoo, eBay and Facebook ask Lord Mandelson to remove a clause that would give future ministers 'sweeping powers' to amend copyright law

Tories to relax rules around fibre provision

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Tom Espiner) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:51:01 +0000

Relaxing regulations will spur the rollout of rural broadband by encouraging companies to lay fibre, according to shadow minister Adam Afriyie

European ISPs attack secret Acta copyright talks

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:28:01 +0000

Secret international negotiations threaten the openness of the internet, the European ISP Association has warned after details of the talks were leaked

Could copyright crackdown kill superfast broadband demand?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:18:48 +0000

I just spent the morning at a Westminster e-Forum (ISPs, policy makers, politicians, etc) about the future of next-generation broadband in Britain. One of the big topics of discussion was the...

South Yorkshire set to get next-gen broadband

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:09:02 +0000

The network operating centre for Digital Region, a public-private partnership intended to bring fibre-based 25Mbps broadband to South Yorkshire, has gone live

European telecoms reform clears final hurdle

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:02:02 +0000

The Telecoms Reform Package, which covers topics such as internet freedom, data breach notification and net neutrality, has been passed by the European Parliament

Cumbria community digs NHS-funded fibre

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:04:02 +0000

The Alston Moor area will have next-generation broadband connectivity by the end of the year, thanks to a social enterprise rollout that is partly funded by the NHS

Digital Economy Bill: Industry disputes gov't claims

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:06:02 +0000

ISPs are fiercely contesting government claims that they support the Digital Economy Bill's anti-copyright-infringement measures, while Telnic has warned of official threats to Icann's authority

Digital Economy Bill gets tough on file-sharers

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:38:02 +0000

The government has ruled out jail terms for copyright infringement, but the Digital Economy Bill opens the way for disconnecting repeat infringers

Egypt bids for first Arabic top-level domain

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Tom Espiner) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:22:02 +0000

Six countries have now applied for internationalised top-level domains, including Egypt, Russia and Saudi Arabia

BT: Fibre maps don't show the whole picture

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:56:35 +0000

BT has responded to the Point Topic maps, of fibre rollouts planned across the UK over the next few years, that we published yesterday. The telecoms giant, which will be rolling out the majority...

Maps show UK fibre rollout plans

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:20:02 +0000

The research firm Point Topic has drawn up maps based on its predictions of UK fibre coverage by the end of 2012

The mutation of Europe's 'internet freedom' law

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:18:58 +0000

Agreement has been reached on the now-famous Amendment 138/46, allowing the Telecoms Reform Package to become law next year. Some rights activists are semi-up-in-arms about the final version of...

KBOX update simplifies Windows 7 migration

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:21:53 +0000

KACE is updating its K2000 systems management box to include a module that allows you to migrate to Windows 7. Although there are plenty of products that promise similar benefits, KACE seems to be...

Gov't confusion over national 2Mbps commitment

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:07:17 +0100

Confusion has broken out within government circles over the 2Mbps universal broadband coverage that was called for by Stephen Carter's Digital Britain report. At a Parliament and Internet...

LifeSize Passport: HD videoconferencing for SMEs with added...

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:27:38 +0100

To 30, St Mary Axe, a.k.a The Gherkin, to meet Craig Malloy, CEO of High-Definition (HD) videoconferencing specialists LifeSize in their swanky new UK office. Before getting down to the...

US government to let Icann go, reports say

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:23:59 +0100

The United States government will on Wednesday announce it is relinquishing most of the control it currently exerts over Icann, the organisation that runs the internet's core domain systems, the...

Digital Britain 50p tax 'to be law' by next election

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:29:31 +0100

Stephen Timms, the minister for Digital Britain, has reiterated the government's intention to press ahead with a £6-a-year tax that will pay for the rollout of next-generation broadband in the UK....

HP launches SkyRoom HD videoconferencing system

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:31:02 +0100

HP has announced the availability and pricing for SkyRoom, its HD video conferencing system for workstations. First shown in March, SkyRoom has been in beta since - but is now available for...

Virgin Media 'cluster failure' caused email problems

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:56:50 +0100

Virgin Media customers were hit by email problems between Monday and Wednesday, due to a 'cluster failure' on the ISP's Blueyonder platform. The problems, which lasted from Monday lunchtime to...

The curious case of the cables on the seabed

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:22:50 +0100

Some news about damp fat pipes - some good, some intriguing. Last week, a bunch of Asian undersea fibre cables got cut. In fact, nearly all of them were damaged APCN2, APCN, EAC, C2C, FNAL/RNAL...

File-sharer crackdown could be expedited

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:46:06 +0100

Peter Mandelson, the secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, is planning a major crackdown on illegal file-sharing, according to reports over the weekend. The issue of...

Virtual Hosts on Ubuntu

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:22:39 +0100

Whilst commuting to and from The Agency, through the Garden of England, I have been wanting to build dynamic Joomla! web sites whilst sat on the gloriously over-crowded flu infested train. To do...

Karoo changes file-sharer disconnection policies

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:35:39 +0100

The Hull-based ISP Karoo has said it will change its policies, after it was found to be summarily cutting off users who it suspected of file-sharing copyrighted material. On Friday morning, the...

Avaya could buy Nortel Enterprise Solutions

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:51:02 +0100

Nortel Networks' Enterprise Solutions business is likely to be sold to Avaya for $475m (£288m), the companies announced on Monday. The deal marks the latest sale of a Nortel division, following...

Piracy down, streaming up, internet 'broken'

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:26:56 +0100

Illegal filesharing in the UK has fallen dramatically, according to media and technology researchers at Music Ally. The analyst firm published a study on Monday that showed a drop of a quarter...

Can Digital Britain survive a general election?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:34:18 +0100

One of the most striking themes of yesterday's Westminster eForum on Lord Carter's Digital Britain report, entitled "Dear Stephen", was the widespread uncertainty over whether the report's...

ComScore stats show rapid UK video growth

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:31:11 +0100

The number of videos watched online in the UK increased by 47 percent between April last year and April this year, according to digital-world-measurers comScore. The firm said on Monday that...

Beware summer's hidden kick

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:43:47 +0100

I've been watching my server's temperature charts with mild interest over recent weeks. As summer has truly kicked in, so the fans have been working harder as the internal temperature has climbed....

Tories plan to neuter Ofcom

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:12:57 +0100

If elected, the Conservative Party would take away Ofcom's policy-making functions, David Cameron said on Monday. The Tory leader was making a speech attacking quangos - of which the...

Constricted Internet Connections

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:13:32 +0100

The MJ event and the Iranian and Chinese governments' choke-holds on its citizen's Internet connections demonstrate in two different ways how vulnerable network endpoint access really is for the...

ISP threat letters have 'positive effect', says Ofcom

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:48:38 +0100

Sending letters to internet users suspected of filesharing is a successful way of cutting down on such activity, the head of Ofcom said on Thursday. Ed Richards, the chief executive of the...

Reding: Telecoms Package to survive clause row

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:22:48 +0100

Europe's telecommunications commissioner, Viviane Reding, has told ZDNet UK that the Telecoms Package, a collection of new laws that many fear will be sunk by a contentious net-neutrality clause,...

BT to manage KCom's network

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:39:44 +0100

KCom Group, the Hull-based telecommunications and IT provider, has signed a network management deal with BT. A strategic agreement between the two companies was announced on Monday. KCom will...

Internet Hero and Villain nominees announced

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:37:10 +0100

The ISP Association has announced the finalists for its annual 'Internet Heroes and Villains' awards, with the European Parliament up for both awards. The EP is nominated for the Hero award for...

Finally - Video Calling from Logitech

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:44:39 +0100

It has taken a lot longer than I thought it would, but finally, here is the announcement of a Video Calling from Logitech product, based on their takeover of SightSpeed. I haven't had time to look...

Gov't to crack down on file-sharers

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:15:25 +0100

The Digital Britain report, which was expected to recommend universal broadband access for UK citizens, has been presented at a press conference. A journalist colleague, David Meyer, who was there,...

Virgin considering filesharer suspensions

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:22:40 +0100

Virgin Media could start suspending persistent filesharers on a temporary basis, using information provided to it by the Universal record company. The ISP announced on Monday that it would,...

Digital Britain report delayed?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:56:14 +0100

The government has said that the Digital Britain report may be delayed, and has confirmed timing for when Lord Carter will step down. The Digital Britain report, which is expected to recommend...

Reports: Comms minister to stand down

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:52:23 +0100

Lord Carter, the communications minister, intends to leave the government, according to a report in The Times. The government has not commented on the possibility, other than to say Carter is...

Patchy internet problems, Google role uncertain

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:20:14 +0100

There are reports that Google users are having some problems with Google services, and that there are packet losses in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Australia, France, China, and other places....

Emails suggest Home Office colluded with Phorm

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:46:23 +0100

Emails obtained by the BBC appear to suggest some level of collusion between Phorm, the 'behavioural' ad-targeting firm that conducted trials on BT customers without first informing them, and the...

Government announces broadband investment

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:24:58 +0100

The government "will be allocating extra funding for the broadband network, making sure everyone benefits from the communications revolution", according to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alastair...

No next-gen broadband for 25-30pc of UK

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:27:40 +0100

Communications minister Lord Carter, who is preparing the extensive Digital Britain report, has said that much of the country is unlikely to get high-speed, next-generation broadband. Carter...

Wikimedia Foundation turns down Phorm

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:01:31 +0100

The Wikimedia Foundation has become the latest web giant to opt out of Phorm's user-tracking targeted-advertising system. After Amazon did the same earlier this week, Wikimedia took the plunge...

Avaya gets new boss for UK and Ireland

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:11:27 +0100

The telecommunications company, Avaya, on Wednesday said it had appointed a new managing director for the UK and Ireland, Lee Shorten. The company said in a statement that Buddie Ceronie,...

Whose law is it anyway?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:25:49 +0100

I returned to work today after a two-week vacation (lovely, thanks), only to find the European Commission had finally kicked off formal proceedings against the UK government over the BT/Phorm...

For what, exactly?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:29:22 +0100

When I moved to the northern Kentish environs, I switched telephone providers to TalkTalk. However, I received a disconnection bill from BT for £70, because I'd switched before my 12 month minimum...

Tagattitude signs East African Mobile Payment deal

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:48:50 +0100

Tagattitude Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Global award winning mobile authentication solutions and payment provider, Tagattitude of France, has signed a deal with MobiPay of Kenya. Under the terms...

Cisco to pick up Pure Digital for £407m

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:38:39 +0000

Cisco has announced its intention to buy Pure Digital, the makers of the popular Flip Video low-cost camcorders. In a statement on Thursday, Cisco senior vice president Ned Hooper said the $590m...

Juniper offers scalable network options

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:53:52 +0000

Juniper Networks on Monday, extended its range of network firewalls with two more options for scaling networks from the mid-range to the largest networks. Aimed at the data centre but for use in...

Privacy activists first to criticise Carter

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:07:35 +0000

The first reactions to Lord Carter's interim Digital Britain report have been flooding in, and almost all have been packed with as many fuzzy platitudes as the report itself. Almost. Perhaps...

Interim Digital Britain report: First impressions

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:03:45 +0000

So, we finally have our hands on Lord Carter's interim report, which has been billed as the biggest shakeup for the UK's knowledge economy since the formation of Ofcom (which Carter, funnily...

Garrr... we have connectivity!

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:16:10 +0000

"After four weeks of battling stormy seas..." We don't get many press releases that start with those words. Imagine: "After four weeks of battling stormy seas, Bizmal Technology leveraged...

Open source router firm apologises to Nortel

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:38:40 +0000

It's a joke, and it's in poor taste, if you're a Nortel employee, but you have to admire open source router company Vyatta's readiness to take the responsibility (and the free publicity). "We...

Nortel still OK with 2012 Olympic commitments, OK?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:16:43 +0000

Nortel, which has just gone Chapter 11, wants us to know that everything is still fine with its commitments re the 2012 London Olympics. A statement came through today from Mario DiMascio, the...

BCS: Fibre could last us 'a century'

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:33:22 +0000

According to David Evans of the British Computer Society, speaking at a Westminster e-Forum on "Digital Britain", a nationwide fibre access broadband network deployed now could still be in use in...