Copper versus cable versus satellite.
Last month, I had set out in Doing Time Online on Telepolis, because behind the tackled free dial-up offers of small companies such as Localtel and Tempo as a massive tectonic shifts in the world of online providers asked: Rough companies planned unlimited access to high bandwidths to flat tariffs but could not render themselves to offer them from the background of uncertain competition ratios and market conditions. In the UK, access to telecommunications is currently based on a model of the specific billing of time units, paying for every minute.
Meanwhile, British consumers could use at least the practicable and robust 0800 service of British Telecom, which gives subscribers free access to the Internet at the weekend. Smaller providers like Claranet have started similar deals and some other Internet providers moved after. Many of these providers are young companies who will undoubtedly have their problems with it to forcend the traffic to generate their offers.
Such services are only the top of the iceberg for the British Internet community. Access via 0800 will not be the primary or even only for short or long to surf the network without time limit. In fact, the 0800 service acts as the victim, which is brought to make the transition to the services of the next generation smoothly: the new services are characterized by bandwidths of 500k to 2MBit or high in conjunction with a low cost model. The losses caused by cheap or free-reaching losses should be balanced by the content, for which then pay accordingly MUB. With his own 0800 offer BT Internet will probably achieve little more than to bind a regular talk to itself, the later as Early adopters For the services of the next generation, and who had changed without this offer to other companies without this offer. Now, since the broadband services of British Telecom are in front of the door, this regular-talking company will be a valuable resource for the next few months.
The broadband myth is true?
How can such a tribute be predicted that broadband access to the network after years of restrictive pricing policy of the telecommunications industry is finally smoked close? Simply because the free of exercise, which has characterized the provider scene to date, has made clear position provisions of the Big Players in the last fourteen days. Although so far no solid statements have been made for the details of the service offerings and the price structure, it is slow to make up slowly who will probably be the coarse players in the broadband market.
On the one hand, Rupert Murdoch’s Environment has to shift the focus of his media companies in the direction of the digital world, the claim of Sky solidifies to become the interactive content provider. (Although the success of Sky’s interactive series is seen in the long term of whether the company finds a suitable partner who can organize appropriate two-way links to the company, since satellites only operate communication towards users.To)
Meanwhile, the envision of BT, thereafter offered ADSL and until Marz’s next year already 250.000 households to use, signals the other digital providers, that the telecomriese tarpaulin for interactive digital offers in the hindhand. According to Dorian Spackman from the Content company Terranova Media, British Telecom has already installed CEC-PRO Equipment of Fantastic Corporation in its central switching point, which allows programming, editing and management of content. This technology will be used to deliver interactive content of selected suppliers via broadband as soon as the infrastructure is available.
ADSL ensures fear and horror under cable providers
That’s why NTL and Cable and Wireless Communications, two of the coarse cable providers of Great Britain, have now entered into a partnership. According to the industry, the BT has been a certain nervous institution in the cable industry since the ADSL statement: the Telekom company holds 80 percent of copper cables in the UK, which potentially opened within a few months for DSL services. In contrast, cable connections achieve a total of only 16 percent of customers. These are pregnant numbers for the cable providers. Therefore, the partnership of NTL and CWC as a consolidation measure is trained by the urgent need to form a company, which is also rough enough. Only then can it build a digital service that is competitive towards British Telecom and its ADSL services.
Connection of the Kaftte is probably not stopped: Telewest, which are excluded because of their hermist association at the moment of the NTL / CWC Deal at the moment, are now under considerable prere to negotiate the conditions of a threesome fusion. Experts from the industry expect coarse part that the company of the merger is coming and participating in the emergence of the ‘Communications Superpower’, as has already been titled the merger in the Great Britain. The antitrust fabrics will behave protruding to such a superpower, at least at least accepted with regard to the existence of similar conglomerates such as BSKYB and BT: so much to the farce of a ‘competition’ in the cable market, as it represents until now. (An important point is that Microsoft with the participation in Telewest in this merger for the first time has a FUB in the British broadband market, as the Americans already hold 30 percent shares in Telewest and each deal between the three companies in the future have a weighty word to have.To)
The force is committed to the fight
In addition, that the government is currently about selling parts of the high-frequency radio bandwidths that are to be used for mobile and fixed network access to the most bidder. So the United Kingdom already begins to look like the most crosslinked place in the world – at least potentially. After the formation of the relevant powered power, which could be observed at the beginning of the month, only the three rough players of the infrastructure – satellite, copper and cable – remain. Behind them are undoubtedly resolute companies with full war funds, which are then ready for the coarse fight on the British market. Then only remains open who will give up the fight, and what meaningful services in the end will come out for consumers.
The Mary Report: Access to Bandwidth.
Often, an organization of the Ministry of Telecommunications, recently published paper "Access to Bandwidth: Proposals for Action" calls for the BT to open its DSL-knowledge infrastructure for third parties who want to offer services with high bandwidths. The only provider is to be regulated on which you have a legal access overlong. While the government has chosen that it was the highest time to be accessible to the gross budget for gross prices for reasonable prices, their telecommunications documents of British Telecom does not want to allow for their obvious competitive advantages, to offer monopoly services via DSL connections. By decree, the DSL infrastructure of the BT for other service providers is to be influenced.
The decision of the often, third parties to ensure this access will have effects that are not yet collected. How many comments suggests, this will accelerate the import of ADSL technologies in the Great Britain because the BT is thus needed to provide your services faster. The threat of British Telecom, the inclusion of third parties will generally slow or even stop the import of ADSL (which nothing else is called: if we do not continue to play alone, then we will not first build the network, and then no one plays), Labat to think of another scenario. The BT was able to play on time and artically the implementation of ADSL brakes to make its mood over the many decision. The insistence of the company are clear: a household with a flat-rate ADSL access without additional connection rates could do without a standard telephone connection if local e-mail, ICQ, Internet phone and similar services to his place.
One can ame quite sure due to frames in the industry that the BT wants to compensate for critical losses caused by the eliminated critical losses by streaming digital payment video, and further interactive information services offered on their 2Mbit copper lines is: should be short So the BT will become a media company on the side of the cable and satellite companies. The incentive to offer such a network was achieved seriously if third parties were also allowed to offer services via this network. And indeed, the question arises why BT should give third-party access to your network, while companies such as Sky or the Cable Conlomerate farm their networks as monopolists?
Broadband is actually in the United Kingdom in front of the door.
Despite all complaints about the opening of their DSL monopoly, the British Telecom will be built in the end of the opening of their DSL monopoly, the infrastructure – and that is relatively successful in order to finish in good time. There are weighty reasons for accepting this. On the one hand, often himself noted himself properly that in the case of a Zogern the BT, the newly formed cable superpower has been swallowing a rough part of the expected business. Second, the BT has already invested in the equipment to adapt the local connections, and completed with Fujitsu and Alcatel to adapt ADSL equipment for 400 local switching points. Apart from that, it has already announced the partial provision of the service for the end of 1999. Third, and this is most important, the BT could be ahead of a quick start of the service of competition by a few months ahead. So she could beat the fact that today 80 percent of households and middle-class companies in Gobritain received their telephony services on the company’s copper cables. So new providers had to improve either these services by enhancing their own links, or offering better content and access services. The need to offer innovations then was then with these providers, and not at the BT. Those has benefited from providing an established offer recognized by the customers.
Whatever the details will look like: the future of access to the networks looks more than rosy for consumers in the UK. You can expect low costs for high bandwidths and relevant services that will offer both the cable conglomerate and the BT in the next few months. In addition, it is that often often works on working the Universal Service Statutory Obligation (a Consultation Paper for this was published now). The result could be an obligation for all providers, also socially weak layers with high-speed services and Internet access to supply. This too should all those who plan to plan digital services, of which to keep the basic remedies low and to realize profits via additional offers. Because often often understood that "Services with high bandwidths Vital for the digital future of Great Britain are." And in that often the last paper has encouraged the development of broadband, the activities of the group can only be buried. Since many details still have to be decided, the rest of Europe – quite apart from the USA – with interest the development of DSL in Great Britain will pursue.