There's a lot of interest today in the BT broadband story. I did a piece on Five Live last night, pointing out how my company has to pay £300 a month to get slow speed internet access, whilst a business in a town or city pays £30 for a high speed connection.

Telewest has announced that it is launching a 1megabit connection - twice the speed of BT's at lower cost. This is looking like something big! Fingers crossed that all these guys continue to put the same effort into installing the equipment in the exchanges as they put into their PR and marketing departments.

I have just come off the phone from BT cancelling my ISDN2E connection that does not work with my company server because BT have disabled static IP connection via BT Surtime Anytime. [Soon to be renamed "BT Surftime Anytime as long as its not static IP because we've got you by the short and curlies there sunshine!"]

At long last BT are doing something positive about getting the UK wired up, by cutting the cost of broadband internet access by over 40%. My main concern, though, is the roll out of broadband access outside of the heavily populated areas. Will rural areas get left behind in a two-speed Internet Britain?

FT - BT Cuts Broadband access

I read with interest in today's FT that yet another Government funded organisation has been accussed of using its market position to take unfair advantage of a private company.
This time its Ordnance Survey who are using taxpayers money to compete with Getmapping, the company who have taken aerial photographs of the entire UK.
Financial Times - Getmapping Gets Cross also see other articles:
The Independent
AFX UK
Evening Standard

I opened a letter today from Companies House titled "hands up those who'd like to save £50". The deal is that if I get one of my contacts to subscribe to Companies House online system I receive £50 as a subscriber. In other words a government department is using taxpayers money to get more people to spend money with the government, in direct competition to companies like mine trying to make a buck in the private sector. When I pointed this out to the customer services manager, and also that Companies House were currently under investigation for anti-competitive practises, she said the campaign had been sanctioned before the investigation was announced. I bet it was!

My company is based in the Ribble Valley - hit by foot and mouth quite badly. I cannot get broadband access as the local exchange does not have the correct equipment. Why don't the government subsidise the installation of broadband equipment in rural areas where the economy has been badly effected by foot and mouth? The alternative is that companies will drift to the towns and pay £40 a month, as compared to at least £300 that we, as a company, are forced to pay.

Broadband Internet Access

The mobile phone companies have finally stopped squabbling and done a deal. I wonder how long it will take them to sort the technology out, so that when a child is stabbed for their mobile phone the attacker can't use it?

Sunday Times Article

The article I've been waiting for came out on feb 11 - FT front page. If the government continues to compete with the private sector we'll have creeping nationalisation by the back door. Where are taxes supposed to come from if the private sector is stifled?

FT Front page Article

Business Links are at it again. Sources in the DTI say that they could sell services when calls are routed through to local Business Links.

Sunday Times Online

It appears someone's taking notice about the amount of competiton happening between the UK government and the private sector. This article in the FT last week says it all.........FT Article