www.quickfibre.com - BITS & BYTES

hyperoptics

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:10:30 -0800

Boosts home value Hyperoptic leads to a higher sale price. ...more

In a recent survey 49.5% of buyers said they'd pay more for a home with a better online connection. Go beyond better with the UK's fastest, most reliable and future-proof connection: full fibre, and maximise the value of you

SUPER FAST FIBRE BROADBAND,,,What will it mean for you at home?

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:48:01 -0800

If you use your PC or laptop at home to surf the web and check emails, you'd best strap yourself in. You're in for a hell of a ride. Superfast fibre opens up a whole new world. You'll be able to download a song in just two seconds or stream high definition or 3D movies to your TV. Or you can post videos and photos to social networking sites in an instant, and catch up with friends and family in far-flung places through video calls, either from your PC or TV. If you're feeling really game, you could indulge in a spot of online zombie hunting with millions of other players from all over the world. Whatever you're into, superfast fibre broadband will make it easier. But let's be clear: it isn't just about doing one thing online faster. It's about everyone in the home being able to do their own thing online all at the same time.

And more importantly, it isn't about doing the same old stuff a bit quicker. Superfast fibre broadband will create new ways of using the internet. Things are about to get very interesting.

And that's just the fun stuff. If you work from home, run a business from home or have have dedicated business premises, superfast fibre will help you punch above your weight.

Do I really need superfast fibre broadband? In a word, yes. There's such a lot going on now, and only fibre will be able to cope with it as the demand continues to grow. People are already used to TV being delivered over phone lines – and now expect it to be HD or 3D. Video on demand and catch-up services, like BBC iPlayer, are becoming the norm. Using the internet for cheap telephone calls was once cutting edge. Now, 40 per cent of calls through Skype are video calls.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, are getting bigger – and it's not just the amount of people, it's the content – more videos, more pictures, more links to other sites. YouTube video channels, online photo albums, live music streaming and personalised radio stations. People are increasingly storing photos, documents, music and video online – in the cloud – rather than on the computer at home.

And all of these things are coming together.

But all of this information whizzing back and forth needs a system that can support it. It needs fibre. That's why we're putting it in up and down the country. And that's why superfast fibre broadband will revolutionise the way you think about and use the internet.

http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/at-home/

UK, Get Ready to Change Your Game

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:23:27 -0800

Today is a big day for OnLive. Just this morning, we made our instant-play, on-demand gaming service available to gamers across the UK, heralding our first expansion outside the American continent. And today marks an even bigger day for UK gamers, who have awoken to amazing new gameplay possibilities—and some pretty impressive deals.

For the first time ever, UK gamers can take advantage of OnLive’s powerful cloud gaming technology to play the latest top-tier games on demand, with gameplay delivered instantly over the Internet wherever and whenever they want. For the cost of a single-platform game purchase, UK gamers can play on their HDTV, PC, Mac or any combination of the above, regardless of performance capabilities, and soon they will even be able to play on iPad® and Android® tablets. No console, no high-end computer, no discs and no huge downloads. Gaming with OnLive is as simple as streaming video: just click and play.

We’re excited to be launching with a robust library of about 150 premium games to choose from, with titles for every kind of gamer from more than 50 different publishers. Gamers can instantly play new and recent releases such as Deus Ex: Human Revolution, DiRT 3, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Homefront and F.E.A.R. 3, or explore classic and indie titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Braid and LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4. They can buy the games they want individually, with prices starting at £1.99, or subscribe to our PlayPack Bundle, which now offers access to more than 100 games for just £6.99/month.

To prove how excited we are, we’re also offering our new UK members all kinds of launch promotions to welcome them onto the service. First-time game purchasers get their first OnLive PlayPass Game for just £1 in addition to the following promotions:

Eurogamer Expo attendees get a FREE OnLive Game System (while supplies last)
BT customers get 100+ PlayPack Games for FREE for 3 months
PC Gamer Magazine readers get 1 month of 100+ PlayPack Games for FREE

(promotions subject to terms, conditions and limitations)

We’re also incredibly excited to announce fantastic strategic partnerships in the UK:

BT is the first internet service provider in the UK to offer cloud-based gaming to customers through its exclusive partnership with OnLive. BT is the UK’s leading high-speed, low latency broadband provider with relationships with 11 million households. To mark the launch, BT is giving its 5 million broadband customers three months free access to 100+ games when customers sign up at: www.bt.com/onlive. OnLive traffic will not count towards BT broadband customers usage allowances until the New Year, regardless of their broadband option. BT looks forward to announcing more exciting initiatives with OnLive in the near future.

GAME Group plc is OnLive’s first strategic retail partner. As UK’s leading videogame retailer, GAME will introduce the OnLive® Game Service to millions of customers in the UK and eventually across Europe and elsewhere, starting with their ecommerce sites game.co.uk and gamestation.co.uk later this year. The OnLive Game System, OnLive Universal Wireless Controller and OnLive Game Service digital offerings will soon be available through the Group’s 615 UK stores and integrated with the Group’s GAME Reward Card and gamestation Elite card, allowing customers to use GAME rewards to make purchases on the OnLive Game Service.

Gamespot.co.uk, one of the top game review sites in the UK, will be incorporating links to free instant-launch demos of OnLive games from its game review pages, empowering players to test-drive games from anywhere with a few simple clicks.

And, as always, anyone can access OnLive’s instant demos and social features at no charge at all by creating a free OnLive account at onlive.co.uk and checking out OnLive’s rapidly expanding library of games.

We’re incredibly excited to see the OnLive community expand across the globe, bringing OnLive’s unprecedented live instant gaming experience to Europe. UK and US members can now play live in our massive spectating Arena and chat with players and spectators across the Atlantic. They can capture Brag Clip™ videos of their best and funniest gameplay moments to share internationally both within the OnLive community and with Facebook friends—along with achievements, status notifications and more. And with new parental controls, younger gamers also can be a part of the unique OnLive cloud gaming experience.

UK gamers, we welcome you to OnLive. North American OnLive gamers, please extend a warm hello to your new friends across the pond, connect them into your chat groups and show them why OnLive is unlike any gaming experience in the world.

For gamers throughout the rest of the world, hang tight: Now that we’ve made our first major international expansion to the UK, we’ll be moving quickly to expand worldwide, we’ll be seeing you soon. OnLive is the future of gaming, everywhere.

—Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO

IPTV NEWS..Connected TV devices to outnumber broadband connections soon

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:20:03 -0800

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Attention metal thieves: Buy BT, get 75 MILLION miles of copper

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:19:08 -0800

By Tim Worstall •

Posted in The Register /Telecoms, 22nd September 2011 12:14 GMT

Analysis British Telecom is, as a telecoms company, worth minus £30bn. Yes, that's a negative number there. And yet it is literally sitting on top of billions in assets.

It all starts with this point made in relation to cable theft:

BT’s network relies on more than 75 million miles of copper cable People are stealing the cable, as we all know, because the metal is incredibly valuable. Strip the sleeve off the cable, drop it off at an accommodating scrap yard and get paid in cash. And as BT themselves say, (and yes, I've checked that they really do mean this) they've 75 million miles of this stuff festooning the countryside.

Ten pairs of copper cabling weighs around 132kg per mile. Which by the miracle of multiplication can be seen to be about 10 million tonnes of copper. Which, at current LME prices of just over £5,000 a tonne, is £50bn.

BT's current market capitalisation is just north of £20bn. So, as an operating telecoms company they're worth £30bn less than the mountain of copper they're sitting upon: that is, they're worth less than the physical assets or they have, as a telecoms company not a mountain of scrap copper, a negative value.

OK, OK, yes, this isn't quite right. There's labour involved in digging up all that copper, not all of it will be 10 pair (some of it will be heavier, 25 pairs or 50 pairs), not all of a cable is copper and copper wire scrap doesn't get the LME price.

However, we are still in the right ballpark here: the value of the copper in the wires is of the same sort of order of magnitude as the value of the company as a whole. Which leads us to two useful conclusions.

Firstly, there is a good reason why no one is ever again going to wire an entire country with copper. Fibre makes more sense now, as does going entirely mobile and ditching a landline network. Developing countries certainly aren't going to want to buy that much copper.

Secondly, it's a shocking indictment of Britain's criminal classes. Really, why is anyone bothering to go and nick a few miles of the stuff when you could buy the company and take it all? Asset-strip BT and come out with more money after selling the copper than the company cost you in the first place.

That's the problem we've got with the young people of today: no ambition. ®

Agent Meister talks about the needs for wired home networks, increasing demand for bandwidth, connected TV\\\'s and much more.

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:16:37 -0800

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HomePlug can distribute broadband over power cables but doubts have resurfaced over ability to scale up to multiple HD channels.

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:15:12 -0800

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Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the pricing structure for use of BT's infrastructure must be resolved sooCulture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the pricing structure for use of BT's infrastructure must be resolved soon

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:13:53 -0800

BT has been told to speed up the schedule for publishing the prices it intends to charge rival internet service providers (ISPs) for use of its infrastructure.

An Ofcom ruling means the telecoms giant must allow its competitors to utilise its network of underground ducts and telegraph poles to deploy fibre optic broadband cables.

In a speech at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt hit out at BT for taking too long to reach a "satisfactory conclusion" on its pricing structure.

The matter "has to be sorted out - and quickly - in a way that allows fair competition with different providers able to invest in our broadband infrastructure", Mr Hunt insisted.

He went on to stress the importance of the UK having a "properly competitive" retail market for fibre optic broadband.

In April, rival ISPs TalkTalk and Virgin Media wrote to the government demanding "urgent intervention" on the prices BT intends to charge for infrastructure access.

The companies claimed it would be cheaper to construct their own networks than to take BT up on its proposed charges.

Net-Savvy Students make Web Access a Priority

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:11:44 -0800

National Student Housing Survey reveals internet access most critical factor for student tenants whilst lack of fridge-space tops complaint list. 23rd Aug 2011
The internet generation is all grown up and ready to leave home. For the first time ever, students have rated good internet access above location when hunting for their perfect university accommodation.

From next year, students face a bill of thousands of pounds for the cost of a university education, and the discerning student knows what they want, how much it should cost them and they will accept nothing less.

Demand for university accommodation remains high, and more and more private property companies are branching out to offer accommodation solely targeted at the student population. Landlords and property investors need to start listening to these consumers, or risk losing out to bigger companies.

The National Student Housing Survey (NSHS) 2011 saw 15,490 students respond from more than 120 universities and colleges across the country, detailing what they look for in a property and what they expect to get for their money.

No longer can landlords get away with shoddy private rentals, or can universities house students in run down halls. Accommodation standards need to rise to meet the students’ demands, or they will simply go elsewhere.

The NSHS revealed that internet access is the number one priority for students, with 90 per cent rating it as a very important factor. Value for money came second (85 per cent) and location came in third, with only three-quarters of respondents rating it as "very important".

The top places to hunt for future accommodation were via the university housing or accommodation office, lettings agencies, and internet search engines.

The average rent paid by students in either halls or private rentals is £90 to £99 per week, although university halls are more likely to include "extras" within that fee such as internet access and cleaning.

Tim Daplyn, NSHS Project Director, said: "Going to university is no longer a right, but something students pay a lot of money to do. They know what they want and they are intelligent enough to make sure they get it. Student accommodation remains a thriving business, but those who will continue to succeed in this market will be those who listen to their tenants and respond effectively."

ENDS.

Notes to Editors

The National Student Housing Survey (NSHS) is an annual survey of students in higher education across the UK. The survey measures satisfaction levels in all types of accommodation and allows participating institutions to measure their performance against national and regional benchmarks. The 2011 survey attracted over 15,000 responses from more than 120 universities and colleges across the UK. This project is managed by Red Brick Research, an independent market research agency specialising in Higher Education. For further information please visit http://www.nshs.co.uk/ or http://www.redbrickresearch.co.uk/.

For more information on this release, please contact:

Claire Daplyn
Red Brick Research Press and PR Representative

Does having faster broadband increase the value of your home?

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:10:09 -0800

Author: Jeff TaylorTranslation While most pundits are pointing towards a stagnant or slowly falling housing market, there is a bit of good news out there for some.

ISPreview.co.uk conducted a poll that elicited 733 respondents.

The questions they asked related to whether people thought that having a fast broadband connection was a valuable consideration when buying or owning a property.

When asked ‘Is broadband important to your home life?’, a whacking 73.9% said it was critically important, 24.2% said it was of average importance and only 1.7% said it was of no importance.

When asked to respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the question ‘Would you pay more for a house with faster broadband?‘ it was very evenly matched with the noes taking it by a narrow whisker of 50.4% over 49.5%.

But it seems that new dream home must have fast broadband for the majority of us. In answer to ‘Would lack of fast broadband put you off buying a beautiful new house?’ the ayes had it with 68.8% over 31.1% (I know it doesn’t add up to exactly 100% but that’s their figures).

fibre optics

So it seems that people won’t necessarily pay more for a house with fast broadband but may well be put off of buying a house without it.

So it’s not all doom and gloom, if you live in a fast broadband area that is.

This of course is one thing you probably won’t find in the estate agents’ particulars on a house (property misdecriptions act and all that). But I wonder where the seller (and agent for that matter) would stand legally if they claimed that the local broadband was faster than it really was just to ensure a sale?

For hoteliers out there, one other question asked was whether people would pay more for a room with broadband. Only 37.2% said yes.

Read more: http://www.economicvoice.com/does-having-faster-broadband-increase-the-value-of-your-home/50016662#ixzz1Y7zvGliX