Posts Tagged broadband news
BSkyB Report Profits Despite News Corporation Crisis
Posted by Dai in Latest Broadband News on May 3, 2012
Against all the controversy and legal crises surrounding phone hacking practices of BSkyB’s biggest shareholder News Corporation’s, BSkyB have reported boosted profits over the last nine months triggering a leap in share prices.
These profits seem to have been thanks to increasing demands for BSkyB’s broadband, television and phone bundles. BSkyB have seen an net rise of 78,000 customers to 10.5 million over the last three months leading up to March, operating profit therefore rose by 15% to £908 million on revenues that were up 5% at £5.1 billion, which was ahead of analyst estimates.
Business successes have helped raise the strength of BSkyB’s shares seeing prices rise from 14.5p to 705.5p, their strongest on four months. Still well below last summer’s value of 850p, but a welcome resurge after share prices plummeted on the back of News Corp being forced to abandon their takeover bid.
Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of BSkyB praised their choices to focus marketing on home communications and says this news demonstrates that BSkyB’s aim of introducing a brand new broadband based television service called NOWTV by mid 2012 is on track.
The news of profits has been an essential revelation for the company as, thanks to their major shareholders being the Murdoch family; owners of the controversial News Corp, BSkyB are facing serious scrutiny by Ofcom. Media regulator Ofcom have been considering whether or not the internet and television service provider should be allowed to hold a broadcasting license when 39% of their shares are controlled by the disgraced Rupert Murdoch.
BSkyB representatives are using the news of boosted profits as evidence that they are of value to the broadband and broadcast markets and make a ‘positive contribution’ to the UK economy as a whole.
BSkyB are successfully weathering the storm surrounding their shareholders and, in the light of these profits, look like they could succeed even if the Murdochs are forced to drop their 39% stake. BSkyB are looking to the future to meet the UK’s growing demand for broadband services and profit from delivering new services. BSkyB look like they are keeping customers from looking elsewhere for competing Virgin or Orange broadband reviews.
Ofcom implements new broadband advertising guidelines – consumers everywhere react
Posted by Hollie in Latest Broadband News on April 25, 2012
On April 1st, new guidelines were implemented by Ofcom to prevent ISPs (internet service providers) from making misleading claims in their advertising campaigns. We’re all familiar with the ‘up-to’ rates advertised by the major providers. However, Ofcom has since ruled that it is no longer acceptable to make such unrealistic promises, when the fact is that many households are simply unable to access certain services, largely due to connectivity restrictions in the area in which they live.
Whilst many have welcomed the news, many consumers feel that the new guidelines just simply don’t go far enough. The new rules state that ISPs can only advertise a broadband speed if 10 percent of their existing customer base can achieve said speeds. However, consumers feel that such a low percentage does not accurately reflect the service has a whole, thus ISPs are still perfectly able to present their customers with erroneous information.
In a survey of more than 1000 people, conducted by think broadband, forty three percent of respondents stated that they felt that a table should be presented to customers, clearly displaying exactly what speeds are available and in which areas. 33 percent stated that they felt that a median figure would be more acceptable, meaning that internet providers would only be able to advertise speeds if they were achievable by at least half of their existing customer base.
Perhaps then the use of a broadband comparison service would be more more revealing to the researching prospective customer. The information being compared would be based more on a set of ‘real life’ figures that, once consumer confidence has been restored in the figures released by the providers, could be evaluated on the comparison websites and used to make good decisions about which company to sign up with in any geographical area.
Whilst it is certain that the major ISPs have been somewhat fallacious in their advertising, it is extremely difficult to predict exactly what services are available and in which area. It is not always simply a matter of connectivity restrictions due to the area in which a person lives. A good internet connection relies on a number of things, including the quality of the existing telephone line and this is often not detected until after installation.
It will be of great interest to see exactly what the long-term effect of these new guidelines will be and whether in turn, customers will become more satisfied with their internet services.
Report Suggests that Super-Fast Broadband can Provide a Real Boost to Small Business
Posted by Hollie in Latest Broadband News on April 23, 2012
In an oddly happy coincidence, recession and the societal dominance of digital media have occurred at roughly the same time. What I mean by this is that whilst the availability of jobs has dramatically decreased, the internet has provided the means for many new business ventures to take place. Many people, for fairly obvious reasons, are choosing not to wait around for someone to employ them, but instead are creating opportunities for themselves.
Choosing to work from home is becoming an increasingly popular choice and many are taking this idea one step further and choosing to startup businesses of their own. This option has been made even more desirable by recent reports released by the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) that suggest that high-speed internet can save substantial amounts of money for small businesses.
The way it achieves this isn’t particularly complicated. For example, office space doesn’t come cheaply; there are lighting costs to consider, as well as heating, electricity and stationary costs, to name but a few.
Working from home negates the necessity for such expenses and super-fast broadband can also provide many other benefits for the aspiring entrepreneur. The reason that so many businesses fail to survive far beyond the stage of inception is largely due to the fact that startup costs are so exponentially high. This means that regardless of how ingenious a business idea may be, the resistance to entry is simply so challenging, it’s almost impossible for many a burgeoning talent to even get on the first ‘rungs of the ladder’, as it were.
This is much the same dilemma as is currently faced by young people attempting to join the property ladder. Now, although the findings seem to be targeting America, the results are nevertheless just as relevant for small business owners all across the UK. So it seems that as well as providing innumerous new job opportunities for cash-strapped people everywhere, the internet is also providing a very real means for the conception of fledgling businesses, as well as the means to maintain them.