Topic: Media

It seems that the predictions that the iPlayer would affect bandwidth and increase data usage may have been not far off the mark.

Data released by one ISP, PlusNet, shows that it's costs per user tripled in the first full month since the release of the iPlayer back on Christmas day. The streaming cost per user has risen from 6.1p a month to 18.3p in January, it this is a common value amongst ISPs then it's claimed that the iPlayer has increased the cost to the market as a whole in the region of £1m in it's first month.

Some ISPs have claimed that they will have to resort to traffic shaping, although some who already do have found that it's not the easy option.

The BBC claimed that the iPlayer is good for the broadband industry and has a "negligible impact on the UK internet infrastructure".

The BBC has now made the iPlayer download player compatible with Firefox after months of only an being available for Internet Explorer users.

While it's good news for Windows XP users those using a Mac or Linux as an operating system have been told that they could wait up to two years for it to be ported across to other platforms. In the meantime they will have to rely on the streaming version which is proving more popular than the download version, with over eight times more viewers using this version.

While the streaming version was hastily rolled out it seems that it will be the main way to view it's online files, with the P2P download version as a compliment or as the method for HD delivery which the BBC hopes to roll out.

The BBC has said that 3.5 million programmes have been watched but over a million viewers since its iPlayer was launched on Christmas Day.

Although the player has had a turbulent past it seems the decision to offer a streaming service has paid off as only just under 400,000 programmes were actually downloaded eight times less than streamed.
Users watched on average 25 minutes of programming with the usual shows most watched on TV also coming out top, Doctor Who, Eastenders and Extras being a few of the top shows.

The figures seem to echo a Tiscali TV Trends report which says that 64 per cent of viewers believe the schedules restrict their viewing too much. The reasons for downloading content are catching up on a missed programme (58 per cent), flexibility (49 per cent) and overcoming schedule clashes (39 per cent).

It also revealed that 62 per cent watched the content on their TV's rather than using a PC.

O2 is to jump on the IPTV bandwagon and trial an internet-based TV service next year after having success with a similar product in the Czech market.

Since it's launch in September 2006 the test bed has signed up 70,000 customers, which gives O2 and its owner, Telefonica, confidence to move into the UK market, even though UK IPTV providers are fining it tough going.
Virgin Media's quad-play offering has proved disappointing, while take-up of rival BT Vision, even with substantial TV advertising has been slow over the past year. Even established providers such as Homechoice, which Tiscali acquired last year, has seen customers drop to 36,000 from 45,000,  boss Mary Turner has still pledged it would have 200,000 customers by the end of 2008.

The BBC has finally got around to launching a streaming version of its iPlayer for Mac users.

Although the XP version of the iPlayer will officially launch on Christmas day the apple version will be a cut down affair. It will not let users download programmes for later viewing, unlike XP users who can view the content within 30 days.
The beeb hasn't said how it intends to allow this as the iPlayer is based on DRM, which is Microsoft's copy protection technology which is only available on Windows.

The beta service allows users to stream programmes broadcast over the last seven days to their browser, though unlike the Windows version, there is no facility for downloading programmes to watch at any time within 30 days.

Although it has been slow in coming, the beeb has been under pressure to make the iPlayer multiplatform

The BBC will launch it's iPlayer on Christmas Day, but will it be back in the box before the new year?

The beta trails haven't been a resounding success with ISP's ganging up on it's bandwidth usage and users complaining about technical problems. These include DRM licensing faults, broken links and lengthy waits for programmes, even the support message board has nearly 3,500 threads on "technical issues".

Another issue is that at the present only users of Windows XP are fully supported, so anyone getting a new PC with Vista, Macs or Linux on for Xmas will be unable to enjoy the iPlayer 'experience'.

A BBC spokesperson said that "it's all about the content available on the platform. The Christmas schedules are the richest time of year for TV programming." but could the iPlayer end up becoming a turkey?

If you want to see the latest on what is happening in the Jungle in I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here you can find out on ITV's website.

Visitors can watch a live video stream between 23:30 and 09:00 GMT for free and see the latest spats between the contestants, or the coverage is repeated during the daytime here in the UK while the 'celebrities' are asleep.
Video highlights will also be available to be watched as Katie Hopkins, Gemma Atkinson, Cerys Matthews, Marc Bannerman and others try to get the UK public to remember who they are.

All of the action is on the ITV website, if this is your kind of thing.

The BBC has hit back at criticisms from the Mac and open-source communities over the iPlayer only being available for Microsoft's Windows XP platform.

In an interview with silicon.com, Ashley Highfield the head of BBC Future Media and Technology unit, said the criticism has been unfair and that he really loves Macs.

The streaming Flash based version of the iPlayer will be available by Christmas for Mac and Linux users, but it hasn't been forthcoming on when the full download version would be available for other platforms.

The BBC has been told that it must offer a version of its iPlayer which will work on all operating systems and not just be confined to Windows.

When the BBC initially asked the BBC Trust for approval to create the iPlayer, it was told that "catch-up television over the internet should become platform neutral within a reasonable time frame" but even offering a stripped down version Flash version which it announced yesterday did cut any ice with the trust.

Now the beeb has to step up plans for it's Mac and Linux versions of the iPlayer, but one of the problems could be it's use of DRM which it uses on the Windows version to only allow users to store content for 30 days. DRM isn't licensed on the Mac OS as yet and isn't available for versions of Linux so it will be interesting to see what is planned, although don't hope for a non-DRM Windows version just yet.

The BBC wants to add HD to it's iPlayer broadband TV service, which won't go down very well with some ISP's.

Many ISP's including Tiscali and TalkTalk had previously expressed concern that the service would affect the amount of bandwidth that users consume, and called on a tax to offset their costs. Having a HD service is likely to increase their worries, but looking at the wider picture should calm their fears.

Many broadband connections in the UK would struggle to provide a decent non-HD service, and as discussions have only stated on the UK's fibre plans it would be a few years in the future before then need to start worrying.

A storm has broken out with an unofficial group of ISPs, led by Tiscali, BT and the Carphone Warehouse raising strong concerns over the BBC iPlayer.

The group are calling for the BBC to help with the costs involved due to the increased bandwidth which the service needs. The iPlayer delivers content by p2p and the expected half a million users could potentially mean bandwidth problems for UK broadband customers claim the group.

They even claim that if their demands are not met then they might even  implement traffic shaping, which is a way of limiting bandwidth which customers can use and effectivly limiting the number of users who can access the iPlayer at one time.

As most people with some internet knowledge will realize, their claims are utter rubbish. Peer-to-peer applications, newsgroups and just sites such as YouTube all use plenty of bandwidth and the iPlayer isn't going to be the major bandwidth user they claim.

And the sceptical amongst us may point to the fact that all Tiscali, BT and the Carphone Warehouse all have a TV service which will have to compete with the iPlayer, and it seems that the ISPs are running worried.

EDIT: BT have denied that they are part of the group against the iPlayer and they are only concerned with the fact it runs in the background.

Jupiter research have called for Internet TV services such as the recently launched BBC iPlayer and 4oD (channel 4) and Sky Anytime to restrict 'catch-up' controls.

The problem is that both customers monthly data usage and browsing speeds can be affected by these services as they continue to run after they have been closed. As they are based on Kontiki peer-to-peer software this means they they continue to both upload and download data in the background without users knowledge.
This isn't a problem with similar software such as Skype and Joost as these have the option of turning the software completely off.

"Many will notice that their internet connections may be running slower, but will not necessarily know why," claims Ian Fogg of Jupiter

The BBC iPlayer is about to be launched a full four months ahead of the planned schedule.The testing phase of the BBC's media service has now finished an a launch date of 28th July has been announced.

The service lets users download content and store it for 30 days after broadcast and allows 7 days for viewing following the first playback. Alongside the BBC content content from other providers is on it's way with YouTube already on board, and the beeb "in discussion" with other providers MSN, telegraph.co.uk, AOL, Tiscali, Yahoo!, MySpace, Blinkx and Bebo.

The BBC are not planning to go it completely alone, as Virgin media seem set to provide the iPlayer as part of their On Demand service.

Few Internet users watch full-length video on demand, with the the main problem of poor Internet performance as one of the reasons, according to new research.

Most though would watch reliable TV on their computers, according to an independent YouGov survey of 2,400 UK Internet users by CacheLogic, 85 percent of have never downloaded a a full-length TV programme or movie. The main responses to the survey when asked "What would need to be addressed for you to view or download more?" were "speed of download" and "reliability", although 65 percent would be interested in a service which actually does as it says on the tin.

The BBC is to extend its viewer-base of it's iPlayer trial of downloadable content from 5,000 to 20,000 people and now includes MAC users.

The service allows users to view 1,000 hours of TV and radio archive programmes which can be viewed for seven days, although more is planned for the full launch. Originally the trial only involved 1,500 users, but this rose to 5,000 in 2005, and now 20,000.

The iPlayer has been re-written  so that it will work not only with MACs, but also on set-top boxes so it is hoped to include this on Freeview boxes in the future.

ITV Local London, the broadband TV service for the capital has launched London Life with 39 TV channels which is one for every London borough plus all the Home Counties.

The aim is to offer local TV service via broadband that reflects the lives of people where they live, and the channels will showcase the work of local factual film and documentary makers.
Programmes will be varied in content, with shows like Knife Lewisham which will show the reality of knife crime in the borough, to programmes like Two Sugars which follows a group of Kilburn pensioners as they learn hip-hop dance moves!!

ITV has appointed the former Times and Telegraph new media director Annelies van den Belt to lead the commercial broadcaster's launch of a broadband portal in 2007.

She will be be responsible for all aspects of commercial and operational delivery for the broadband site, which is planned to launch in March, and which will carry all of its best content for viewers to access mostly for free.

ITV plan to spend £20m on the launch of the website and services as it tries to reduce its reliance on its flagship, but flagging, ITV1 channel for advertising.

ITV is to expand its local online TV service (www.itvlocal.tv) early in 2007 due to the success of it's deal with broadband television provider Narrowstep.

Following a successful year-long trial, it will roll out it's service region by region with new functionality and content. The trial was conducted in the Meridian region with  broadcast local south coast news, weather, stories and user generated content being available on the platform.

Even though the broadcaster has been under pressure to find more success with it's terrestrial broadcasting, it revealed that turnover from the digital operations had climbed 40 percent in the 12 months ending December 31.

Cricket fans will be able to watch video highlights from the Ashes test in Australia which starts on the 23rd of this month, although it maybe scary viewing for us English!

The BBC is showing 10 minutes of the best moments at the end of every day during the matches, along with an Ashes podcast, reviewing each day's action, which will be available for download.

The downloads can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/cricket/

Fed up with kids now they are off school for a bit, or maybe you can wait for them to start school?

Help is at hand! Nickelodeon UK's preschool channel Nick Jr is launching an online broadband video service for preschoolers called Nick Jr Video. It will feature content from  Dora the Explorer and The Backyardigans as well as special footage and exclusives of new shows such as Wonder Pets! (you might need to ask the kids about these!) Video clips will be available to email to you little angels friends.

The launch of Nick Jr Video follows TurboNick, Nickelodeon's kids broadband video service that launched in January and has seen it's audience share rise by 17% over the past year.

Point your kids to nickjr.co.uk to access the broadband content.

Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is set to be the big thing next year as subscriber figures triple as the telecommunications big boys enter the market.

According to research firm iSuppli subscriptions to IPTV will reach 15 million worldwide in 2007, with it 63 million expected in 2010, a 26 fold jump over last year.

As the market grows from just providing basic voice, video and data as separate services to one that integrates the offerings and includes greater interactivity, IPTV is expected to grow to a £14bn business from its present level of less than £1bn. Video services are expected to account for nearly 87 per cent of the revenue with operators increasingly find ways to allow interactive advertising, resulting in higher ad rates.

It all sounds very good, but providing the infrastructure to provide a quality service which will turn users away from traditional TV and satellite maybe more of a problem.

Channel 4 is to start broadcasting commissioned programmes simultaneously via broadband as well as it's terrestrial channel broadband, making it the first major UK broadcaster to do so.

The new service will be launched on June 27th and will be available from the channel 4 website, but will not include films or selected programmes such as Lost or Desperate Housewives. But it will be including the adverts, although it hopes to offer advertising opportunities on the service once it has been established.

With the world cup approaching with many looking to watch using the BBCs broadband coverage, there could be a small problem.

Those who watch it without a valid TV licence could end up having to cough up a fine of up to £1,000 plus court costs. While this may not be a problem to those who decide to stream the matches at home, but for businesses it could cause a problem, as many do not have a TV licence.

It seems that beeb maybe trying to earn some extra revenue as Roger Mosey, the  BBC Director of Sport, stated on the broadband launch "We know a lot of online viewing is done in the office, so we suspect this will allow people both to do their job and to keep up with the very latest action from Germany."

So unless you want your boss to get a fine, then you better ask him to get a TV licence so you can watch it while you are at work........

Flextech Television has struck a deal with Buena Vista International Television to offer a rental-on-demand service.

Users can download one episode of programming from a 24 hour window for an expected 99p which will allow them to watch it within 7 days. Other dramas to download include  'Grey's Anatomy', 'Charmed' and 'Will & Grace'.

The network will also make available episodes of its own programming including 'Most Haunted', 'Sin Cities' and 'Real Football Factories' available to rent buy for £2.50 an episode.

The service, which will be available through the livingtv.co.uk and bravo.co.uk channel websites.

But with most people either owning a PVR or Sky+ (and with all the re-runs!) why would anyone want to pay to schedule an episode which they might miss?

Auntie beeb seems to be the broadband sport users best friend, after announcing that they will cover Wimbledon, now they are to stream the world cup!
This is due to a exclusive deal with Infront Sports & Media, the company responsible for the worldwide marketing and sales of the broadcast rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

The feed will be the same as it's terrestrial broadcast and as such it will be limiting the service to licence fee payers in the UK. Also there will be  four-minute highlights for every single game too, which will be available on-demand. For those who want to save their bandwidth will be able to hear a Radio Five Live audio stream.

We're not sure too many bosses would agree with that!!

www.bbc.co.uk/worldcup for the action

The BBC has announced that it will offer UK tennis fans broadband access to five courts of live tennis action during the forthcoming Wimbledon Championships.

Coverage will be from the BBC's live terrestrial coverage and its digital interactive feeds and also includes a news, latest scores and results service.

The free feeds are available from the BBC tennis website, www.bbc.co.uk/wimbledon.

Tesco is launching a broadband TV channel in partnership with broadband content provider Homechoice.

The trial will run for one month and although Tesco say that "We have no other similar trials planned at the present time", many insiders think that this is just a start and that supermarket will eventually provide a full VoD service. According to HomeChoice, the goal of the trial is to determine viewer reaction to "brand-created on-demand content."

The channel will show content from Tesco Sport for School and Clubs scheme, which was launched last year and features sports stars including marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, footballer Frank Lampard and rugby player Jason Gardner but could expand to provide channels, such as cookery programming and interactive TV shopping services.

As Tesco is already the fourth largest UK online retailer after Amazon, Dell and Argos so moving in this direction is a logical step for the supermarket giant.

Music fans will be able to watch the action from the 'Rock in Rio' festival, which strangely is held in Lisbon over two weekends, 26 – 27 May and 2 –4 June.

AOL is streaming performances which features dozens of acts, including Guns & Roses, Roger Waters, Shakira, Jamiroquai, The Darkness, Sting, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anastacia, Kasabian, Carlos Santana, and Corinne Bailey Rae, as wll as offering an on-demand service for the festival,

BT has signed a deal with DreamWorks SKG to provide content for it's forthcoming V-via-broadband service, BT Vision.

This means that blockbusters such as Steven Spielberg's Munich, Madagascar, Just Like Heaven, Red Eye and the award winning Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit will be available to customers after the service launches in the Autumn.

BT Vision will be available to users who buy a set-top box call a BT Hub, but while BT have provided lot's of information on it's content, it hasn't released the cost of the box as yet.

NTL, Telewest and Virgin.net who are now basically the same company have signed deal with Channel 4 to show it's users broadband content from some of it's shows, including Big Brother.

Customers will have access to daily news stories and video clip highlights from the house as well as contestant biographies, photos, plus an exclusive column written by Derek Laud (who apparently was in BB6).
Ntl usres on it's 4 or 10Mbps services can also access a free 24/7 feed from the house which usually would cost £7.99 from Channel 4.

Whether you would want to use all your bandwidth streaming BB is another question, but coverage is at the NTL, Telewest or Virgin websites.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is launched its official broadband TV service, ECBtv, at the Test against Sri Lanka.

The ECB has signed a three year deal with Premium TV to show live streams of all the home test matches and one day internationals along with match highlights, exclusive interviews, press conferences and coaching master classes.
Other online content will include a searchable video archive that allows fans to view extended highlights of England’s classic moments on home soil, such as great matches, innings and wickets from as far back as 1970.

The ECB is also trying to encourage England players to produce their own personal content to try to encourage and inform youngsters of cricket life.

You can find it all on the ECB website.

In what claims to be the first broadband TV channel for an auto manufacturer, Narrowstep have launched the Go Beyond channel.

The channel focuses on the  Land Rover and will consist of six unique channels ranging from travel, to amazing Land Rover off-road journeys, food and wine, people and places. The content will be premium, contemporary and adventurous which they say are the three of the cornerstones of the Land Rover brand.
The channel will be initially launched  in English, but other languages will be rolled out in due course.

http://www.landrover.com/gobeyond is the URL

BT has agreed deals with  to provide a wide range of concerts and music documentaries on-demand for it's BT Vision service.

The concert programming covers a wide variety of genres including Franz Ferdinand, Keane, Bon Jovi, Andrea Bocelli, Billy Joel, Pavarotti, Roxy Music and Sheryl Crow along as indie acts such as Pixies, Morrissey and Muse. Eagle Rock on the other hand have a large portfolio including Alice Cooper, Brutally Live, Atomic Kitten, Right Here Right Now; Beach Boys, Fatboy Slim, Big Beach Boutique; Miles Davis: Miles Electric, Usher: Live 2002; and The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight.

The service is to launch in the autumn through a set-top box, named BT Hub, and will combine access to digital-terrestrial channels through the aerial with broadband-powered video on demand. The BT Hub will also allow wireless networking for the PCs and allow up to five different calls to be made at the same time using VoIP.

Watch the forthcoming world cup in Germany on your broadband connection for free......although there is a small catch.

The small problem is that you will have to move to China to get it!

Chinese outfit SMG have bought the rights to broadcast from FIFA and plan to offer it to customers without asking them to cough up any cash.

So that's all sorted then, move to China, watch the world cup on your PC and eat noodles at half time.

Visit London, the capitals official website,  has launched a 24 hour broadband and TV service especially for visitors to the city.

On the London TV's website it features nine different channels to help people know what is happening it the city and how to make the most of it. Channels include, Attractions, Eating Out, Leisure, Shopping, What's On, Clubs, Entertainment, Pubs and Bars, and Theatre.

The service has been available on airlines and in hotel rooms previously, but by launching a broadband service Visit London hopes that it will reach more tourists, and have the added advantage of promoting the 2012 Olympic Games.

Browse to visitlondon.com to see the streams.

BT has signed up HIT Entertainment as one of it's content partners, for it's new broadband TV service.

Due for launch in the autumn, trials are currently in progress for it's integrated Media Player (iMP), but is seems they are lining up the content providers for the launch. HIT Entertainment has the rights for such shows as Bob the Builder, Pingu and Thomas the Tank Engine, also involved is entertainment company Nelvana, which has the rights to the cartoon Max and Ruby; and the National Geographic Channel.

BT has already signed content deals with BBC Worldwide, Paramount and Warner Music Group and will allow users to access the on-demand service by paying either per programme viewed or through a subscription.

It's still unclear on who will be able to access the service as it seems you have to connect via an adapted Freeview box connected to BT broadband, which would restrict the number of people willing to connect.

It may be an extra happy Christmas for the 5,000 trialists of the BBC's integrated Media Player (iMP), as it's announced a two month extension allowing users to access the service until 28th February.

Extending the trial over the holiday period means that missing the festive favourites should not be a problem even if the in-laws pop around.
As part of the weekly 500 programmes available through the service, they will be able to choose from TV traditions like the Queen's speech or Christmas at Kew, and seasonal specials of Casualty, Holby, Doctor Who, French and Saunders and My Family & Other Animals.
Across radio, iMP seasonal goodies will include Radio 3's A Bach at Christmas and The Goon Show: A Christmas Carol.

MTV Networks is set to launch a digital music to go head to head with rivals such as itunes.

The strangely named service is set to launch next year service next year, and will be called URGE (someone must know why!). It will provide users with up to 2 million songs to download.

Built on Microsoft technology using Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) format it will also feature DRM to stop downloaders sharing songs. One problem is that by using Microsoft technology it will be incompatible with Apple computers and even iPods, which is strange as iPods represent around 75% of the digital player market, and Apple's iTunes accounts for around 80% of the licensed music download market.

BSkyB is offering it's customers video downloads of the latest Hollywood blockbusters and classic movie titles on your PC.

Also included will be a wide range of sports content available including football, rugby, cricket and golf highlights, which seem to be content previously broadcast on it's sports channels.
Downloaded content will be available to view for 30 days and can only be viewed on the PC it was downloaded on thanks to being encoded with DRM.

The service is free to all Sky customers who subscribe to it's Sky Movies or Sky Sports packages, but must sign up for the service at the Sky by Broadband website.

Videos are encoded at a variable bit rate of 860 kbps, and resolution of 540x432 and Sky recommend a connection of at least 1Mbps although all videos have to be fully downloaded before viewing, and a PC with Windows XP is also required.

Buena Vista Pictures Marketing a division of the Walt Disney Studios announced the availability of  video content from it's latest blockbuster The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Using a broadband video software platform from Maven Networks, Disney launched The Narnia Full-Screen Experience. The Internet channel, available on the film's official website, allows broadband consumers to receive trailers, clips, behind-the-scenes segments, interviews, and other film content to PC's and video-enabled iPods.

It seems that Hollywood is moving in the right direction rather than suing internet users, and hopefully full broadband downloads of the latest films will be available in the near future.

A showcase featuring the latest applications of IPTV will be held in Europe next year, days after a report suggests that Broadband TV has failed to capture the hearts of the UK residents so far, despite predictions that figures could reach some 9million IPTV subscribers across Europe within 4 years.

The IPTV World Forum is aimed at the industries supporting the market’s growth from telcos and broadband providers to broadcasters, with presentations from all the big players in the industry such as Andrew Burke, CEO of BT Entertainment Division together with representations from Bulldog, Tiscali, Walt Disney, Siemens & Sony.

Earlier this week a report from Screen Digest suggests that TV delivered over broadband has failed to massively impact the UK market, despite the UK being one of the European countries with the longest history of the technology. Mainly through HomeChoice, the UK currently has around 30,000 IPTV subscribers.

Europe wide however, digital television delivered over the Internet is set to see massive growth with some 8.7 million viewers of IPTV in 2009 from the current figure of around 658,000.

Announced earlier in the year, BSkyB have now launched their SkybyBroadband website, giving a hint to its customers as to what to expect from the service. However, there are already calls of concern that the strain such a service will place on the ADSL network will make contention a realism for 1000's of users across the country.

SkybyBroadband enables current Sky Digital viewers who subscribe to the Movies package and/or the Sports package, the opportunity to additionally download content to their home PCs, free of charge. Sky are quoting users on a 1Mbps service could download a 2 hour movie title in as little as 2 or 3 hours, equating to a filesize of between 120MB and 180MB. By the same ratio 2Mbps customers could download the file in as little as an hour and 8Mbps connections in under 15 minutes. ADSL2+ users could obviously see the most dramatic download rate - downloading the entire movie in under 5 minutes. Content will be encoded at bit rate of 860kbps, and resolution of 540x432 - hardly DVD or HighDefinition quality but we suspect perfectly adequate for the job in hand.

Its believed that 100's of movie titles and sports coverage will be available from launch, all through 3rd party software by Kontiki, who specialise in securing distributed media preventing it from being duplicated. Once downloaded, the title will be available on the PC only, and the presence of the software from Kontiki implies that export to separate media such as DVD will not be legally possible. Content will typically be licensed for up to 30 days for movies (7 days for sports coverage), and can also benefit from Parental Controls.

Unlikely to stem the demand on the traditional illegal Peer2Peer/BitTorrent sharing, SkybyBroadband does open an additional channel for end users to make effective use of their high speed connections at home. With some 4million of Sky subscribers qualifying for access, it would be fair to say that a high number of those subscribers will also have a broadband service at home and contention could ultimately not only impact those impressive download times we mentioned earlier, but potentially degrade other users ADSL services - even those not using the SkybyBroadband service. Contention is still a bit of a anomalous entity for many users in the UK - failing to understand that in the main, there's only so much bandwidth available from each exchange, and that this bandwidth is shared between users. For those interested, we can do no better than to let Plusnet explain the concept here - bizarrely, by comparing contention with pizza.

You can sign up now with SkybyBroadband in preparation of the services full launch, by visiting SkybyBroadband.com

ITV is planning to follow the lead of the BBC and start trials of a broadband TV service.

The three month trial will take place in the southern coastal towns of Brighton and Hastings, which have been chosen as they have a broadband take-up of 28%, compared with the national average of 22%.
The service combines scheduled programming with broadcast services that can be switched to ad-hoc, such as news and weather reports. It features seven channels including local news, weather, music, what's-on guides, short films, classified ads, and general entertainment.

The service also offers viewers the ability to check out the TV schedule, catch up on missed shows, and search for specific programs. But with the addition of a special encoder ITV Local is expected to enable viewers to upload their own material, which opens the door for broadband consumers to become broadcasters!

Plans are to launch the service nationwide if the trial proves successful, although all broadband users can access the service itvlocal.tv

In much the same fashion as last year's video streaming of The Stella Artois Championship's, the BBC are shortly to provide 350kbps and 1.5Mbps multicast streams of this years Grand Prix Snooker event, starting October 8th.

Unfortunately, not all of the UK's ISPs support multicast however most users of Plusnet, C&W, Claranet, NetServices, Zen, Keme, Intervivo, Bogons broadband services as well as those in the UK Academic Network (JANET) will be able to enjoy the facility.

Golfers will soon be able to get their own broadband service which is tailored to their needs.

The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) ha