BT Announces 5% Price Increase
The telecoms giant BT has announced it’s increasing its landline charges and call prices by 5%.
BT has announced a 5% increase in landline charges and call costs even though it made a £1.7bn profit in May, earlier this year. It will be the third time in 14 months that BT has increased its prices.
BT says its landline charges will go up to £14.60 a month at the beginning of December while call charges will increase by 5% too even though it’s only four months since BT last raised prices.
The news comes as consumers are coming to terms with increased gas and electricity bills. Both domestic and business electricity prices and gas prices have been increased by five of the “Big Six” energy suppliers over the last few months. This price increase from British Telecom will put further pressure on household bills and may even encourage more people to get rid of their landlines and make do with mobile phones.
The managing director of BT’s consumer division, John Petter said “We are making a series of price updates in December, but are then freezing some of our main prices until 2013. This will provide our customers with greater certainty over their bills. We are also telling them how they can save money with BT. Our Line Rental Saver product, for example, will soon provide customers with a saving of more than £50 per year”.
The last increase came in April after the company had already increased prices in October 2010 and there are concerns that the increase will affect those people on BT’s basic package who only make a few calls – especially the elderly.
A BT spokesman defended the increases and said “A report from Ofcom shows the UK has lower prices than the USA, Spain, Germany, France and Italy. The UK market is highly competitive”.
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Steve Jobs Resigns As Chief Executive Of Apple
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, and designer of products such as the iPod and iPhone, has resigned as chief executive of the company, handing over to Tim Cook, the chief operating officer.
Mr Jobs sent a letter to the Apple board saying that he could no longer carry out his duties as chief executive. Mr Jobs has been on medical leave since January and has undergone a liver transplant in recent years after suffering pancreatic cancer.
Utility Exchange reported in January that shares in the company had fallen as Mr Jobs announced he was to take a leave of absence.
In his letter to the board Mr Jobs said “I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s chief executive, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. I hereby resign as chief executive of Apple”.
He continued “I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role”.
Mr Jobs will become chairman of the company.
The news has not come as a surprise to analysts who say the move will not have much of an impact on the day to day running of the business. They add that customers will not see any real difference.
Speaking to the BBC, Michael Gartenburg from Gartner said “At the end of the day, consumers don’t buy products from Apple because they’re from Steve Jobs, they buy them because they meet their needs and they’re good products, and they’ll continue to do that”.
Despite reassurances that nothing will change at Apple, shares in the company fell more than 5% in after-hours trading while shares in rivals HTC and Samsung Electronics gained.
In the three months to the end of June Apple sold 20 million iPhones and 9.25 million iPads making a profit of $7.3bn on revenues of $28.6bn.
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Talk Talk & Tiscali UK Given Record Fine By Ofcom
The telecoms firms Talk Talk and Tiscali UK have been given a record fine by Ofcom for billing customers incorrectly for services they hadn’t received.
Talk Talk and Tiscali UK, a subsidiary of Talk Talk have been fined a record £3 million by Ofcom for billing over 65,000 customers for services they hadn’t received. This is the largest fine Ofcom has ever given to a telecoms business and comes after Ofcom began investigations into the two firms after complaints in July 2010.
Utility Exchange reported earlier this year that Talk Talk and Tiscali had been forced to refund customers around £2.5 million when they were charged for cancelled services.
Ofcom said the large fine showed how serious the incident had been while Talk Talk said it was “disappointed at the scale of the fine”. However, Ofcom said the fine could have been much higher if Talk Talk hadn’t tried to deal with the problem by refunding customers and making goodwill payments.
Talk Talk bought Tiscali UK in 2009 and said the billing mistakes were as a result of the combining of the two businesses.
The Ofcom ruling said Talk Talk and Tiscali UK had issued bills incorrectly to 62,000 customers including those who had closed accounts between the beginning of January 2010 and 1 November 2010.
In November 2010 Ofcom had contacted both companies and gave them until 2 December 2010 to “take steps to sort out their billing problems”.
However, despite the companies taking some action around 3,000 customers were still billed wrongly between 2 December 2010 and 4 March 2011.
The chief executive of Talk Talk and Tiscali UK, Dido Harding said “Last year I recognised that we needed to invest in our systems, processes and customer services and we are making significant progress. Ofcom receives three times fewer calls about TalkTalk than they did at the height of the Tiscali integration, and our five million customers are more loyal and more satisfied than they were 12 months ago”.
However, back in April Utility Exchange reported that Talk Talk was the most complained about telecoms company with the most broadband and landline complaints.
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Vodafone Announces £9.5bn Profits And Nokia Stops Using Ovi
Vodafone has announced profits of £9.5 billion largely as a result of an increase in demand for smart phones while Nokia has said it will stop using the Ovi brand.
Vodafone is one of the biggest mobile phone companies in the UK and as well as smartphones helping boost profits these were also helped by growth in emerging markets such as South Africa and India.
Despite a 9% rise in profits in the year to March 31 it’s expected that this year won’t be so good due to difficult trading in Spain and Italy.
However, the introduction of new gadgets such as tablets and in particular, the iPad, should help boost the mobile telecoms market as these devices start to become more popular with the mass market.
It’s this trend that has helped grow UK revenues but they have also been helped by customers switching to deals which reflect how much data they use.
However, there’s concern that as call termination charges are phased out gradually next year there will be a “significant negative impact” on revenue growth for 2012.
Meanwhile Nokia is to stop using the Ovi brand to sell music, games and mobile applications. Instead, services will be offered under the Nokia name as the company has decided to wind up the project which has lasted four years.
Critics had previously said that Ovi was an ill thought out idea and was just brought out as an alternative to iTunes, the Apple app store. Despite its critics, users around the world have been downloading an average of five million products every day.
Pino Bonetti, the editor of Nokia’s Ovi blog, announced the changeover by writing, “The main reason for this change is so we can leverage the high-value of the Nokia master brand to better support future plans to deliver disruptive and compelling mobile experiences globally”.
Experts think it’s a good idea for Nokia to get rid of the Ovi brand after it reached an agreement with Microsoft to use Windows in its smartphones. The editor of Pocketlint.com, Stuart Miles said “With the move to Windows Phone 7 they are not going to be able to keep the Ovi store. That was going to get very confusing”.
Once the Nokia smartphones start using Windows 7 users will be able to download apps through its Marketplace store. However, software for Nokia phones with the Nokia operating system will still be available from the Nokia app store.
Nokia is trying to improve its fortunes as far as the smartphone market is concerned by going into partnership with Microsoft as reported previously by Utility Exchange.
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Ofcom Telecoms Figures Show Talk Talk Tops Landline & Broadband Complaints
Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, has released figures for complaints and said Talk Talk is the most complained about landline and broadband provider while 3 is the mobile provider with the most complaints.
This is the first time Ofcom has released figures for complaints but it has only included the bigger telecoms and mobile providers. After receiving around 450 complaints a day regarding telecommunications providers Ofcom said Talk Talk topped the list for landline and broadband providers while 3 came top for mobile providers.
Ofcom figures showed that more people complained about Talk Talk between October 2010 and February 2011. Talk Talk’s landline service received 1.78 complaints for every 1,000 customers while its broadband service got 1.27 complaints per 1,000 customers.
The figures used cover complaints made to Ofcom but not those made directly to the providers. However, Ofcom included all complaints, even if they were later found to be unsubstantiated.
The mobile telecoms company, 3, received 0.15 complaints per 1,000 customers in the same period while the mobile provider O2 had the most satisfied customers.
After BT and Virgin Media, Talk Talk is the third largest internet service provider and Utility Exchange has reported recently that Ofcom has received a number of complaints from people who have been billed for cancelled services by Talk Talk. Most of the complaints about telecoms received by Ofcom concern mis-selling, billing errors, lack of service and customer service problems.
The chief executive of Ofcom, Ed Richards said “Consumers should have access to as much information as possible to allow them to choose between providers and to take full advantage of the competition in the sector. By publishing complaints data, Ofcom aims to provide useful information to consumers, and also to give telecoms providers an incentive to improve their customer service”.
Speaking from Consumer Focus, Robert Hammond said “These complaints are likely to be the tip of the iceberg. We would call on all telecoms providers to also publish details of complaints their customer services teams receive. Suppliers should see customer service as something which will give them a competitive edge on their rivals”.
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Telecoms Company Virgin Media Tests World’s Fastest Broadband In UK
Virgin Media is set to test the world’s fastest broadband as consumers demand faster and faster internet connections.
The telecoms company, Virgin Media has said it plans to test broadband speeds of up to 1.5 gigabytes per second. This is not only faster than the average U.K. connection speed (240 times faster in fact) but it is ten times faster than Virgin’s current internet connection speed of 100 megabytes per second.
Virgin Media will trial the superfast broadband in four businesses near Old Street, London. If it’s successful Virgin Media wants to role the service out to both businesses and homes.
Customer growth has slowed for Virgin Media in recent months with only 128,600 new users in the first three months of this year compared with 232,000 in the first three months of 2010.
It seems that customers are continually searching for faster internet connectivity. Virgin Media said that 39% of new subscribers in 2011 ordered speeds of 20Mbps or more. This compares with 15% just over a year ago. With 860,000 customers on 20Mbps or over and over 150,000 customers on 50Mbps or above this is double the figures for the same time last year.
So what’s the benefit of internet speeds of 1.5GB per second? Surprisingly, Virgin Media says the main advantage isn’t the speed of the connection but the fact that more people can use the network at the same time without connectivity issues. Obviously this is important for many business broadband customers.
The businesses taking part in the trial are involved in the creative industries, working with video for online and mobile streaming and other web based applications. Therefore fast internet connections and the fact lots of people can use the network without losing speed are important considerations.
The executive director of broadband for Virgin Media, Jon James said “Demand for greater bandwidth is growing rapidly as more devices are able to connect to the internet and as more people go online simultaneously. Our growing network provides a highly competitive alternative to the fastest fibre networks of the future and, with our ongoing investment plans, we can anticipate and meet demand as it develops over time, ensuring Virgin Media business and residential customers continue to enjoy world-class broadband”.
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Ofcom Calls For Ban On Advertising Unrealistic Broadband Speeds
Ofcom wants to stop internet service providers (ISPs) from advertising unrealistic broadband speeds when most customers only get a fraction of the advertised speed.
We are all aware that the speed most broadband providers advertise is not what we can actually expect. Most ISPs advertise a speed of “up to” a certain amount but recent Ofcom research has found that few consumers ever receive these advertised speeds.
The Ofcom chief executive told BBC News that “there is a substantial gap between advertised speeds and the actual speeds people get in their homes”. Ofcom said very few people get the advertised speeds.
Ed Richards added “The chances of someone receiving the advertised headline speed are fairly remote”. He said that Ofcom would like consumers to have access to “clearer information” which “more accurately reflects the likely speeds they will actually receive”.
Advertised speeds can be important for businesses when they are looking at installing business broadband. They may end up with very slow broadband when in fact they were expecting much higher speeds and for many internet based businesses this could prove vital.
Research into broadband speeds by Ofcom found that only 14% of customers on “up to” speeds of 20Mbps actually get speeds of over 12Mbps. However, anyone on cable or fibre were more likely to receive speeds closer to those advertised. Around 92% of Virgin Media customers with an “up to” speed of 50Mbps are receiving on average 45.6Mbps. Meanwhile BT’s Fibre-to-the-Cabinet broadband offers speeds of up to 40Mbps to 15% of homes in the UK and people actually receive an average of 31.8Mbps.
Consumer groups have been calling for action to be taken on advertised broadband speeds for years because they simply add to customer confusion when they are trying to decide which is the best broadband for them. Now the Advertising Standards Authority could also get involved.
Meanwhile Ofcom wants ISPs to use Typical Speed Rates (TSR) to ensure customers are not confused e.g. they suggest broadband speeds of up to 20Mbps should be changed to a TSR of between 3 and 9 Mbps.
BT is not happy with this suggestion though, with the managing director of BT Retail, John Petter, saying “Broadband speeds vary from line to line and so it is meaningless to use one speed for advertising. That is why we use the term “up to””.
Meanwhile PlusNet said it offered a “personalised speed range” for customers. The chief executive of PlusNet, Jamie Ford, said “We are completely honest with customers about the speeds they will receive”.
However, Virgin Media was happy with Ofcom’s suggestion and Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said “Ofcom’s latest report is yet another damning indictment that consumers continue to be treated like mugs and misled by ISPs that simply cannot deliver on their advertised speed claims”.
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Talk Talk And Tiscali Forced To Pay Customers £2.5m By Ofcom
Talk Talk and Tiscali telecoms companies have refunded customers around £2.5 million after they were charged for cancelled services.
Ofcom received a huge number of complaints from people saying they had been billed for services that had been cancelled. Consequently Talk Talk and Tiscali have been forced to refund customers £2.5 million.
Ofcom said that over 62,000 customers may have been affected. Customers complained they received aggressive requests to pay outstanding bills even though they did not owe anything.
Utility Exchange reported recently that Talk Talk lost 25,000 customers in the third quarter of last year as a result of this problem. The telecom company blamed this billing error on a new billing system which it brought in after buying Tiscali in 2009.
A spokeswoman for Talk Talk said “We are pleased that Ofcom has recognised the significant steps we have taken to fix the billing issues”.
On average the two telecoms companies have paid out on average £40 to affected customers either as a refund or as compensation.
Ofcom admitted that the two companies had moved to fix the problems but said that if anyone has paid a bill since 1 Jan 2010 which they should not have received, they should be refunded.
However, a problem which arises from this billing error is the fact that unpaid bills can lead to credit problems and credit rating agencies have been told they must sort out and repair credit histories damaged by this incident.
Ofcom says it won’t fine either of the companies at the moment but will continue to monitor the situation.
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Hill Farming Could Become Confined To History If Rural Areas Don’t Get Superfast Business Broadband
There’s concern in Parliament that British hill farmers could disappear altogether if rural parts of the country don’t get superfast business broadband.
According to the House of Commons environment committee if farmers had access to superfast broadband it would help their business and encourage young people to stay in the area.
It’s getting harder and harder for farmers to make ends meet and consequently they are finding it difficult to maintain farmland including paths, walls and buildings. It means that areas such as Exmoor and the Lake District risk becoming run down.
It’s not just those living in rural areas who have been calling for improvements to broadband. The call has also been made The Prince of Wales who warned that some areas could become “broadband deserts” while The Daily Telegraph has also campaigned to improve broadband services.
The Environment Committee report suggests that in order to improve services the Government should provide the funding for internet cabling to enable speeds of up to 20Mbps in the most rural areas.
The chairman of the committee, Anne McIntosh, said superfast broadband would help farmers to conduct their business. She said “Government must ensure farm businesses can provide a decent income for hard-pressed hill farmers”. She added “Farmers in the uplands do a huge amount of unpaid work that benefits the public. The challenge is to find a way to reward farmers while preserving their way of life and wonderful landscapes of our uplands”.
If rural areas are not looked after and maintained it could mean that the tourist industry could be damaged. Many farmers are already moving into tourism as a way of boosting their income. MP’s have acknowledged this and have called on the Government to introduce more training and grants to make it easier for farmers to take up different business opportunities whether it’s tourism or renewable energy.
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Talk Talk On Course To Meet Targets Despite Losing 25,000 Customers In Three Months
Talk Talk, the telecoms provider, has said it’s still on course to meet its full year targets despite losing 25,000 customers in the third quarter.
Even though it lost 25,000 customers Talk Talk says it is still on course to meet its full year targets because customers who have stayed with them are spending more.
Talk Talk lost customers when it tried to move recently acquired Tiscali customers onto its billing platform. Problems arose when Talk Talk tried to move customers from Tiscali onto its own billing systems and consequently lots of customers left.
An analyst at Panmure Gordon, Morten Singleton, said it was a cause for concern that Talk Talk had lost so many customers particularly when other telecoms providers such as BT and Sky were adding customers.
Talk Talk bought Tiscali in 2009 and Talk Talk’s chief executive, Dido Harding is keen to keep cutting costs and ensuring the two businesses are integrated. There’s a suggestion that the company could soon be sold.
Talk Talk has received a warning from Ofcom over its billing problems and could be fined if they are not sorted out. It seems Talk Talk is still charging some customers even though they have cancelled their services.