Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Friday 12 January 2007, 10:58 AM
BT and analyst wrestle over VoIP stats
A couple of days ago BT announced that it had a million VoIP subscribers. Then Ovum analyst Mark Main weighed in, suggesting that some of those subscribers were automatically opted in simply by having BT's broadband package.
A call to BT got a very sniffy reply to this opinion, with the spokesperson insisting that every one of those subscribers had opted in (readers who know otherwise are invited to insert their 2p below, so to speak). They also criticised Main's suggestion that BT had a very slim lead over its VoIP rivals (such as Orange and Skype), pointing out that, as these rivals have not released any stats of their own, it's impossible to say who's on top.
Back to Main, who as an analyst could very well know something the rest of us don't, and he's sticking by his forecasts. Which, of course, leaves us as journalists with a slippery story that's difficult to nail down for sure.
But that's what blogs are for.
Thursday 11 January 2007, 2:58 PM
IT gives back
We're a bit late with this one (hey, I was away), but apparently a national IT volunteering programme called IT4C (the C being Communities) has recently celebrated the donation of £2m worth of time by IT pros to worthy causes.
Not sure how you calculate £2m worth of time, but well done to all involved. It seems this figure includes time donated to 1,633 organisations, covering 340 projects, with 148 currently in progress. More here.
Thursday 11 January 2007, 12:20 PM
3 UK behind target
According to Hutchison Whampoa supremo Li Ka-shing (that's a money-making name if I ever heard one), 3 UK is "slightly over one year behind budget", which is the sort of talk likely to fuel those persistent rumours of a sale.
However, he does also sound upbeat (of course) about the X-Series, which is increasingly looking like a make-or break line for 3 UK. On that subject, I'm expecting the loan of one soon, and I'll be sure to post my musings on the supposed incarnation of proper mobile broadband.
By the way, I love how Li dismisses claims that "4G or 5G" will overtake 3G. That's a tough one to guage, when no-one knows what the hell 4G (let alone 5G - first time I've heard that one) is supposed to be, or whether it's worth investing in!
Thursday 11 January 2007, 11:55 AM
Is Web 2.0 really a good thing?
Some very interesting commentary here from US journalist Philip Dawdy. A sufferer from bipolar disorder, he has some choice things to say about the narcissism and potential for mental health issues that is implicit in much of so-called Web 2.0 - he reserves particular scorn for Google and the social networking sites.
Now, I realise this is tantamount to heresy for many people (yes, I know, this is a "Web 2.0" site right here), but in a world where astonishing numbers of kids are growing up thinking it's normal to have to maintain a cast-iron online reputation, I think it's worth examining the potential implications from multiple sides (check out the comments on that link).
In the words of Gnarls Barkley, just a thought.
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