WEEE (Computer) recycling toolkit
IT-Green is a (Computer / telecoms recycling) (WEEE compliant) recycling company, covering the whole of the UK. It currently operates with a view to provding UK businesses with a safe (licenced and trackable) and secure (certified confidential waste destruction) method of disposing of their IT (e-waste) hardware. Directors anticipate Authorised Treatment Facility status (ATF) by Oct 2008 and AATF (Approved Authorised treatment facility) by Jan 2009. If you're a manufacturer of eee, you need the latter (through a PCS- Producer compliance scheme). If you are a personal user (member of the general public) wanting to recycle your hardware, you can drop it off with us (in Cambridge) or search for a DCF (Designated collection facility)
Saturday 4 April 2009, 7:51 PM
Another ISP bites the dust. Prodigy Networks in Administration
In a way, I'm not overly supprised. The service provider has been struggling for a while now, with stiff competition from BT retail and other ISPs, putting them under increasing pressure.
The thing is, ISPs are in effect being squeezed from all sides and it wasn't a real supprise when Prodigy Networks opted to provide their service to businesses only a couple of years ago. Home broadband packages are now so competitive, that the only real winner on the financial front is BT wholesale, who, having the rights to the infrastructure, can charge independant ISPs a whacking fee per month to maintain their connection.
However, BT's business packages remain competitive and have in effect squeezed many of the independant ISPs who rely upon ofcom's unbundling of the existing networks to ply their trade.
So what happened to prodigy? The last time I spoke to the Managing Director- some 6 months ago, I was informed that they had some 6000 business customers. However, underlying issues relating to customer support left some out in the cold, and the ability to switch meant that they could leave ther old ISP behind. Simiarly, the cost of packages offered by Prodigy Networks left them lagging behind the competition, as did the monthly bandwidth allowances, which hadn't moved with the times.
The main issue for many customers of Prodigy Networks though, is that of finding a new ISP. BT wholesale has done what can only be described as a dirty on customers of Prodigy Networks. Pulling the plug on the ISP has left a volume of business customers without internet access. With many businesses reliant upon the internet and emails, I have to wonder how many have been, like us, left out in the cold until they can join another ISP- all during a recession, when many small businesses are already struggling. One has to wonder whether BT wholesale would pull the plug on BT retail if a similar situation where to arise.
