January 2011 Archives

Massive civil unrest in Egypt - prompted by the recent Tunisian uprising - has been hitting the headlines in recent days, and once again, the role of the internet in the developing situation has come under scrutiny.

In its attempts to quell the uprising, the Egyptian government has been blocking social networks such as Twitter, which played a key role in the Iranian election crisis of 2009.

The above visualisation of internet traffic into Egypt yesterday evening comes courtesy of network security firm Arbor Networks, and clearly shows the moment when the country literally fell off the internet.

As 'Scope's finest are speculating right now, it's possible that someone just went and knocked the plug out...

But the graph more likely reflects both widespread panic within the Egyptian government as the government tries to close off the uprising's lines of communication.

We must also consider the impact of the online collective known as Anonymous, a group known for its commitment to a free and open internet, which has played a key role in the Wikileaks scandal and wants to punish the Egyptian authorities for censoring online speech.

Anonymous invites users to download a tool known as a Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) that enables their PCs to form part of a collective botnet and bombard targets with junk traffic in a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack.

Although completely illegal - several users who took part in the Wikileaks attacks using the LOIC were arrested just this week - the growing wave of attacks by Anonymous highlight an interesting point; that when governments or companies attempt to restrict internet usage it invariably rebounds on them.

People will always find a way to either get round the problem; Egyptian net users have resorted to proxy servers and third party applications to communicate with the outside world; groups like Anonymous have taken matters into their own hands.

But both paths are risky and fraught with security holes.

Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen has once again taken to the blogosphere from this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and high on his agenda is the revival of green networks as an industry talking point.

Verwaayen contends that the industry must take stock of the needs of the vast emerging technology markets in India, China, Brazil and other fast-growing majority world states.

"How," asks Verwaayen, "do we get Green out of the talking shop into reality? Remember the Internet in the 80's? When so many went into their garages and invented the world we are now used to?

"Well, Green can be the same motor for innovation. Again the sound of excitement out of the garages will inspire a new wave of economic growth."

Writes Verwaayen: "The Indian consumers, the consumers from Argentina, the young savvy African consumer ... will dictate a change, a shift to inclusiveness and differentiation. With a scale of cultures and common underlying use of modern communication tools."

In other words, by paying attention to the growing needs of the world's poorer countries, we can take stock of how best to use the network to improve our own lives, and that of the planet.

It is great to see green ICT becoming a force again, having been somewhat forgotten during the global economic crisis.

Verwaayen lends weight to a persuasive argument that many in the channel are already making.

Last November, Network Noise spoke with Ashkar Sheibani, the CEO of networking repair outfit Comtek.

Sheibani takes the view that the industry is still far too wasteful, and that as pressure on the planet's resources increases we will collectively need to reuse and extend the life of network kit, and adjust our business models accordingly.

China's restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals vital to the electronics trade will up the pressure to be more sparing with the kit that we buy in future, as we saw earlier in January.

This is a story that we will doubtless return to.

IP comms vendor ShoreTel has reported its now customary quarterly net loss, this time losing $3.7m under GAAP.

But could things be about to change?

All eyes are now firmly fixed on new CEO Peter Blackmore, who romped through yesterday evening's conference call with both zeal and optimism and has pledged to set things going in the right direction.

Despite the fact that it has booked a net loss in the last eight quarters - it last banked a profit way back in January 2008 - there is nothing fundamentally wrong with ShoreTel, as quarter after quarter of record sales shows.

Although a small firm it is leaner and more innovative than many of the firms it competes against, and I believe it is well-placed to go on to better things.

Furthermore it seems to get the way the networking business is going in a way that others simply do not.

Beyond exceptional items - and we should note that some (not all) of its recent losses have been impacted by such items - there is really nothing to stop it banking some cash.

Blackmore has set Q4, which closes at the end of June as the date by which ShoreTel will turn a profit. We will know in July whether or not he has the cojones.

But will the Street be patient?

This week, MicroScope met with Matt Medeiros, CEO at SonicWALL, the network security vendor that is currently gearing up to host 150 channel partners at its reseller event in Reading.

During the course of the discussion Matt spoke about his desire to make the CIO more of a force in the boardroom.

And he reckons IT departments can do this partly by bending to the whims of their bosses and embracing the use of user-owned devices on the corporate network.

Network Noise has explored before the growing trend of workers using their own devices, whether they're notebooks, mobile devices or tablets.

But this kind of strategy comes with a certain amount of risk; by allowing their users to use their own equipment on the network many organisations trade off security for productivity. This is too big a stumbling block for many.

Matt thinks he sees a way around that problem.

"The IT department now has to improve its value to the business and it is offloading that responsibility to the vendors and their partners," he explains.

"Our application intelligence and control software, on which we're training partners at the minute, gives power back to the IT organisation at the same time as helping the business benefit.

"Consumerisation is creating a compelling opportunity for the IT department to help his business grow. If we can help them visualise what's going on on the network, they get a better return on their investment.

"The enterprise network sees an increase in productivity through allowing external device use. Yes, the trade off has always been that more productivity equals more risk, but we can remove that risk, understand what apps the devices are using and understand what each user did at a forensic level.

"Passing that information to the IT department gives them confidence that they are back in control," concludes Matt. ""Enterprise customers are enjoying the fact that we can now give the CIO the power to go to the board and defend his department."

After all, every boss likes a bit more power in his or her hands, right?

Photo courtesy: Nick White/Mood Board/Rex Features

Last summer we brought you news that Datatec's boss, Jens Montanana, had bought in to AIM-listed BPM software outfit Corero and was planning to embark on a roll-up of firms in the network security space, and parachuted in Logicalis' director Andrew Miller to take charge.

At the time, Montanana said: "The network security market has witnessed sustained growth - this is set to continue as demand for evolved security products increases. Corero is ideally positioned to develop a network-based Internet security product business alongside the existing Business Systems division

Three months later, Corero said it had identified some tasty-looking companies and was in discussion with a number of potential acquisition targets

Six months down the line, and Corero has just released a pretty damn decent set of full-year financials.

Group trading profit for the year to 31 December is expected to be over £200,000, with cash balances of £7.2m. Its Business Systems division is busily winning contracts in the education sector, scooping 70 new deals in 2010, up from 25 in 2009.

All very praiseworthy, I'm sure, but they left out a crucial detail. They've not bought anything.

A buy and build strategy surely demands one thing; that you do actually make acquisitions.

MicroScope is hoping to speak with Corero director Andrew Miller in the near future, and hopefully we'll find out more about the master plan.

This morning's news that O2 has taken the unprecedented step of committing to provide genuinely free Wi-Fi regardless of whether or not you're their customer is a mixed bag.

I believe freedom of access to the internet is crucial for the development of British businesses, and it is great to see a provider taking the view that the more people it can get online, the better off it will be.

Let's face it, regardless of whether they make any money off the hordes of people who will sign up, O2 can (and very probably will) bombard their hotspots with advertising.

But what I find even more interesting, and has implications for business comms providers, is that O2 has effectively put a bullet in the head of the pay-as-you-surf Wi-Fi model.

And its rivals, BT Openzone and The Cloud - which is expected to be the subject of an acqusition bid in the near future - will be under pressure to respond in some way, because as things stand they're set to lose out big time.

Why would any of us sign up for their services when there's a free competitor?

In the corporate world I think there is also cause to stop and evaluate the business model; this move could potentially win more corporate business for O2, and the implications for pure-play b2b comms providers are clear to see.

What concessions, if any, can they make to keep people on board? And can they risk competing with a similar model?

Networking distie Nimans is urging its reseller partners to take advantage of a series of 0% financing offers, which it has just extended to the end of March.

The offers span its Panasonic, Samsung and Siements Enterprise Communications lines, with Panasonic resellers getting three-year finance on NCP and TDE sales for orders of over £1,000, according to Nimans.

Meanwhile, Samsung dealers can currently get 0% financing across all systems and software, while those selling Siemens get three year financing deals on HiPath 3000 with OpenScape Office and OpenScape Office MX systems.

Nimans is just one of many sector outfits to be talking up financing and leasing arrangements which, in the face of the recent recesssion (not to mention today's worrying news that the fragile economy seems to be stalling again), have proved a boon for resellers struggling in the tough lending environment.

Players such as Avaya have also been vocal in this area. The UC firm takes the view that ongoing concerns around the true extent of the recovery means that being flexible with reseller deals could make all the difference.

Cisco has also getting in on the act, and today announced new 0% three-year financing options for SMB customers in EMEA on entry-level Ethernet switches, network security firewalls and backup services for storage products.

But be aware, such offers never seem to last forever...

Mobile phones do tend to wind up in odd places. I suppose it's down to their small size.

Take the example of a Ukrainian named Rimma Golovko, who while taking a photo of a crocodile at at a Dnipropetrovsk zoo, had her device ripped from her grasp by the hungry croc.

The crocodily presumably now follows Rimma at a distance, ringing occasionally. There's a Crocodile Dundee gag in there too, somewhere.

But here at Network Noise we're less inclined to smirk at such silliness. So here's another contribution to our occasional series of posts on the application of networks and science, about mobiles in space, instead...

We've all lost reception going into a tunnel, but researchers at the University of Surrey, alongside a space tech firm called Surrey Satellite Technology, hope to find out if they can make a smartphone work in outer space.

The team has developed a satellite called STRaND-1, which contains an as-yet undisclosed make of smartphone as its payload (that's astronaut talk for cargo).

Once in orbit, the team will activate the device using a computer on the ground at the University's lab, check which components of the phone have survived the trip and which have gone haywire, and attempt to beam messages and photos back to Earth.

We should note at this point that you genuinely can't get ordinary reception in space, so they'll be using a radio system at this point.

After this part is done, the boffins will attempt to operate the satellite using the smartphone.

Says STRaND-1 lead researcher Dr Chris Bridges: "Smartphones pack loads of components, such as sensors, video cameras, GPS and Wi-Fi radio, that are technologically advanced but a fraction of the size, weight and cost of components used in existing satellite systems.

"And because many smartphones run on free operating systems that lend themselves to online software developers, the creators of apps for smartphones could feasibly develop apps for satellites," he adds.

If the device can be proved to work in space, it will potentially open up space technology to far more people and research outfits that could never have hoped to get involved before.

But if it all goes pear-shaped, however, the team can take comfort in the fact that the smartphone cost under £300, and the whole venture, apparently, less than a family car. 

Photo courtesy: Rex Features

A nod to Richard Holway at TechMarketView this morning, who has delved deep behind the formidable Times paywall to bring us news that News International's brother BSkyB is planning to spend an as-yet undisclosed amount of pocket money to buy public wi-fi access outfit The Cloud.

According to The Cloud's own blurb, the firm "builds and operates low cost high performance public access wi-fi networks for international retailers, restaurants, leisure and hotel chains.

"With the expertise and a variety of outdoor city networks, including Gothenburg, Stuttgart and The City of London, we have started the process of meshing the indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi networks.

"The business has services operating across 7,000 locations with 22,000 Wi-Fi network access points in 12 European countries," it claims.

Word on the street is that this move would be beneficial to BSkyB (which is set to report its earnings later in the week).

BSkyB's broadband rival BT already offers its subscribers wi-fi on the move through Openzone hotspots and the ability to add a similar service to its own packages will be good for BSkyB's 2.8 million subscribers.

Others point out that, of course, with mobile broadband limits being squeezed ever tighter by the GSM operators, consumers and businesspeople on the go will be eager to seek out more wi-fi connections to preserve their precious allowances.

So even if there is not, in fact, a buy-out in The Cloud's immediate future, it definitely has the ability to go places.

One to watch, we think.

An uncomonnly reasonable approach to mobile broadband usage has helped mobile network 3 book the most broadband sales in 2010, according to figures gathered by broadband comparison website Broadbandgenie.

Last year Hutchison Whampoa-owned 3 - which is admittedly seen as something of an also-ran in the UK mobile network stakes - went against the prevailing attitude to mobile broadband and reintroduced truly unlimited data allowances.

At the same time other networks, such as Orange and more recently T-Mobile, were scaling back their limits as they realised that smartphone growth was clogging their networks with traffic.

It's a gamble that seems to have paid off for 3, which now claims it can cover 97.3% of the UK population, and also recently scooped a YouGov award for its services.

3 has committed itself to going against the prevailing flow, and it is a commitment that has paid off. I hope it sticks to its guns.

A particularly enlightened CIO might be willing to risk his network and let employees bring their own devices to work, but how would you feel about trying the same exercise with a classroom of 14-year old kids?

A survey conducted by analysts at Intellect ahead of the BETT show, which ran earlier this month, suggests that 50% of teachers are actually okay with the idea.

In fact, according to D-Link's recently appointed education director John Botham, they seem cock-a-hoop at the prospect.

Says John: "That pupils' own devices will be incorporated into lessons is inevitable. the headteachers I speak to want to use the personal devices of their pupils now as it has obvious benefits to reducing the impact of the upcoming budget cuts.

"Take a recent example given to me by a headteacher that half the sixth form pupils at one school in North Wales were given iPads for Christmas, but were forced to use outdated school equipment for a design project for biology."

John makes the point that IT in schools across the country is in danger of stalling as a result of budget cuts, and as this is one area where the UK (astonishingly) has a substantial lead over many other places, we have to keep the investment up. I agree completely with this.

But I have to wonder if allowing schoolkids access to their own technology during the school day and on the school's network is actually inviting disaster?

Kids being kids, they will attempt to game the system, and given their legendary technical aptitude they will probably succeed. Schools don't have IT departments in quite the same way as businesses do.

It's a worrying scenario, and one I'm not sure schools are considering. 

I would assess the risks very carefully, and maybe think about beefing up basic security, before going down the route of allowing teens their own devices in lessons.

MicroScope's sister publication ComputerWeekly.com reports today that supermarket leviathan Tesco is planning to put free customer wi-fi in its stores.

The firm's chief executive of retailing services, Andy Higginson, let the cat out of the bag at a retail conference in New York.

"Our customers lead busy lives. When they shop at Tesco we know they are looking for both value and convenience so we are always looking at new services that will help provide these," a spokesman told our esteemed colleagues.

You know, I can't help but think this is all rather pointless.

Look, the sort of people who sit in supermarket cafes are not generally heavy internet users, although it will certainly be a relief to those who have struggled with the poor mobile network reception in Tesco's cavernous metal boxes.

But unless you're a price spy for ASDA, why would you want it?

And Steve Demianyk, channel manager at Ipswitch's Network Management Division, points to the inevitable security risks.

The high-footfall in the average Tesco will create unpredictable usage spikes and untold security risks to Tesco's infrastructure, Demianyk argues.

"This plan exacerbates the need for the store's IT administrator to have a complete sight of who is using the network and what exactly they are doing. Just imagine how hard a task that would be on a busy Saturday," he says.

Tesco wi-fi? It's a little thing, but I can't see it being much help.

Photo courtesy: Dennis Gilbert/View Pictures/Rex Features

Buried within Apple's otherwise excellent results, released yesterday, came the admission that the vendor is seeing shortages of iPhones and doesn't know when it will retake control of the situation.

As the recovery began in 2010, component makers in the Far East were pushed to bring production capacity back online, leading to mass shortages.

Some vendors, such as Cisco, moved to secure their supplies, a move it has been argued can make things worse for others.

Rival Alcatel-Lucent has been vocal over the issue, too.

But with respect to Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent, Apple is the most high profile company to have broken cover over component shortages.

COO Tim Cook yesterday said that the vendor was working to build more units but would not commit to predicting when supply and demand will meet.

The problem is most severe in the US, where the iPhone 4 will soon launch on the Verizon network, according to the FT. In America there are growing concerns over whether or not Appla can fulfill all the orders it expects. 

I think it will be good for Apple to be seen as subject to the same pressures as its rivals.

But I'd also argue that this situation is also an indication of continuing problems deep within the supply chain and shows we're not out of the woods yet by any means.

In fact, there's an altogether larger problem here. It has to do with the growing economic and geo-political strength of China, and it could potentially affect the supply chain for years to come. 

Supply of key electronics components used across the IT industry (not just in networking) depends on availability of a group of elements known as rare earth minerals.

Although they are actually quite plentiful, with present technology rare earth minerals are hard to exploit, and China controls the bulk of the global supply.

In recent months Beijing has moved to secure its supplies and restrict rare earth exports to boost its own growing industrial sector.

In fact, just today came the news that the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources has nationalised rare earth mining in 11 districts, ostensibly, says the New York Times, to attempt to eliminate local corruption.

If this sort of thing continues, it is clear that the industry will remain vulnerable to component shortages for a long time to come.

The world of Minority Report is moving closer...

New research from the industry soothsayers at Juniper Research suggests that the ringback tone advertising market is set to increase in value to $780m per annum by 2015.

Ringback tone advertising is a format where consumers opt in to receive mobile credit or airtime in exchange for allowing branded content as their ringback tone.

This nightmare scenario is apparently proving quite popular. In Turkey, Juniper says, a Pepsi campaign on the Turkcell TonlaKazan service generated 25 million calls.

Would you want advertising jingles blaring out of your phone? Thought not.

I can think of one brand that would bloody love this...

All together now: "Go compaaaare!"

Have you too have been left idle on a Wednesday night since The Apprentice finished?

If, like me, you've been itching for more pearls of wisdom from our favourite contestant off last year's show, one Stuart Baggs, then itch no more, for help is at hand.

Yes, the inimitable Mr Baggs has taken to Twitter to give his legion of fans the benefit of his ... well ... the benefit ...

Were you wondering how fame has affected Stuart?

"It's like being Justin Bieber, except I can legally go to the pub," he says.

Perhaps you want to know how he's been filling his days since being shown the door by Lord Sugar.

"Just done a photo shoot quite literally in a field of ponies. Covered in mud and horse saliva. Don't ask," he tweets.

Or maybe you're keen for his take on The Apprentice experience.

"If I was in the final I would have called my drink THE BRANDy," adds Stuart.

Fans of Stuart can follow The Brand here.

Photo courtesy: Steve Meddle/Rex Features

If I was told that a particular market was set to grow by 100% between now and 2014, I'd regard that as pretty positive news.

Maybe I'm misinformed. According to IDC, 100% growth only represents a "moderate" gain.

The analysts' latest report on the unified communications market reveals that with the impact of the recession still lingering, businesses across EMEA will spend cautiously in the next few years.

But the networking and comms sector has remained one of the few industry bright spots through the course of the recession, so I have to say that I think IDC is under-selling the business on this occasion.

When you look to the more commoditised parts of the tech industry, we should be thankful for the growth we have seen; those selling desktops and printers would love to double their money in the next three years.

Over in the States, asset management group Boston Common LLC has taken the decision to dump over 160,000 shares that it holds in sector giant Cisco over its commitment to global human rights, reports NetworkWorld.

Boston Common, bills itself as a "sustainable and responsible" investor and takes a hard line on corporate social responsibility.

"As shareholders, we urge portfolio companies to improve transparency, accountability, and attention to ESG issues," it says on its website

Since 2005 it has led a coalition of Cisco investors in a campaign to get Cisco to come clean over what it describes as "weak human rights risk management" and "poor response to investor concerns".

It claimed that at the 2010 AGM last November, Cisco failed to answer requests for engagement with shareholders, and accused the networking leviathan of fiddling with the results of proxy ballots to downplay the issue.

Explained Boston Common associate director Dawn Wolfe: "[Our] decision to divest comes after years of campaigning Cisco for greater transparency and accountability on key human rights and business development concerns.

"Freedom of expression, privacy and personal security are all critical elements in maximising network traffic. Politically and socially repressive policies related to speech and privacy has a chilling effect on users and violates universally recognised human rights. When pressed for details on how Cisco addresses these risks they come up short," she said.

Alongside many other tech industry stalwarts, Cisco has been accused in the past of allowing its hardware to be used to clamp down on internet access and dissident groups in countries such as China.

In a statement responding to Boston Common's allegations, a Cisco spokesperson told Reuters: "We have various policies, practices and procedures in place relating to human rights around the world, and believe our business practices and standards-based architecture support the benefits of internet access to information on a global basis."

BlackBerry-maker RIM has given in to pressure from the Indonesian government and will put in place a filtering service to block online pornographic websites from its smartphone estate, reports ComputerWeekly.com.

Last year the firm came under pressure from other governments, notably those of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India, to hand over control of servers located outside those states or face having certain key BlackBerry functions blackballed.

Then, the concern was over monitoring terrorist activity, not restricting access to certain websites (which, incidentally, are also banned in the UAE), but the Indonesian government's concerns are broadly similar.

Now, let's not get too hung up on the morality of online porn, suffice to say that the decisions of Indonesia's government and the laws it makes should be respected.

The real issue here is that putting in place all encompassing blocks and firewalls won't solve the problem.

All that will happen in Indonesia is that those determined to seek out such material will find new ways to get it. The internet is not so easily controlled, and it amazes me how many people still don't understand this.

In doing so they will invariably use torrents and dodgy, fly-by-night websites riddled with malware and security holes, putting themselves and the equipment that they are using at increased risk of compromise.

However, this is a problem that isn't confined to the sex trade, it applies to any and all material that can be legally, or illegally, downloaded, from music to movies to e-books to, yes, even business software.

A softly softly approach needs to be taken towards this sort of thing, whereby people are subtly pushed in the right direction.

Organisations such as FAST recognise this, and are at pains to explain that despite the high profile stings frequently covered by MicroScope, they would far rather rely on the carrot rather than the stick. 

As an example of this type of approach, in the UK, the TV networks have taken the clever step of scheduling US TV shows far closer to their American air date.

In doing so, they ensure that hardcore fans of shows such as Glee or Mad Men don't have to wait weeks, or even months to get their fix, and are less likely to download.

See? Soft tactics do work.

But making a lot of fuss will inevitably backfire.

Photo courtesy: Jonathan Hordle/Rex Features

In an update to this column's earlier coverage of the T-Mobile data cap fiasco, we can report that after a long and unexplained silence a chastened T-Mobile has at last 'clarified' the situation.

I use quotation marks because really, it has backed down after being soundly humiliated.

In the face of massive public anger and the threat of action against it by Ofcom, as detailed earlier today on Network Noise, the provider has now decided that the absurd 500MB limit will now apply to brand new customers and upgrades only.

Struggling to see through the egg on her face, T-Mobile UK vice president Lysa Hardy this evening said: "There will be no change to the data packages for existing customers for the duration of their contract and we apologise for any confusion caused."

Er, sorry, Lysa, nobody was confused. It was quite clear what T-Mobile was trying to do and the original statement was perfectly clear. Don't try and make out that we didn't understand it.

And I note that Hardy has not apologised for the thoroughly cheeky tone of T-Mobile's statement, in which it addressed its customers in the manner of a teacher addressing a naughty class, and told us to "save that stuff [video] for your home broadband."

But for now it seems that T-Mobile has saved its bacon. Of course it's still going to lose a lot of customers (including me) when all those Android contracts come up for renewal, but it has at least lessened the blow to its pocket in the short-term

T-Mobile has just been given a crash course in how not to communicate with its end-users. I hope it has learned a valuable lesson.

This is an important victory for several reasons, not least because the high profile of the case will likely make it clear to the average customer the raw deal that British mobile users get on their data plans.

For too long the UK's mobile operators have sought to restrict usage of a device, the smartphone, that is sold as a life-changing device, capable of downloading anything anywhere (or indeed, Everything Everywhere).

I believe we have only begin to unlock the potential of the smartphone for both consumer and business use. It is already changing the way we work, but given time there is so much more it will do.

It's time for the mobile networks to stop attempting to shut the stable door. The horse has not just bolted, it's over the hills and far away.

Instead, they should put the money we pay them to good use, and fund the needed improvements to Britain's mobile infrastructure.

Anger at T-Mobile continues to mount as thousands of smartphone users face the prospect of having their data caps reduced by as much as 83% to just 500MB.

Speaking to our sister site ComputerWeekly.com, T-Mobile claimed that: "The average mobile internet customer uses only 200MB of data each month, this will only affect a small minority of users, whom we have begun notifying."

T-Mobile says that customers going over its new 500MB 'fair use' policy will not be charged extra, but will find they have downloads such as video and large files restricted.

However, T-Mobile sold data-hungry Android phones specifically on the promise of a 3GB download limit, and with the smartphone builders marketing their kit as a full multimedia experience people are beginning to question whether or not they were mis-sold their handsets.

Since our first report on Tuesday, a protest has emerged that centres on section 9 of Ofcom's General Conditions, which T-Mobile is legally obliged to abide by and which states the following:

Where the Communications Provider intends to modify a condition in a contract with a Consumer which is likely to be of material detriment to the Consumer, the Communications Provider shall:

(a) provide the Consumer with at least one month's notice of its intention detailing the proposed modification; and
(b) inform the Consumer of the ability to terminate the contract without penalty if the proposed modification is not acceptable to the Consumer.

T-Mobile gave its customers notice on 10 January, a significantly shorter period than that mandated by Ofcom. Furthermore, according to unconfirmed reports, consumers are being told by T-Mobile's customer service advisors that they will not be permitted to terminate their contracts.

Consumer advocacy group Which? is also on the case and has claimed that T-Mobile may in fact be in breach of its own Ts&Cs.

The scale of the damage to T-Mobile's reputation is in danger of getting out of control...

This column is always happy to see networks being pushed into service for the advancement of science, and in this spirit we can report that two years after its dishes were mothballed, the historic Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall will soon be operational once more.

The site owners BT today announced that they have leased the station to a consortium, Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd (GES) for use at the forefront of radio astronomy projects and deep space network comms.

The project was the brainchild of Ian Jones, MD of space sector company Orbit Research, who is now CEO of GES.

The consortium, which includes QinetiQ, the UK Space Agency and the Harwell Inernational Space Innovation Centre, plans to upgrade the existing antennae to enable communication with space missions.

It has also partnered with Oxford University to probe the origins of the universe in a project that will see it link up with the e-MERLIN network run out of Jodrell Bank in Cheshire.

GES also hopes to reopen the site's visitor centre as a space themed exhibit.

Goonhilly, and in particular its 25.9m diameter dish Arthur (the first open parabolic dish in the world) played a pivotal role in the development of satellite communications, not just in the UK but worldwide.

It beamed the first ever satellite television pictures into Britain in 1962, and went on to broadcast the Apollo 11 Moon landing live, among other historic events. More recently, it played a pivotal role in providing alternative routes for data after US comms networks were damaged in the 9/11 terror attacks.

Arthur is a grade 2 listed structure, and as such cannot be demolished, so it is fantastic news to see it being revived for such a worthy cause, and its history is not lost on Ian Jones, who said: "As a child I can remember being inspired by the Apollo missions - my work as a satellite communication design engineer brought me to Goonhilly to design, build and test mobile satellite communication systems."

"I want Goonhilly to continue to provide inspiration to the next generation of scientists and engineers. It is our vision that the UK will continue to be [a] recognised world leader in space science," he added.

Photo courtesy: Chris McHugh/Rex Features

Throw out the iPhone. Bin the HTC Hero, smash the Samsung Galaxy. It's time to dig out the old Nokia phone that you tucked away for emergencies.

Yes, just days after Ofcom released its proposals to open up the 2G spectrum to 3G mobile internet services, supposedly enhancing the networks' ability to provide broadband services, T-Mobile, one of the last remaining operators to allow users to download decent amount of data under their so-called 'fair use' policy, has pulled down the shutters.

In a spectacularly badly-timed and misjudged announcement, T-Mobile said that from February 1, it will reduce its 3GB Android allowance by a spectacular 83% and its 1GB allowance by 50%, to a paltry 500MB.

You couldn't make it up!

T-Mobile seems to be unaware of (or maybe it just decided to ignore) the fact that many of its customers signed up specifically because while a far cry from the good old days of unlimited data usage, its limits were far more generous than the other operators.

In fact, the small print states that customers will always be able to browse as much as they like without extra charges. In T-Mobile's world the policy will apply to video streaming, file downloads and gaming.

This is something that I was under the impression came under the heading of browsing the internet, so clearly T-Mobile is now qualified to edit the dictionary, too.

"It's only when you go over the fair use amount that you won't be able to download, stream and watch video clips," said T-Mobile in a statement, without giving any clues as to how it might tell the difference.

"If you want to download, stream and watch video clips, save that stuff for your home broadband," said the hapless operator.

But wait up, T-Mobile, the smartphone has been designed and marketed exactly for that purpose. The new policy flies in the face of everything that the end-user has been sold.

In T-Mobile's world, it seems almost as if you'd be better off using that phone that seemed so cutting-edge 10 years ago.

It's time for people to stand up to the greedy mobile networks and force them to invest more in the infrastructure needed to provide a decent standard of mobile broadband to anyone who wants it. Let's face it, they have the dosh, and it's not as if Vodafone has been paying much tax lately.

Above all, it's time to challenge their policy of defining absurdly restrictive limits on mobile data as 'fair use' under an 'unlimited' plan. It fact, it should be described as 'unfair use' and 'limited'.

Network minnow 3 has the right idea; last month it announced it would be offering truly unlimited data packages for mobile internet users. Good job, guys.

But until the Big Four follow in 3's footsteps, I fear rip-off Britain will never be able to realise the full potential of the smartphone.

Photo courtesy: Stephen Behan/Rex Features

A year has passed since the European Commission cut a deal with Microsoft to offer European users a choice of up to 12 internet browsers when setting up their PCs, and with uptake of Windows 7 healthy, it seems that the impact of the change is filtering through.

Check out the list of browser market share in Europe, courtesy of StatCounter, which was released last week.

As you can see, in December 2010, Mozilla's Firefox browser edged out Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) for the first time, taking 38.11% of the total market, as opposed to 37.52% for IE.

Note also that although Firefox is now leading the market, it is in fact the growth of Google's Chrome browser, coming off a massive advertising campaign, that is taking chunks out of IE's share.

It's not a rout by any means (note that IE maintains its global dominance) but it's a symbolic moment nevertheless.

Browsers seem to be the last thing that business buyers think about when upgrading the desktop estate, but I would offer up the idea that different browsers can actually bring benefits to different companies.

For example, Chrome will serve well in small businesses that have backed certain services off to Google, while Firefox, with its open source ethos, might appeal to the more technically-minded.

And both browsers will have oodles of appeal to the security conscious CIO; security being one area where Microsoft has struggled to patch all the holes.

When it comes to browsers, one size no longer fits all.

Is LinkedIn close to becoming the first social network to go public? Maybe...

According to our sister site ComputerWeekly.com, the 85 million member network for business professionals is making plans to go public during the first calendar quarter of the year.

It is thought to have hired merchant bankers including Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley to advise it, reports say.

Naturally LinkedIn is keeping its mouth shut, but if this rumour turns out to be accurate, it will be a huge boost to the company, and not just because it will make a lot of people very rich.

A LinkedIn IPO will send out a much needed signal to the business world.

It will prove once and for all that social networks are not a passing fad beloved only of people born since 1980 and the self-important so-called 'SEO' experts.

And it will induce more people to start realising the potential that social networks can offer their business.

On top of that, it would really upset the apple cart. Rival and sector heavyweight Facebook is not expected to go public before 2012, and who knows what's happening over at Twitter...

We will await developments in this area with much interest.

And don't forget you can follow and keep up with the latest news on MicroScope.co.uk by joining our own LinkedIn channel network.

The opening up of the 2G spectrum to 3G services, announced today by Ofcom, is to be welcomed for a number of reasons.

Ofcom says that the measure will help phone operators increase mobile broadband speeds, deliver improved in-building coverage and widen mobile broadband coverage in rural notspots, although please don't get too excited, as it will take some time to get there.

Essentially, the changes mean that the network operators, Vodafone, O2 and Everything Everywhere, will be able to start running mobile internet services over the parts of the 900Mhz and 1,800Mhz spectrum that they own.

The change comes after the EU ruled that the UK was required to liberalise its 2G spectrum.

Growing demand for smartphones and the constant network outages at peak times, especially in urban areas, was also undoubtedly behind the move.

But my big hope for this is that it will finally put an end to the bizarre data caps that the networks impose on their end-users.

I think it is ridiculous, and frankly dodgy, that mobile providers are allowed to advertise so-called 'unlimited' plans when they cap the amount of data you are allowed to use. It is anything but 'unlimited'!

Hopefully this will put an end to this stupid charade and allow both consumers and SMBs to begin to realise the full potential of mobile internet.

BT's Race to Infinity publicity stunt has now drawn to a close, with six towns across the UK coming out on top in the telco's popularity contest to choose the areas that will get priority access to fibre-optic broadband.

BT initially promised to hook up five towns but added another because six communities came in with around the same number of votes.

The final list is comprised of; Baschurch, a small village in Shropshire; Blewbury in the Thames Valley; two suburbs of Cambridge, Caxton and Madingley (evidently some local competition going on there); Whitchurch, just down the road from Newbury, and the Scots Borders town of Innerleithen.

Back in November, I wrote that towns in well-to-do southern areas of the UK were dominating the contest, and this meant that areas that are truly digitally excluded would not be helped by the contest, and the competition results appear to prove that hypothesis, at first glance.

But equally, my original assessment was not entirely accurate. After all it was never BT's stated intention to embark on a crusade to bring fast internet services to those that cannot afford them.

After all, the poorest communities in the UK tend to be in cities, and largely exist cheek-by-jowl with rich gentrified districts, where all enjoy faster broadband than rural areas.

But aside from making a few thousand people very happy and boosting a handful of rural businesses, I am still not sure quite what the Race to Infinity has accomplished.

If anything, it has diverted BT from the business of ensuring that everybody in the UK has access to fast broadband, a pledge it has repeatedly made but that many think it cannot keep.

In a case of typical PR spin, it has made the telco look benign and generous, when it is actually giving away very little.

And not surprisingly, it has engendered bad feeling; MicroScope understands that campaigners in towns which lost out have already been making their feelings known to the media.

BT Retail boss Gavin Patterson said that the efforts of communities that weren't successful were not in vain; their votes "will help influence our plans in the future."

I for one would be very interested in seeing the full list.

Just occasionally, a PR cock-up comes around that has journalists goggling at their screens in disbelief.

So on that note we'll start off 2011 with a cautionary tale from Alcatel-Lucent, which has just appointed former BT 21CN supremo George Nazi to its quality assurance and customer care team.

But how did Alcatel-Lucent choose to mark the occasion? With an inappropriate headline that defies belief, that's how.

For reasons that remain unknown, Alcatel-Lucent's in house PR teams elected to give the following the all clear:

"Alcatel-Lucent strengthens its leadership team with George Nazi's appointment in senior execution role."

Now, George should receive some credit here. I hope others always take him on the strength of his character and achievements as is right, and of course we wish him the very best of luck in his new role.

But with the best will in the world his surname is hard to avoid.

I really have to ask, who the dickens thought that combining it with that headline was a good idea?

Photo courtesy: Olivier Van Naemen/Rex Features