Category: Connectivity

10 Gbps Home Broadband Speed Achieved In Test

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Broadband operator Hyperoptic is reported to have achieved home Broadband speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) in a recent test.

Hyperoptic?

‘Hyperoptic’ is the company name in this case, but the term hyperoptic generally refers to the kinds of super speeds that can be achieved with full fibre / fibre-to-the-building / fibre-to-the-home / ‘fibre-to-the-premises’ infrastructure and packages.

A First

The result of the test, which was carried out in a home in the former Olympic village in east London (presumably because it is fully fibre linked), is thought to be the first time that such speeds have been brought to a UK home using an existing ISP network rather than a dedicated line.

How Fast Is That?

Quoted broadband speed figures are often not what they seem, but speeds of up 10 gigabits per second would mean that:

  • A standard HD movie file (5GB) could be downloaded in 4 seconds, compared with 6 minutes 40 seconds on a 100Mbps connection.
  • A 25GB Xbox game could be downloaded in 20 seconds, compared with more than 33 minutes on a 100Mbps connection.
  • The latest full 4K ultra high definition movie (75 GB) could be downloaded in just 1 minute, compared to 1 hour 40 minutes on a 100Mbps connection.

Why Do We Need Hyper Speeds?

Spending more time on more powerful gadgets / mobile devices, the growth of the subscription economy for services, the continued growth of online shopping, the growth of the cloud, the popularity of gaming, video and social media programs, the popularity of TV / Film and other media streaming services, the demand to download bigger and better quality files, and the frustration of buffering and slow connections over many years have all stimulated UK demand for better and faster connections. Also, more businesses are looking to future-proof their networks, and they feel that much faster connections are needed for effective global business competitiveness.

As things stand, a recent survey by cable.co.uk found that the UK ranks only 31st in the world for average broadband speeds, with an average broadband speed of just 16.51Mbps.

Trials of Full Broadband In 6 UK Regions

Back in September, the UK government announced that six regions of the UK would be hosting trials of full fibre broadband for businesses, schools and hospitals as part of a £200m scheme by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).

According to the DCMS, £10 million of the total £200 million budget will be spent on trials for full fibre broadband in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, West Sussex, Coventry and Warwickshire, Bristol and Bath & North East Somerset, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.

Commitment From Big Providers

The big UK broadband providers are making more of a commitment to the kind of full-fibre connections that could bring much faster speeds. For example, BT has promised to bring full-fibre connections to 3 million premises by 2020, 700,000 of which will be in rural areas. Also, TalkTalk has announced a big investment in infrastructure which will bring full-fibre technology to 3 million homes and businesses.

Criticism

Despite this recent announcement by Hyperoptic, there are many valid criticisms about any big plans for boosting broadband speeds with the widespread use of fibre-optic cables in the UK including:

  1. Even if you have a fibre-optic cable to your home / business premises, there will still be shared traffic points in the network which will slow down your broadband at certain times.
  2. Full fibre-optic, ultra-fast broadband is not likely to be a reality in the UK anytime soon. At the current rate, BT Openreach has stated that only two million premises will have access to ‘full fibre’ by the end of 2020.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The test by Hyperoptic is really just a tantalizing view of what could be possible if we all had full-fibre broadband up to our premises, and a fabulous UK fibre infrastructure. Obviously, that could bring considerable value-adding, cost-saving, competitiveness-boosting benefits to UK businesses.

Sadly, the current reality is that businesses don’t have (and look unlikely to have any time soon) access to kind of speeds that overseas companies (e.g. competitors) enjoy, and certainly don’t have access to the speeds that the Hyperoptic test was demonstrating.

Whilst it is good that funding and momentum for the task of delivering faster (fibre or fibre/G.fast) broadband for UK businesses looks to be increasing, the UK has a long way to go, and the reality is that we may only actually have 7% full fibre coverage by 2020.

In terms of what it actually means for a business to be physically connected to a fibre broadband infrastructure, technical commentators say it will be a case of simply having a small box installed on the premises. In terms of costs, it seems likely that faster full-fibre packages will be an opportunity for ISPs to charge more.

Amazon Announces SMS Messaging Via Alexa

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Amazon has announced that it is introducing a service that will allow users of Alexa devices to send text messages to any contact via the digital assistant using just their voice.

Builds Upon Alexa Calling

The new service builds upon the Alexa Calling service introduced last year, which allowed owners of the Echo Dot to call a friend’s landline via the device, and to use it to call or message a friend if they had a smartphone with the Alexa app downloaded (and Alexa Calling enabled).

The difference with this new service is that, as well as being able to use the Alexa Calling service, voice dictated SMS messages can be sent using Alexa to recipients who don’t even have an Alexa device (Amazon Echo) of their own. With the new service, Alexa will decide which route is appropriate and will set up the communication accordingly.

Too Much Information

When the free Alexa calling service was introduced, Amazon faced criticism that the Alexa app tried to import users’ entire address books. This led to Amazon having to introduce contact blocking.

Just Android & Just In The US

Before you get too excited, as of now the new service will initially only be available in the US for Alexa devices that support Alexa calling and messaging, and will only work with Android phones. Amazon has reportedly said that it can’t yet offer a similar feature for iPhone users because Apple doesn’t offer their messaging API to third-parties.

How To Use The Service

User instructions are issued via a pop-up in the Alexa app on Android, and in the ‘Conversations’ tab of the app, users select ‘Contacts’, then ‘My Profile’, and then switch the ‘Send SMS’ feature to on. Messages can then be sent to Android phones by a person using voice on an Alexa device.

The service allows the sender to specify whether they would like to send the message just as a text / SMS, or as a general message which will be sent to Alexa devices first, and then as SMS if the intended recipient does not have an Alexa device.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This new service seems to be an inevitable way to build upon the strengths of the Amazon Echo system, is consistent with its ‘Amazon Everywhere’ philosophy, and brings Alexa closer to Siri and Google Assistant in the voice messaging department. Although it takes the communication aspect of Alexa one step further, some critics have pointed at some limitations of the new service which are that it can’t be used to text 911, or to participate in group messages or send MMS, and users are limited to what they can do when they can’t actually see the chats anyway.

For businesses, this service may become especially useful when combined with Amazon’s plans to launch Alexa for Business – a small businesses-focused version of the Echo for the workplace. Amazon’s Echo dominates the voice-assistant market with a more than 70% share, and Alexa for business will have many useful functions from booking meeting rooms, reporting IT issues, providing directions around a building, and answering questions about the business, to enabling employees to make calls, manage calendars, run to-do lists, and set reminders. A voice-activated SMS service via a workplace Echo could, therefore, add value, save time and save costs.

iPhone Deliberate Slowdown: Apple Apology

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Tech giant Apple has apologised after it confirmed that long-held customer suspicions that it deliberately slowed down older iPhone models to encourage an upgrade turned to be true.

What Happened?

Some customers had been sharing their concerns online for some time that their iPhone’s performance had slowed with age but had sped up after a battery replacement. This led to a customer sharing comparative performance tests of different models of the iPhone 6S on Reddit, which appeared to support the customer suspicions.

Technology website Geeknebench also shared the results of its own tests of several iPhones running different versions of the iOS operating system where some showed slower performance than others.

After customers concerns mounted and received more press, Apple publicly admitted that it had made changes about a year ago in the iOS 10.2.1 software update that is likely to have been responsible for the slowdown that customers may have experienced in iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE.

Motivation Good

Some reports of customer suspicions, comments and speculation had focused on the idea that Apple’s motivation for causing the iPhone slowdown was purely commercial as part of a built-in obsolescence and motivated by profit. Apple, however, has pointed out that its motivations were based on a desire to prolong the life of customer devices by managing their ageing lithium-ion batteries, and to prevent the inconvenience of a sudden and unexpected shutdown.

The Problem With Lithium-Ion Batteries

According to Apple, Lithium-ion batteries need to be managed because they are incapable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, when they have a low battery charge or as they age. The discharging cycle of Lithium-ion batteries (the migration of lithium ions through the material forming the battery) means that they are known to degrade over time.

Regaining Trust

Apple’s admission that it has been slowing down some phones with ageing batteries, and its acknowledgement that customer trust may have been shaken by the episode have led to Apple announcing 3 measures to address customer concerns and regain trust, which are:

  1. A reduction, from December 2017, in the price of out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements by $50 from $79 to $29 for customers with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced. N.B. the $29 battery out-of-warranty replacements have been available since 30th December.
  2. An iOS software update, in early 2018, to allow customers to see how their iPhone’s battery is affecting performance.
  3. A pledge that Apple is working on ways to improve how they manage performance and avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.

Legal Action

The announcement that Apple does slow down older phones has, of course, led to legal action being taken against the company by disgruntled customers. For example, Apple has been hit by a class action lawsuit, led by Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, which cites “Breach of implied contract” and “Trespass to chattel” as the two complaints. More lawsuits are expected to follow.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The idea that Apple may have chosen to keep quiet about something that could be viewed (without an explanation) as secretly taking away performance that somebody has paid for, and only appearing to explain it when challenged by enough customers and tech commentators is likely to have caused some damage to the brand and to customer loyalty.

Some commentators have suggested that greater transparency and an early explanation of the apparently legitimate reasons (helping to mitigate the problem of the diminishing battery) for Apple’s actions may have been a better approach.

Apple is renowned for being able to engender fan-like behaviour in some customers, and for being able to maintain a good a loyal relationship with its customers. This story illustrates how managing customer relationships in an age where information is shared quickly and widely by customers via the Internet involves making smart decisions about transparency and being seen to be up-front with loyal customers.

Unlimited Streaming Deals Contributing To Piracy?

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Stream RippingAs Three becomes the first network provider in the UK to launch a tariff that lets its customers use unlimited streaming services without it affecting their monthly data allowance, some media commentators are concerned that more streaming services of this kind could lead to more piracy.

Streaming & Stream Ripping

Streaming is the real-time transmission of data (e.g. audio and video) over the internet to computers and mobile devices. Stream ripping is the process of using software to turn that streamed data (music and video) into files so that they can be watched / listened to offline on computers and phones. Stream ripping is possible because music and video streaming services have urls, and there are now many freely available programs to download that can stream-rip content.

What’s The Problem?

The problem is that films, video and recorded music are covered by copyright and intellectual property laws. Although many people are happy to pay to use legal streaming services in the form they are delivered such as Netflix and Spotify, stream ripping and the storage and distribution of the ripped files infringes those laws and is technically piracy.

According to research by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and PRS for Music, usage of stream-ripping sites increased by 141.3% between 2014 and 2016, thereby making them more popular than all other illegal music services. The same research showed that in September 2016, these sites were used 498,681 times to pirate music in the UK

Who?

According to the IPO and PRS, research 15% of UK adults are now using these illegal services, with 33% of them being in the 16-24 age bracket.

Why?

According to the research, the most popular reasons given for using stream-ripping include a belief that music was already owned by users in another format (31%), simply wanting to listen to music offline (26%) and on the move (25%), not being able to afford to buy the tracks legally (21%), and believing that music is overpriced (20%).

The Three Deal

There is no suggestion that the new Three ‘Go Binge’ service is causing or contributing to piracy. The fact is, however, that it is an unlimited streaming deal for data-heavy users averaging 6GB a month. It is conceivable that without Three imposing their own security measures, Go Binge could be used for stream ripping.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This story illustrates how difficult it can be in an online world to prevent publicly available content being shared for free, and how creative industries continue to suffer from not being able to find effective ways to get monetary rewards for recorded output or to make consumers comply with the law. In a share-everything-online world where users are used to content being free, copyright and intellectual laws are often either not widely known about or are ignored and circumvented in a kind of mass diffusion of responsibility due to the large numbers of people who are doing it without penalties.

The increased take-up of legal streaming services in recent years is, however, more promising but it is clear that more measures need to be taken, perhaps by companies offering streaming deals, to make sure that stream ripping is not taking place.

Fibre Broadband, Government’s Scheme Launched With £400m

Posted on by Rob Burdett

The long-expected launch of the UK government’s plans to improve broadband speeds for homes and businesses by replacing copper phone wires with fibre-optic cable has been launched with a £400 million investment from the Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund.

Not Full-Fibre For Most Properties

Although the aim is ‘full-fibre’, this first stage is intended to replace the copper cable that runs from individual properties to the roadside cabinets / green boxes at the end of the street. This means that most of the infrastructure for broadband, for the time being, will actually be ‘hybrid fibre’.

Full-fibre (where cables from the box are fibre-optic too) could potentially deliver multi-Gigabit speeds faster than 1000Mbps, but full-fibre is currently only available to 2% of UK premises (despite 89% of UK premises now being within reach of a fixed line superfast broadband service). This does not compare well to other European countries. In Spain for example, 80% of premises have full-fibre access.

Even Faster

The government’s focus until now has been to provide ‘super-fast’ broadband speed (24Mbps or more), but the government’s plans to start replacing copper with fibre-optic is intended to produce ‘ultra-fast’ broadband (anything over 100Mbps).

Two Technologies Together

There are in-fact two technologies which are being deployed to help the UK to work towards ultra-fast broadband. One is fibre, the other is BT’ Openreach’s G.fast which can get high speeds (330Mbits) using a copper wire system. It is cheap to install because it can simply piggyback on existing cables, but it can degrade through too much contact with water.

The Money

Most telecoms commentators agree that the £400 million initial investment from the government will be nowhere near enough for the scheme to reach its aims. It is thought that lots more private money (private investors will bring the current total up to £1bn) and tax money will have to be used to bring about the desired updating of the UK’s telecoms infrastructure.

Criticism

There have been many criticisms of the government’s big plans for boosting broadband speeds with the widespread use of fibre-optic cables including:

  1. Even if you have a fibre-optic cable to your home / business premises, there will still be shared traffic points in the network which will slow down your broadband at certain times.
  2. The scheme will need a large number of construction workers. This could mean disruption, logistical challenges, and high costs.
  3. Full fibre-optic, ultra-fast broadband is not likely to be a reality in the UK anytime soon. At the current rate, BT Openreach has stated that only two million premises will have access to ‘full fibre’ by the end of 2020.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

With so much of business (with customers, suppliers, and internal communications / collaboration) now conducted over the Internet, a fast connection is essential to help UK businesses to remain competitive. It is disappointing, therefore, that UK businesses don’t have, and look unlikely to have any time soon, access to kind of speeds that overseas companies (e.g. competitors) enjoy. While it is good that funding and momentum for the task of delivering faster (fibre or fibre/G.fast) broadband for UK businesses looks to be increasing, the UK has a long way to go. The reality is that we may only have 7% full fibre coverage by 2020.