Telford, 25 May 2016 – Entanet has praised the UK government’s intentions to provide Internet parity for everyone, protect people from the sleazier side of the web, and encourage competition announced in last week’s Queen’s Speech. But the company also warns that the devil is in the detail and that it will not be easy to deliver on the objectives that are to be set out in the Digital Economy Bill.
In the latest posting to its opinion website (www.enta.net/opinion/2016/05/24/queens-speech-connectivity-front-centre/), the company’s Product Manager, Paul Heritage-Redpath, says that the announcement of plans to provide speeds of at least up to 10Mbps to everyone, protect innocent users (and children especially) from pornography, and increase consumer choice and competition, are all commendable.
But he also points to a lack of detailed thinking in the plans and says none of these goals will be easy to achieve.
On the setting of a Universal Service Obligation (USO) target for broadband speeds of 10Mbps, Heritage-Redpath states: “The truth is that if you live 3km away from a cabinet/exchange, you’re unlikely to achieve a near 10Mbps speed. But with cabinets costing tens of thousands of pounds we can’t see anyone [the consumer, the government, the regulator, or BT] paying up.”
He also asks how the government can expect to verify the age of users to prevent young people accessing pornography on the web. “The technical practicalities appear to have been forgotten. Exactly how this will be achieved without the ability to teleport through the screen of a user’s device to confirm their age and identity is, frankly, anyone’s guess.”
On the matter of improving access to land so that new cables and infrastructure can be laid, he expresses serious doubts over whether landowners will “simply roll over and play nicely”.
Heritage-Redpath also slams the proposal that communications providers should pay compensation to users automatically when things go wrong with their broadband service as “a terrible idea and open to abuse, given that CPs have no direct control over the quality of Openreach’s infrastructure.”
There is also a lack of detail on a number of other issues, he notes, including plans to introduce new measures that will make it easier for consumers to switch providers, new powers for Ofcom to force CPs to release data, and a possible extension of the Investigatory Powers Bill (IPB).
The article can be read at: https://www.enta.net/opinion/
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About Entanet
Entanet is a leading wholesale voice and data communications provider and operates via a network of wholesale and resale channel partners. It was founded in 1996 and employs over 80 staff at its offices in Telford, Shropshire.
In February 2014, mid-market equity investor Mobeus Equity Partners made an initial £6 million investment to support a £14 million management buyout.
Entanet offers an extensive portfolio of connectivity services, including wholesale and packaged broadband, leased lines, EFM, IP VPNs, hosting and co-location, VoIP and traditional telecoms. The company operates its own fully-resilient nationwide next generation network which enables it and its partners to provide up to 10Gbps capacity to customers right across the UK. In addition, it has further connectivity into Amsterdam and Frankfurt and over 900 peering relationships across Europe.
The quality of Entanet’s services and its commitment to partners has been widely recognised. The company was recently named ‘Wholesale Provider of the Year (Large)’ in the 2015 Comms Business Awards and received the 2015 ISPA award for ‘Best SME Business Broadband’ and CRN Sales and Marketing Award for ‘Best Vendor Account Management Team’. The company has also been listed on a number of occasions in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA and other listings of fast-growing, privately-held UK companies.
For more information contact:
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing
Entanet International Ltd
Tel: 0333 101 0000