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• Post office launches guide to broadband
• UK Broadband users hit by hidden costs
• Credit crunch may slow Virgin take-up
• High street stores suffering from online sales
• Big players to launch broadband freeview
• Guide to choosing a broadband provider
• Pipex reprimanded for withholding MAC codes
• Broadband connections exceed 16m
• Mobile phone users staying offline
• Consumers prefer fixed-line services

• Broadband speeds are on the decline

  The average speed of broadband is dropping, according to new research from broadband analysts broadband.co.uk
  
  "Average download speeds UK wide peaked at 3.6Mbps in July 2008, since then the average has dropped every month and is now almost 10% lower at 3.3Mbps" Says Edd Dawson from broadband.co.uk.
  
  The results came from thousands of broadband speed tests on the broadband.co.uk, taken by ordinary UK broadband users during October 2008.
  
  "Not surprisingly we are seeing the biggest drops during the evening peak time slots where the average speed has now dropped below 3Mbps for the first time since March 2008. We suspect that the increased use of media streaming services such as BBC iPlayer are a significant factor in these results" added Dawson.

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  04/11/2008 15:33:00 Published by Alice Galletly Category Telecom

• Business broadband to benefit from fibre by 2012

  Research firm point topic has predicted that over four million homes and businesses will be using a fibre-based broadband connection by 2013.

  Fibre-based broadband provided by cable networks is expected to account for 23% of the UK's domestic broadband market by 2013, whereas basic DSL copper lines are expected to see a drop in market share from 78% to 57% over the period.

  Point Topic anticipates that most of the fibre connections will be fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), with the final few hundred yards from the cabinet to the home connected via copper DSL lines. This would give the majority of users download speeds of 20 Mbps or more.

  “This is probably the first moment when it has been possible to make a plausible forecast for fibre in the UK, based on some real plans and activity,” said Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic.

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  30/10/2008 11:46:00 Published by Alice Galletly Category Telecom

• Home broadband twice as fast as mobile

  Home broadband is now more than twice as fast as mobile broadband, according to new research.
  
  Research by broadband comparison site Broadband Expert shows that the gap between home and mobile broadband speeds is widening. 
  
  The research follows a ban by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), on an advert that claimed mobile broadband offered “all the benefits of home broadband on the move.”
  
  Based on over 308,548 fixed line broadband speed tests, Broadband expert found an average fixed line broadband speed of 3.16 Mbs, whereas in 5,345 tests, mobile broadband clocked an average speed of just 1.57 Mbs.
  

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  28/10/2008 13:35:00 Published by Alice Galletly Category Telecom

• Device puts an end to cold calling

  Two British inventors have developed a device which claims to alleviate the problem of cold calling. The device, name ‘TrueCall’ acts like a virtual receptionist, as it intercepts incoming calls and learns to distinguish between welcome and unwelcome callers.

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  22/10/2008 17:16:00 Published by Alice Galletly Category Telecom

• Ministers to consider broadband for all

  Ministers will be considering the possibility of connecting every single home in Britain to a superfast broadband service, amid concerns that educational and financial benefits are being missed by families without connections. Lord Carter, the former Number 10 aide and newly appointed communications officer, is considering introducing a legal right, enforcing phone companies to bring broadband to every home.

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  21/10/2008 10:56:00 Published by Alice Galletly Category Telecom