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Internet History: From Dial-Up to Superfast Broadband

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Internet History: From Dial-Up to Superfast Broadband

The internet has been around a lot longer than most of us realise, with the first email sent in 1971, but it has only been in mass use since the 1990s.

It’s true to say that the internet then bore little resemblance to the all-singing, powerful and superfast connections that most of us enjoy today.

Back then you had to dial-in to your internet connection and not only was it painfully slow, but you couldn’t use the house phone at the same time – it was strictly either/or – a big deal when mobiles had yet to take off either.

Connection, as well as being noisy, was also slow – not surprising when the speed was just 56K! Frustration aside, it made downloading music or – if you were ambitious – films, a very time-consuming task, ranging from half an hour to, well, literally days!

It’s not surprising that the most popular video games at this time were things like PacMan and Worm – single player games using the arrow keys on a keyboard, as hooking up over the internet for the multi-player or interactive games that are in mass use today was just impossible.

These days, of course, we can play seamlessly against people we don’t know around the world, over superfast speeds and in games that are so realistic you have to look twice to know whether they are real life or animated. And which have download needs running in parallel with their sophistication – the download of X-Box game Halo: The Master Chief Collection, for example, requires over 60GB!

And our technical needs have evolved with increasing speeds too. Most households and businesses have multiple devices so that we can connect any place, at any time, seamlessly as we move through the day. Try telling a 1990s internet user that one day you would have fast broadband in a device you kept in your pocket – unthinkable!

Nowadays, broadband – where the line is split so both the internet and telephone work at the same time – is very much the norm across the UK, with a range of providers competing to provide ever-greater speeds.

Broadband has become so vital to how we live our everyday lives, that the government has revealed its intention to put broadband access on a similar footing to other basic services such as water and electricity.

By the end of this parliament, a broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) should be in place with the ambition of giving people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where they live.

You can trust Boxx to keep you up to speed with the best connection options on the market – our advanced broadband packages include three levels of business fibre broadband to suit the demands of every company, as well as direct internet access, ideal for big teams, multiple users and cloud-based applications.

The History of the Telephone

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The History of the Telephone

When Alexander Graham Bell famously made the first electronic telephone call in 1876, he started a true revolution in communication.

The ability to talk in real time, instead of writing letters that took days or weeks to deliver, has enriched all our lives from that day on, but the telephone has gone through many guises during that time, and continues to evolve even today.

Bell pioneered the gallows frame telephone, which worked by using an electromagnetic signal, which was picked up by a metal reed, then vibrated against a cloth diaphragm.

Candlestick telephones where you held one part to your ear and spoke into a separate hand-held mouthpiece became all the rage at the end of that century and the start of the next, only waning in popularity when manufacturers had the crazy idea to combine both into one handset.

The next move forwards was the rotary telephone, where you had to dial each number you wanted round to the base and then release. A slow process – and very frustrating if you accidentally got the wrong digit at any point, as you had to start again. Thankfully, they were gradually replaced in homes up and down the land as push button phones became more popular in the 1960s and 1970s.

Then, of course, came the answer phone – so if you weren’t home people could leave a message. Originally using mini cassette tapes, they moved to digital in the late 1980s.

Next phones became portable within the home – being able to walk around during a call without being tied to a base unit seemed amazingly modern. Of course, the natural next step was fully mobile phones, and the first commercial one was made available in 1973 – although it looked like a brick and wasn’t mobile at all compared to today’s slim smartphones that you can slip in a pocket.

Finally, in the 2000s, touchscreen technology came to the fore – and the rest, as they say, is history.

But while handsets were evolving significantly over time, the infrastructure used to make calls stayed the same for decades, only really starting to change in recent years.

While many analogue landlines (which are themselves becoming a declining force) still operate through copper wires, the move to digital is becoming unstoppable, particularly with BT’s recent announcement that it is phasing out ISDN over the next ten years in favour of Voice over Internet Protocol service (VoIP) – essentially calls over the internet.

VoIP, which we offer here at Boxx, is very much the future of telecoms, allowing users to get ahead of the game with useful features including call divert to mobiles, moving calls seamlessly between users and offices, as well as being able to put callers on hold and play them marketing messages. Not to mention that it’s often a cheaper!

Get in touch with us to find out more about the packages we offer – and be at the forefront of the telecoms revolution!

Ofcom demand greater competition in the industry

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Ofcom demand greater competition in the industry

Ofcom recently said that BT must open up its cable network and allow greater competition within the industry, as part of reforms to bring superfast broadband to all much sooner.

The communications watchdog’s ‘Strategic Review of Digital Communications’ stopped short of demanding that BT should be broken apart from the Openreach division (which maintains the UK’s largest phone and broadband network on behalf of competing providers), but did not rule it out.

They have told Openreach they must make it easier for competitors to access it’s network and provide comprehensive data on the nature / location of its ducts and poles. This will allow competing operators to invest, plan and lay advanced networks, giving people more choice over how they receive their phone and broadband services.

The evidence from Ofcom’s review showed Openreach, as part of BT Group, still has an incentive to make decisions in the interests of BT, rather than BT’s competitors, which can lead to competition problems.

For example, it found that Openreach’s governance lacks independence from BT Group. The wider company has retained control over Openreach’s decision-making and the budget that is spent on the network, and other telecoms companies have not been consulted sufficiently on investment plans that affect them.

So Ofcom has decided it is necessary to overhaul Openreach’s governance and strengthen its independence from BT, ensuring its takes its own decision on budget, investment and strategy, such as the deployment of new networks. Openreach management will be required to serve all wholesale customers equally, and consult them on its investment plans. There will also be greater transparency over how costs and assets are allocated between Openreach and the rest of BT, with detailed proposals on how these changes will be implemented due out later this year.

Ofcom also intends to introduce a range of measures designed to ensure that all phone and broadband companies provide the quality of service that customers expect.

1) Openreach will be subject to tougher, minimum requirements to repair faults and install new lines more quickly. These will build on measures set in 2014, but will set higher minimum standards and extend to other aspects of performance, such as how often faults occur.

2) Ofcom will also introduce performance tables on quality of service, identifying the best and worst operators on a range of performance measures so that customers can shop around with confidence.

3) Ofcom intends to introduce automatic compensation for consumers and businesses when things go wrong. Broadband, landline and mobile customers will no longer have to seek redress themselves, but will instead receive refunds automatically for any loss or reduction of service.

In the statement released by Ofcom announcing these finding and changes, Sharon White, Ofcom Chief Executive, said:

“People across the UK today need affordable, reliable phone and broadband services. Coverage and quality are improving, but not fast enough to meet the growing expectations of consumers and businesses. So we’ve announced fundamental reform of the telecoms market – more competition, a new structure for Openreach, tougher performance targets, and a range of measures to boost service quality. Together, this means a better deal for telecoms users, which will improve the services and networks that underpin how we live and work.”

We are excited about these announcements and changes and look forward to the future landscape that Ofcom envisage.

Telecoms & Internet Fraud: Protect yourself & your Business

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Telecoms & Internet Fraud: Protect yourself & your Business

Fraud is a constantly evolving crime, with criminals always coming up with new ways to try and gain access to data or money they have no right to.

Cyber crime and information security have been hitting the headlines recently with a series of high-profile attacks, including the Ashley Madison dating site.

What is clear is that non-financial industries are increasingly becoming the targets of such attacks – with the proportion of attacks targeting the financial sector falling from 12% to 7%, elsewhere saw a rise from 5% to 13%. And with major breaches carrying the risk of major reputational damage and financial costs in addition to the hack itself, it’s something we all want to avoid if possible.

Unfortunately, telecommunications and internet are industries where criminals are always trying to find new ways to commit fraud, so we’ve put together some examples of the most common ones that you should be aware of to reduce the chances of it happening to you:

Premium Rate Service Fraud – When fraudsters significantly increase the number of calls to a premium number so they can increase the revenue they receive from it. Often, calls are made with the intent of creating a missed call and generating a callback, which is to a high rate number where the fraudster reaps the revenue.

Fraudulent Applications – this is when fraudsters use valid company names and bank details to take out a phone service and leave a bad debt.

Line Fault Fraud – Fraudsters posing as customers attempt to log bogus faults on a line and request a divert to an alternative number, where further fraud such as increased call costs can take place.

Impersonation Fraud – Fraudsters pose as a service provider and persuade customers that their account is at risk. They then either trick the customer into giving away sensitive data (which they then use to commit further fraudulent activity), or attempt to convince the customer to make a bogus payment or make a call to a bogus ‘premium rate number’, where they pocket the revenue.

Internet Dialler Scams – When the computer settings are changed so their internet connection is re-routed via an expensive telephone line. This happens when the user clicks on a spam mail or pop-up box, or visits a pay-per-view website that triggers a software download that makes this change.

WiFi Hacking – Whilst a great resource to use out and about, public networks are more susceptible to being hacked, so take care where you log on.

So, now you know about some of the more common scams, what can you do to protect yourself and your business?

  • Be vigilant and ensure that your staff are aware of the risks

  • Be wary when responding to unrecognised numbers and google any that look odd to see if they have been noted as fraudulent

  • Set up passwords on accounts – we allow and encourage this as an extra source of security

  • At home or work ensure your wi-fi network is password-protected so no unauthorised users can piggyback on to it,- Never click on an unrecognised URL

  • Report any suspected fraud (telephone based or otherwise) to ActionFraud (The UK’s national fraud & internet crime reporting centre)

If you’ve been victim to anything we haven’t included here, we’d love to hear from you as being aware of such crimes is half the battle of fighting against them!

Telecoms and Broadband: Essential briefing for 2016 and beyond

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Telecoms and Broadband: Essential briefing for 2016 and beyond

This year is set to be a big one for developments in the tech community that will impact the quality of our communications wherever we are in the UK…..

Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report combined with Government plans to put broadband access on the same footing as basic services (such as water and electricity) reveal significant trends and priority within the industry.

So you can keep ahead of them, we’ve prepared a summary of the key aspects……

Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report takes an in-depth look at the state of the nation’s telecoms and wireless networks, and had mostly positive news to report while accepting that there is still more to do; particularly in improving broadband and mobile availability/quality for consumers and businesses around the country.

Broadband: Coverage and quality of fixed broadband services in the UK has increased markedly over the past year. More than a quarter of homes (27%, or 7.5 million) have ‘superfast’ broadband (i.e. with a connection of 30 Mbit/s or more), up from one in five (21%, or around 6 million homes) a year earlier.

Superfast broadband is now available to 83% of UK households – almost 24 million – up from 75% last year, as BT rolls out its fibre network, Virgin Media converts more homes to faster packages and the Government’s on-going Broadband Delivery UK programme extends superfast broadband into areas not covered by the commercial market.

Broadband in rural areas also continues to improve, with superfast broadband now available to almost four in ten premises across the UK (37%, or 1.1 million).

One interesting trend noted in the report was a change in the way that people are using superfast broadband. Ofcom has found that, for the first time, users with speeds above 40 Mbit/s are downloading significantly more data – and those with the fastest connections are driving this increase. This increase suggests that people are getting much more out of faster connections, through greater use of bandwidth-hungry services such as catch-up TV, online film rental and video calls.

However, Ofcom has, as to be expected, also identified challenges in improving coverage across the UK. Around 8% of the UK’s homes – 2.4 million – are currently unable to receive broadband speeds of 10 Mbit/s or above – the connection which remains the tipping point after which most people rate their broadband experience as ‘good’. This figure jumps to around half (48%, or 1.5 million) in rural areas, where speeds are often affected by premises lying further from the network’s local street cabinet or local telephone exchange.

Superfast services are now available to the premises of almost seven-in-ten SMEs (68%, almost 900,000) – up from 56% in 2014. However, almost a half of SMEs (around 130,000) in areas like business parks are unable to receive speeds above 10Mbit/s. Ofcom estimates that by 2017 when 95% of all UK premises will have superfast broadband, around 18% of SMEs will still not have access to a superfast service – so there is clearly still an element of a two-tier service at play.

Looking to the future, ultrafast broadband, one of the next generation of superfast services, which Ofcom defines as a speed greater than 300 Mbit/s, is already available to 2% of properties – some 500,000 homes.

Ofcom also published its latest European Broadband Scorecard, which compares the availability, usage and price of broadband services across EU member states. It showed that, among major European nations, the UK has the best coverage and take-up of superfast broadband, the highest coverage of fast mobile services, and some of the lowest prices – so excellent news!

Mobile broadband was also examined in the report, which found that 4G mobile now reaches seven in ten of us, with 73% of premises able to receive a 4G signal from three of the four networks as operators continue to roll out faster mobile broadband. Four in ten (46%) have 4G coverage from all four major operators, and Ofcom expects that 98% of premises will be able to receive a 4G signal indoors by 2017.

However, the report shows there is more work to do on mobile coverage and quality of service.

While 99% of premises can receive a 2G signal, the proportion of the entire UK landmass able to receive a signal from all four operators has remained at 55% since last year. However, this is expected to increase quickly following an agreement between the Government and four major operators for them to achieve 90% geographic coverage of voice services by 2017.

Meanwhile, the Government has moved to put fast broadband on a similar footing as other basic services like water and electricity, giving every home and business a legal right to request a 10 Mbps connection by the end of this Parliament.

Designed to help cement Britain’s position as the most digitised major economy in Europe, work is now starting on introducing a broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO). The obligation will provide a ‘safety net’ to make sure that households and businesses can get the broadband speeds needed to do business online, access key services or stream live TV. It is due to go out for consultation imminently.

If you would like more information about broadband or more advanced internet solutions, please get in touch.

Boxx get on their Bikes and ‘Go Dutch’!

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Boxx get on their Bikes and 'Go Dutch'!

With The British Cycling Federation pushing for the Government to invest more in our two-wheel infrastructure, there has never been a better time to follow in the footsteps of our European cousins and lead a healthier, more outdoorsy lifestyle.

And here at Boxx, we’re doing just that…..

Our directors Dean Burgin and James Green are already cycling fans with all the kit, and can often be spotted out on a Sunday morning clocking up the miles in lycra and searching for a suitable place to stop for a coffee break.

As well as being lovers of cycling, they also have a passion for ‘proper’ coffee, and they feel high street chains just don’t cut the mustard. It was their love of the bean that led to their blossoming relationship with Bogota Coffee Company, a relatively new business at The Hub here in Milton Keynes.

Bike Ride

Always keen to support small businesses in general, they were determined to continue to drink Bogota’s highest quality authentic coffee even after their closest outlet closed. So they decided to follow Bogota’s lead and purchase some Dutchie-style bikes to get them to the flagship coffee house quickly and easily!

Bogota & Us

So, why the Dutchie…?

Fifty years ago, car-related death rates in The Netherlands were extremely high, so, as a country dedicated to living a healthy lifestyle, they took the decision to give priority to bikes and pedestrian-only areas. A whole culture has now developed around their chosen style of bikes, which are durable and designed for everyday use as well as easy to ride, safe and fun. And of course, they feature that fantastic iconic design!

When riding a Dutchie, you’re more upright than many other styles of bike, particularly racers, and riding to the coffee house has given Dean and James a new perspective on cycling – and also made them realise that Milton Keynes is perfect for it!

Boys Riding

Not only is it relatively flat, with wide open spaces, but the city has a Redway system of cycle paths too. The legendary shopping centre (which is over a mile walk from one end to the other and back) is not easy to accomplish in a lunch-break either – so being on a bike certainly makes tackling the busy, sprawl of the city centre much easier and more enjoyable. Not to mention bikes being far easier to park!

Who wouldn’t want that…?

Having had our eyes opened to the possibilities, we now want to see a revolution in Milton Keynes….!

Driverless cars, known as shuttle pods have already been trialled in the city. Next we want MK businesses to get on board and invest in company bikes that staff can use to have more options at lunchtimes, make healthier choices for client visits and encourage other businesses to join in as well.

In a nod to the coffee house that first started using these bikes in MK, our bikes feature not only our logo but also that of Bogota Coffee and we are proud to be taking the phrase ‘Go Dutch’ to a new level!

Both Logos

So who’s going to join us….?

Even if cycling’s not your thing, you can help spread the word on twitter. Let’s see if we can get these hashtags trending, here in Milton Keynes and beyond!

#GoDutch
#DutchieProject
#ChooseCycling

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