Tiscali and BT join forces to tell porkies
14/08/07 21:54 Filed in: Technology
I read in Ars Technica that ISP's Tiscali and BT are threatening to throttle the performance of the BBC's iPlayer service because they suggest it will suck all the bandwidth out of the UK Internet.
Which makes interesting reading. But not because I think they have a point. Because quite frankly they don't; BT has already started over a year ago to role out the NEXT phase of networking for the Internet. The '100mb' good stuff.
So, what is this really about? Well, it is Tiscali's IPTV product "Home Choice" and BT's "Vision" products being put under pressure by the BBC. Both Tiscali and BT Vision charge a monthly subscription. The BBC, on the other hand, are providing the service as part of their provision under the BBC charter. In other words, you've ALREADY paid for it from your TV licence; it's free.
iPlayer has had something of a mixed launch. Originally being an 'open' beta version. Sadly, the 'open' element being to a select few.
Clearly BT and Tiscali can see what's on the horizon, and don't like it.
Whether this is seen as an anti-competitve step on their part will be down to the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission. Interesting stuff...
Which makes interesting reading. But not because I think they have a point. Because quite frankly they don't; BT has already started over a year ago to role out the NEXT phase of networking for the Internet. The '100mb' good stuff.
So, what is this really about? Well, it is Tiscali's IPTV product "Home Choice" and BT's "Vision" products being put under pressure by the BBC. Both Tiscali and BT Vision charge a monthly subscription. The BBC, on the other hand, are providing the service as part of their provision under the BBC charter. In other words, you've ALREADY paid for it from your TV licence; it's free.
iPlayer has had something of a mixed launch. Originally being an 'open' beta version. Sadly, the 'open' element being to a select few.
Clearly BT and Tiscali can see what's on the horizon, and don't like it.
Whether this is seen as an anti-competitve step on their part will be down to the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission. Interesting stuff...