• silicon.com
• Technology
• Networks

By Will Sturgeon, 25 September 2000 09:15

NEWS Another day, another round of attacks on BT's local loop monopoly. Following last month's claim from ISP Zone Corporation that BT owed the company £37m compensation for broken promises over wholesale unmetered access, the Financial Times reports that Colt Telecom, Energis, Kingston Communications and Thus are now considering legal action against the UK telco. However, BT seems unfazed by the angry mob gathering outside its exchanges and dismissed the threats as "a lot of sabre-rattling"... The Financial Times also brings us news of a deal struck between the Post Office and internet start-up UK Smart that will provide millions of free digital signatures for customers looking for safeguards on online transactions. The scheme will carry the Royal Mail branding and enable ebusiness transactions to be conducted through 18,000 Post Office branches... Another government concern getting a much-needed boost from the technology sector is the NHS. The Guardian reports that Microsoft has added its considerable weight to a project by Iosoft to get all medical records online. The system will make patients' records available to doctors anywhere in the country at any time... Although the above evidence suggests the government is starting to embrace high-tech options, the Guardian includes its own suggested manifesto for a government still perceived as slow to react to the changing trends in ebusiness. One suggestion includes rebranding the DTI as the department for technology and the internet, which would "bully" companies into driving forward the adoption of new technologies and prevent the UK falling behind the rest of Europe and the US. A Guardian run government would also push through measures to ensure early adoption of 3G technologies, before the UK is eclipsed by overseas offerings and the high prices of 3G licences become more stumbling block than launch pad for the new phone technology. A final word, which inevitably brings us back to where we started, is the Guardian's recommendation that competition policy be used by the government to end BT's strong hold on the local loop. Now there's an idea...