By Andy McCue, 28 October 2003 12:40
NEWS Broadband Britain is in danger of stalling as people become disillusioned with a growing tide of spam, viruses, spyware and a lack of ongoing support from service providers, according to a new report by the Work Foundation.
The year-long study, called Fat Pipes, Connected People, was conducted in partnership with the Broadband Stakeholder Group and watched how eight families, two home workers and two businesses used broadband.
James Crabtree, co-author of the report, told silicon.com the telecoms industry is failing users because of a focus on speed instead of ongoing support around how to get the best out of broadband.
"Broadband is meant to be the internet at its best but the industry sees selling broadband as the beginning and end. It is difficult to install. More support is clearly needed," he said.
Spam was the main concern of those in the study. Crabtree acknowledged that it is a problem for all internet users but said broadband users are particularly exposed to it as they tend to use the internet more. And because spam has got significantly worse in the last six months, many new broadband users blame their fat pipes for the increased volumes of junk email.
The study also showed that people are not just interested in being pushed rich media content to consume and instead want to use broadband to create and share their own.
"People want to know how to create things and how to use digital media, rather than sitting there like digital couch potatoes sucking up rich media content. People just aren't interested in that," he said.
However, he added that many people do see the increased opportunity to download 'free' music as something of a return on investment on the cost of broadband subscriptions.
Crabtree warned that not only are existing users getting disillusioned, but beyond the early broadband adopters the service providers will need much more compelling offerings to convince people to sign up.
"We are getting close to the point where the service providers are not going to be able to get people to sign up to broadband just because it is broadband. It requires a different way of selling. It is not just about speed," he said.
Comments
There are 13 comments. Join the discussion
1. andrew goalen
Whilst I aggree that the content and spam issues are worrying, the bad customer service applies more to the large providers, I administer a WAN with over 200 ADSL lines and have had trouble only with BT, the smaller ones like eclipse tend to bend over backwards to help their customers,
2. John Singleton
ISPs are pushing broadband but not placing enough emphasis on antivirus and firewalls protection for home users. Most home computers are poorly maintained and although the level of awareness is rising, the broadband connection of a lot of rather suspect PCs to the net is only going to degrade the overall browsing experience for all. We noticed this with msblast because home users took longer to patch their systems than businesses. One potential solution is for ISPs to take a lead by scanning email and html traffic. Those who objected could opt out. Otherwise broadband users will continue to be disillusioned with their fat pipes.
3. anonymous
I had cable broadband installed about 3 months ago at home. Within an hour of getting connected I was inundated with trojans and virus's. I was lucky I had a firewall & anti virus software. Who are these people who want to crash my machine, who will they sent their stuff to when they have driven us all away. Will the internet end up like CB radio.
Email is a wonderful business tool, but the cost of supporting it may became to high. Somebody out there must have an answer, Am I the odd one out?? is it only me that this happened too? I'm very sceptical. I'm seriously thinking of pulling the plug on mine. As for work, well we are thinking hard about broadband and the consequences of installing it. I for one would give it the thumbs down. I cannot justify the cost of all the time and equipment just to keep it running.
4. Seamus Baker
It is difficult to install ???? So, asuming you dont pay for someone to install it.... the simple instructions in LARGE PRINT should be ok...but no... these are ... users we are talking about. Broadband is, lets face it relitavely cheap... and you pay for what you get. You want better service and cheap dont you.... hmmmm like better public sevices and less tax. Aren't we greedy???
5. alan bruce
The UK market doesn't have any "fat pipes" as yet.
After spending time in the USA, I was becoming used to having a 2mb line with fixed ip as standard.
In the UK I am forced to pay 50% more for 75% less bandwidth and no fixed ip.
The problem in this country, as usual, is lack of foresight, investment etc, etc.
I run several web servers and a hosting business, and all email is scanned for viruses as it enters my server, plus my clients know and understand that there is no catch-all alias on their email accounts, because thats where most of the spam/viruses are sent.
If you don't want spam, don't sign up for dodgy mailing lists and don't leave your email address on a web page where the spiders can read it.
Also, make sure you can set new aliases for your email account, ie never use your username as an email address, because once the spammers have it listed, it will become unusable. At least with an alias you can delete the old one and start fresh.
I'm interested in how these extra clients connecting to the internet via broadband is going to slow the thing down though ?
It can't be worse than Freeserve on dial-up.
Most of all though, I would like to see real competition in the market, not a bunch of "providers" who all use BTs lines and equipment. Thats not competition ! (And I don't mean cable either) BT needs a good kick up the *ss, or we will never catch up with the developing Far East, let alone the USA.
6. anonymous
Sometimes I wonder whether the spammers are thick or what, regardless whether we block them or not, they still re-emerge under different code, title and name despite our lack of response to them, and getting the message clearly across that WE ARE NOT INTERESTED in whatever gibberish they are trying to sell, whether it's viagra, or penis enlargement potions etc..why don't they just give up or get the message that WE ARE NOT INTERESTED, why bother to re-emerge under a different name and title, what are they trying to prove there? are they trying to annoy us or what, they must be as thick as two planks, really. Makes one wonder, they can carry on wasting their time till doomsday, but surely will never fall for their stupid trap...from Tanya
(Ed note. It would probably take spammers more time to clean up their mailing lists than it does to send to addresses which prove unsuccessful. They only need one response in around 500k - one million emails, so they probably don't worry too much if you don't respond.)
7. anonymous
The reality is we are stuck with BT, it will take years for competitors to put alternative pipes in place (I mean to the lest mile, not the main trunks). I use BT Broadband, works OK but customer service seems to be unheard of! - I agree with the posts on spam, if you put your email out there you will get hit, rather like writing your phone number on a wall I guess.
So we need to push the powers that be to release BT to be competitive, get other suppliers laying fibre, and the ISP's to supply proper spam filters, even if they have to be payed for. Oh, and get end users to install routers!
8. Chris Clark
My current internet experience has been a total assault of unpleasant and un-warranted material. Why should I sign up for even more objectional Pop-ups, Casino ads, browser and PC hijackings and the unstoppable inpouring of mass spam? Until ISPs charge per e-mail delivered, support opt-in regulation and help authorities jail spammers, and make it easier for targeted customers to complain about spammers, I won't upgrade. I now run tough ad prevention and antivirus tools but the spam has been unstoppable. Yes, I do want to download music, send digital high quality photos, get quality newsfeeds, but the electronic graffiti is just too much.
9. Geoff Goodman
Is it difficult to install??? I didn't have a problem with it. As for spam, the solution is easy, create an account for surfing the net and one for contacting friends and family. The majority of spam goes to the former account and can be deleted en mass. Broadband is great,we have to make a little effort, we can't expect to have everthing handed to us on a plate.
10. dick stroud
12 Ethnographic encounters tells it all. Go and have a look at the press release for this so-called research. How did the Work Foundation come to these momentous conclusions Well it ‘conducted 12 Ethnographic encounters in which trained anthropologists spent a week with ordinary families and small businesses’. Their words not mine.
Who is the Work Foundation? Remember Will Hutton, the guy that got it so wrong with his economic analysis of the UK, it’s his setup.
There are 100,000s of us in rural areas desperately trying to get the pleasure of broadband and this outfit comes along and on the basis of ‘12 ethnographic encounters’ tells us how bad it will be for us.
I am fortunate and have a broadband connection from my work and know the advantages. There is no correlation between connection speed and SPAM – it just means I don’t have to wait so long to delete the stuff. I still need the endless MS patches if I have a 56k modem – having broadband means I can get the stuff downloaded that much faster. When my ISP’s e-mail services fail (listen BT and Demon) it is their inability to cope with the mail volumes and nothing to do Broadband.
In all my years of having to read unsubstantiated ‘research conclusions’ this report takes the prize. I am amazed that Silicon.com did not give the thing a more thorough working over.
11. John Keogh
I had broadband installed just over a week ago. I finished the install loaded up internet explorer and within 10 seconds my machine had rebooted. After eventually getting the machine to log in, I discovered that I had been infected with 3 viruses. But its my own fault, I hadnt installed the virus software or setup my firewall. I have now done that and the system is fine. The problem with content being boring is that who is going to go about setting up "fun" sites where people can more involved? It is not fair to expect ISP's to shoulder the bill of this. If you buy a Hitachi telly you dont complain to them that theres nothing on. If users want more content then they have to pay for it. But they dont want to do that......
12. Rob Halls
I have been on BT Broadband for over a year now and have only had sporadic problems. I can only attribute this to the following:
* I use a router - therefore I have slightly more visibility than I would normally have using those awful USB modems.
* I have configured the firewall properly - thereby blocking most of the rubbish.
* I have configured my Internet browser properly - giving me some surity of what I am browsing.
* I have configured my software updates, and operating system properly - thereby reducimg many of the risks associated with being ohjnline all of the time.
When looking at issues with broadband we have to look outside the box as well as inside it. There are at least as many factors inside the internet interface as outside it and many people are just not aware of them, or just can't be bothered. I am lucky that I am technically aware, and that I deal with broadband connections within my job all day as well as other permanent connections to the internet.
No provider as far as I can see wants to get down to the nitty gritty of ensuring that their users have pointers to securing their own systems, ands certainly don't want to really get involved if it is not the ADSL connection that has gone wrong. Until they change this attitude, or some diffinative statements get published about what needs to happen to secure your systems, or the ISP's start building in clauses to ensure customers are fully aware of their responsibilities, or the ISP's start sending reports of activities through to user's whos machines are infected, or ISP's start being concerned about the browsing experience of their customers, or ... the broadband experience for most people not attain the levels that it could.
13. Roger Brewster
Right now I'm reading Silcon.com, listening to internet radio (with
a decent sounding 128kbps bitrate), speedily downloading the latest
drivers/security updates, a 200MB game demo, and sending my parents some recent holiday photos on MSN.
I can do this because I now pay about £13 per month for 6Mbps broadband, instead of the £8 per month I paid in 2001 for a 56k connection, including choppy 28kbps internet radio for no extra charge!:) I'm not trying to boast here, I consider myself fortunate. For me, Broadband really is a milestone in technology, and I'm just trying to point out that if other tech-advanced countries can have this technology at decent price/performance ratios, then why can't the UK?
As for Spam, it's there whatever your connection speed, and security is taken care of by a software firewall and a little caution....no great pain.
For me, it's a no brainer. For those of you in the UK, the time
must come soon for fast broadband at reasonable prices, otherwise
the country is going to get left behind.