But this is different. What does Digital Inclusion really mean to me?

It strikes me that the retailers have yet to see the opportunities here. The ability for them to reach right into a subscribers home, for them, is, or must be, an advertising pot of gold (though what the subscribers might think is another matter lol).

I mean because it is IP we are able to provide advertisers with as much demographics as they need. Who watched what, for how long and when would allow targeted advertising to be provided (which could be ignored or not as the subscriber wished, there could even be a opt in/out for a reduced subscription maybe). More importantly it can be linked via the portal to special deals, events, promotions etc to the local community thereby creating a virtual ‘High Street’ which would be truly local.

Real IP Digital solutions would allow for a community to  create and broadcast their own content, their own music and information relevant to them. Why can’t local people create their own online community radio and TV that’s broadcast on the closed system locally using local talent, local bands (thereby getting round copyright issues (I think))? Why not have local colleges and universities creating a virtual LOCAL campus, offering Videos of lectures to a wider audience?

And I think this is the trick that the big three have missed. You still get what they give you, they still really offer no choice.

All this can be done TODAY, NOW but not by the big three…all they are interested in is profit…Digital inclusion is not all about profit (although some would be nice).

Now if only the great and good would put their money where their collective mouths are and give the innovators a chance……if only……..

so we have the TV license we will now have POTS license! lovely more money for BT to absolutely nothing about removing the Digital Divide.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8270772.stm

I for one will be removing my landline. I use IP or mobile for 90% of my primary telephony needs anyway.

For goodness sake this is just a fundraiser for BT, I mean who else is going to get their hands on the £175M?  and more to the point how? is it going into a separate kitty? who is going to manage it? will £175M make that much difference? what are the criteria to access the funds?

This is ill thought out, will be ineffective and in all probability wont enable a single low income home to get online affordably.

Its just another tax going into the coffers of our beeloved national Telco.

This just makes me seethe and proves, YET AGAIN, the so called experts don’t have scubie clue about what they are talking about and what needs to be done.

Now I need to go and calm down………

There has been oh so much rhetoric from the government and the new Digital Divide Czar but what has actually been done to address the issue? well, er, nothing actually it’s all talk and no action (that we can see). No new announcements from BT, Sky or Virgin on how they are going to address the issue – are they really interested in helping? probably not. We have Canvas from the BBC you say? well we might have it but it’s got so many hurdles to go through I think the timeline is looking increasingly short! and is this going to address the issue? – er no not really….you still need a BT line and BT broadband contract (at least at first) I am sure BT will productise it (well who wouldn’t?) as part of BT Vision II and this could mean expensive to low income homes. I guess we shall have to wait and see.

Meantime the smaller, fast moving companies – like us- are consolidating our position and will deliver a solution, watch this space.

When will the politicians wake up and realise they should be talking to small operators and not the big boys?

The time to do something about it is now! the UK is a digital backwater and will remain so while no listens to the smaller, more agile and innovative operators.

To be truly inclusive broadband must provide interactive services to the users. It must also be accessible – and by that I do not mean ‘the service is available to you because you have a BT line’. By accessible it must be affordable and that means a pay and go model. If a family doesn’t have a bank account, and in some parts of the UK up to 90% of HA residents don’t, then how can they be part of the digital inclusion? NONE of the providers that I am aware of provide a pay as you go broadband service (let alone a pay and go video/IPTV service!). They want a full 12 month contract or they don’t want to know. Universal service? sure as long as you can afford to buy it. Its the same for the payTV providers. No 12 month subscription payable by direct debit = no service. I believe they simply aren’t interested in providing to the digitally disenfranchised. They pay nothing but lip service to Digital inclusion.

The government can go on about ‘access’ as much as they like, this diverts from the real issues. Its about affordability and services not whether the cable runs past your house. By the way that assumes the family can actually afford a PC!

And while I am on the subject the whole access argument should not be just about terminating a broadband connection in the home but about providing a facilitating infrastructure to allow local online communities to develop and deliver their own services that are relevant to them.

Now that would be a universal service…….

I mean lets look at it. Digital piracy is rife. I absolutely will not condone it ever, but it happens all the time and everywhere. Lets ask ourselves why?

The primary reason, arguably, is that the technology is moving faster than the rights lawyers want it to. They want to retain control for their clients – rightly, but they are failing to respond to the new world of entertainment timely enough. People want content and by restricting access, I argue, they actively encourage illegal distribution. People are inherently lazy they will almost always follow the path of least resistance. Therefore it follows that if one makes it difficult or impossible to obtain something legally then they will, most of the time, if they want it enough, try to find a way of obtaining it illegally – its human nature.

Answer? make it easy to get the content in a legal way and make it affordable.

Apple has gone some way to do this with iTunes but its still not enough – they use restrictive DRM which makes it impossible to use paid for content on anything other than an iPOD, why? also if you dont back up your library (and lets face it who does these days) you could lose your licensed downloads if your machine crashes and its a real pain to get them back. Microsoft’s is better at least its not as restrictive! Which is great for them. BUtwhat about the smaller, more agile operators who have innovative approaches to delivery? those who don’t have Millions of dollars to lay out in advance fees and Minimum Revenue Guarantees? they can’t play. It’s not a level playing field and the operators with the big money will always squeeze out the smaller ones. If small operators don’t have access to the content then they can’t sign up subscribers – they go under simple.

Surely it’s in the best interests of the Digital Rights holders to have their work legally exposed to as many potential buyers as possible? isn’t it? Surely you want to sell your work and promote it to as large an audience as possible?

I suppose that by making it expensive for operators to supply the representatives of said rights holders are again, maybe unwittingly, promoting illegal distribution – not by small operators I hasten to add, but by the population in general.

IP is changing everything in entertainment. Maybe the content rights holders need to re-examine their go to market strategies. Embrace IP distribution. Make it easy for users and cost effective for operators to buy and provide. Then we can all reap the benefits – but not lose control.

Notwithstanding all the chat about spectrum and how to divvy it up (who remembers the last one? – thanks Gordon for single handedly almost killing the telcos in the UK with that little one – 3G anyone?). My interest is on, of course, the digital services side.

The main conclusion here is that it wont be an urban/rural divide but a socio-economic one. Well there you go! and theres me thinking the opposite. I haven’t been harping on about that very thing here for a few months but outside this Blog for over 18 months (to anyone who would listen). Whats the government response? if I may paraphrase, ‘we will make broadband accessible to all the UK population’. Oh really? I thought the government in previous reports has said that broadband was accessible to the majority of the population. And making is accessible helps the digital divide how exactly? Accessible DOES NOT mean used (see the same aforementioned reports). It needs to be accessible and affordable with the kit made available to make it useable at an affordable price to everyone.

The so called ‘experts’ (dont make me laugh) have said that broadband needs to be made available and that next gen networks should not be the focus and that 2Mbps is more than enough bandwidth….er well for whom exactly? Surely thats not limited by BTs steampowered network is it?….well excuse me for dosing up with a lump of salt there…….I have a well sited line close to my exchange in a major UK city and the best I can get is 3Mbps! on an ‘up to 8Mbps’ service. Oh, its time this ‘up to nMbps’ marketing was stopped. I have NEVER had more than 3.5Mbps……

Next generation networks are deliverable to day (and I dont mean by Virgin either) with no change needed to the BT backbone. These so called ‘experts’ just don’t see whats right in front of them, theres no innovation, they just pander to their own partnerships and BTs networks (not necessarily mutually exclusively I might add). After all they just want to sell kit and BT just want to lock you in with proprietary hardware – have you tried to get BT Vision without a BT home hub? – IPTV NOT they cant/dont stream any Telly…….and dont even get me started on VoIP…….

One day the smaller operators who can actually deliver this now will get our chance…that time is approaching my friends…..just watch this space.

So would you like to have a supplier that can provide a per-channel choice? would you like pick the channels you want from a whole list , not be told what channels you can have by being stuck with a bundle and then paying NOT to watch half of them?

This is what the new generation of IPTV service providers can bring. Flexibility, channel choice, pay as you go….all the choice you want but currently cannot get.

Unconstrained choice…..why bother with anything else…….?

Prepay is one answer; but of course when it comes to prepay energy they pay more (how is that fair – shouldn’t you get a discount for paying in advance?). Then there is pay as you go for mobiles. No premium there is there? well actually there is….you cant get the free and inclusive packages you can on a contract. So they are penalised again! why is this? I’m sure the providers have a reasonable excuse for this after all they have to run a business but as energy and mobiles are almost an essential part of todays life they must have room to maneuver? don’t they? perhaps not or perhaps they don’t want to. Reference the news in the last few weeks about direct debits being increased for energy and what that infers.

This is why as we develop and roll out our digital lifestyle services (voice, TV and Internet) we plan not to penalise those who want a pay and go or use a prepay service – why should we? alright it makes our financial planning a little more difficult but thats ALL it does. Why should those in low incomes or those who want to pay and go (and its not just Low income – maybe they want anonymity) be penalised? short answer, with us they wont be.

Surely when you deliver a service, that service should be as transparent as possible to the consumer. Shouldn’t it…….?

So, what are the service providers doing about it? what are they doing to address this issue? nothing…well theres a surprise……

You will find that its the smaller more mobile providers who are innovating, changing and disrupting the digital space. The technology is available now to digitally enable low income families. Watch this space…….

BT Vision is just marketing programme wrapped up in technology to lock you in to BTs services….you have to use their voice, you have to use their broadband and oh you have to use their ‘Home Hub’…….talk about vendor lock in with no choice…..