Oftel gives high-priority ADSL exchanges an Easter deadline

Oftel called an emergency meeting between itself, BT and other UK telcos to address mounting concerns over BT's unbundling of local exchanges and the lack of interest from operators. The result of the apparently constructive meeting is that Oftel has pulled forward the deadline for the opening of the more popular exchanges to before Easter, and BT will begin taking orders for these next month. Anne Lambert, Oftel's director of operations, said in a statement: "Oftel's objective is to ensure that construction of co-location facilities begins in the highest priority exchanges before Easter. ...more

Danish court blocks access to Allofmp3.com

A Danish court has ordered telecoms company Tele 2 to block Internet access to the controversial Russian music downloads site Allofmp3.com. The court unconditionally backed a complaint by the local branch of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) Denmark, which represents the major record companies and has been campaigning vigorously for the site to be shut down. ...more

MSN Messenger playing up

If you've found that MSN Messenger has been playing up lately, you're not alone. Up to one third of users have been having access problems according to Microsoft. The firm said that a hardware problem had caused the problem. ...more

Intel launches Celeron range with 64-bit memory addressing

Intel has introduced a new family in the budget priced range with the Celeron D 351, fitted with so-called Extended Memory 64 Technology. With the announcement, Intel says it has completed the transition of its entire line to EM64T. As a result, 64-bit memory addressing is now standard across the whole range of desktop and server processors although not, as yet, the notebook range. ...more

Apple signs lease on Regent Street store

Apple will open a retail store on London's Regent Street after agreeing a deal with Crown Estates, which manages the Queen's property. The Times reports that the 20,000ft store will cost ?1.5m a year in rent and will open before Christmas. ...more