Ofcom outlines VoIP plans

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has published its consultation document on proposals for the future regulation of Internet telephony (VoIP) services. The document sets out three objectives that Ofcom believes accommodate the pace of technological change while at the same time addressing how services should be regulated to best protect consumers' interests. The first objective is to avoid creating barriers to the development of VoIP services. ...more

Bulldog cuts price of 4Mbps broadband by a third

Bulldog has cut 30 per cent from the price of its 4Mbps broadband and telephone services. The cuts follow an expansion of the LLU-based ISP's coverage, which will make it available to 30 per cent of UK homes and business by the second half of 2005. New customers signing up before 31 March will get the reduced rates for one year. ...more

Microsoft withdraws from UN software standards group

Microsoft has pulled out of a United Nations sponsored software standards group. The company would only say that there were 'business reasons' for the decision for its withdrawal from the United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business, or UN/Cefact. It has been known for some time that the company has been unhappy with the direction the group has been going. ...more

EU sets 2012 date for digital TV

EU ministers have a set a Europe-wide date for the switch from analogue to digital TV broadcasts, and it is 2012. This suits the UK (and we currently hold the EU Presidency) as our own government-set date for switching has drifted from the original 2010 to 2012. A European Commission spokesman said that 10 of the 25 member states expect to go digital by 2010 but five have made no indication of whether they will make the change by 2012, reports Reuters,. ...more

Gigabyte to offer ATI RX330-based motherboards

Gigabyte Technology will be the first motherboard company to feature the discrete ATI RX330 chipset, with the board to be released by the end of this month, according to market sources. The ATI RX330 supports Intel's Pentium 4 processors and will compete in the same market segments as Intel's 865PE chipset, the sources noted. The RX330 also features an 800MHz FSB and dual-channel DDR memory, but does not include PCIe support. ...more