Money

Ofcom probes BT complaint on BSkyB

Press Association — 2013-06-19T11:00:00+00:00

The battle for armchair sports fans has escalated after regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into BSkyB's alleged refusal to share its Sky Sports channels with BT on "fair terms".

The telecoms watchdog said it has opened an investigation into Sky's "alleged abuse of a dominant position" regarding the wholesale supply of Sky Sports 1 and 2 - its flagship sports channels.

BT wants to offer Sky Sports via YouView set-top boxes to complement its own newly-launched sport offer. But BT said Sky will not allow the channels to be broadcast over BT boxes unless it offers its rival wholesale access to its own BT Sport channels in return.

BT sparked a price war with Sky last month when it launched free live Premier League action to football fans for the first time - if they buy its broadband starting at £10 a month.

From August, BT will show 38 Premier League games a season in the first major challenge to Sky's dominance of top-flight football.

The complaint was revealed as the countdown to the new Premier League season began with the release of fixtures.

BT argues that as a new player, it should not have to sell its channels to Sky, but its rival has an obligation to share the channels as the major force in paid-for sport broadcasting. BT added that Sky is discriminating against it because it already allows another company using the YouView box, TalkTalk, to sell Sky Sports.

Ofcom said it will "consider whether Sky has abused a dominant position under UK and/or EU competition law".

The regulator added it will decide by next month whether to grant "interim relief" - which could temporarily give BT access to Sky Sports.

BT currently offers TV to about 810,000 customers over its Vision and YouView boxes. BT is allowed to show Sky Sports over its older Vision boxes, but is moving customers to the more high-tech YouView platform.

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Netflix seals Dreamworks TV deal

Press Association — 2013-06-18T05:30:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Netflix is to air original television programming from Dreamworks Animation in a deal described as a major coup for both companies.

Financial details were not disclosed but Netflix said the multi-year agreement is its biggest deal for original first-run content. It includes more than 300 hours of new TV episodes in a deal starting in 2014.

The transaction helps Netflix compete with pay TV channels such as HBO and Showtime, and it gives Dreamworks a potentially lucrative outlet for its shows as it tries to shed its reliance on two or three big-budget movies each year.

Netflix doubled down on original children's programming, hoping to strengthen its push to become a family entertainment brand. The new content should ease some of the pain of losing a range of children's shows from Viacom's Nickelodeon network, including future episodes of Dora The Explorer, which Amazon snapped up for its streaming service in early June.

"This is arguably a groundbreaking deal," said Tuna Amobi, a Standard & Poor's equity analyst who covers both Netflix and DreamWorks Animation.

While concerns remain about how much the deal will cost Netflix in the end, the company said it is a global deal that will allow it to debut the original series in the 40 countries where Netflix operates. That could help spread the costs over more territories and more subscribers if Netflix continues to grow overseas.

Investors hailed the deal as a win-win. Netflix shares rose 7.3%, while DreamWorks was up 4%.

The deal suggests DreamWorks will significantly ramp up its production of TV shows. Currently, it only produces Dragons: Riders Of Berk for Cartoon Network, which completed a run of 20 episodes at 23 minutes each - less than eight hours of content in all - in March.

A second season of Dragons is set for release in the autumn, and Netflix had already contracted with DreamWorks for a series based on its upcoming film Turbo. But the deal suggests that several new series will have to debut each year to fulfil the industry standard deal length of five to seven years.

New series will be based on characters either from future film hits, past franchises like Shrek, or even older hits, including the hundreds of characters like Casper The Friendly Ghost, which DreamWorks acquired when it bought Classic Media last July.

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TV licence fee excuses revealed

Press Association — 2013-06-18T03:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

A homeowner tried to wriggle out of paying their TV licence fee by claiming they merely used the glow from the set as a lamp to help them read.

Another said they did not think they needed a licence because their pet corgi was said to be related to one of the Queen's dogs.

They are among the excuses trotted out after viewers were found to have TV sets without having paid the annual fee.

They were revealed by officials from TV Licensing as they launched a drive to encourage more people to pay up.

Other excuses included being unable to get to the shops because the Olympic torch relay had made the area too busy, while another person who was caught said they were unable to pay as they had been barred from their local outlet after being caught shoplifting.

Another is said to have claimed they did not bother to buy one because they had stolen the TV set.

More than 400,000 people were caught last year watching TV without a licence.

Now to highlight the issue, TV Licensing has teamed up with a Bafta-winning animator to bring some of the excuses to life for a short-film on YouTube.

Spokesman Stephen Farmer said: "Some of the excuses are simply hilarious whilst others show a great deal of imagination and creativity, but being caught without a valid TV licence is a criminal offence and no laughing matter.

"Joking and wacky excuses apart, it's breaking the law to watch live television without a licence so anybody doing this risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000."

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Ban on BT ads offering 'free' YouView box

Hannah Ricci — 2013-06-13T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

A BT ad offering a 'free' YouView box worth £299 has been banned for misleading customers.

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints about the advertisement that required signing up to a contract and paying £5 for TV channels; £15.45 a month for phone line rental and a £49 'activation charge' for customers new to its TV service.Four complaints were made about the advert, which appeared in print, TV and email format. Two were upheld while two were rejected.

The main issue was whether the claim that the YouView box was "free" was misleading, because a number of financial commitments were required in order to obtain it - effectively cancelling out any savings.

Misleading
The ASA ruled that the adverts would have been acceptable if another provider had received the money from the activation charge in order to offer the service. Its ruling stated: "We considered that the activation fee was in effect linked to the YouView box and we concluded that the claim that the box was 'free' was misleading."

BT defended the advert, telling ASA that the activation fee "applied to the BT TV service, rather than to the YouView box, and that customers did not have to take the YouView box, which was separate to the calls, broadband and TV packages that customers must take to be eligible for the 'free' box."

Breach of code
BT has come under fire from the ASA before for misleading customers. In 2010, a national press advert purporting "instant" video and music downloads with its BT Infinity service was banned as some delays would still be experienced.

In 2009, the ASA upheld challenges brought by Sky against BT - who claimed that its BT Vision service showed new film releases before Sky Movies. ASA ruled that the advert was misleading because on-demand films were shown at the same time on Sky Box Office as BT Vision.

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Government phone lines investigated

Press Association — 2013-06-12T05:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

A public spending watchdog is investigating claims that the use of premium-rate phone lines by government departments amounts to a "telephone tax".

The National Audit Office expects to deliver its verdict in July, head Amyas Morse told campaigning MP John Healey.

The Labour former minister led calls for a probe after exposing the extent of the use of such numbers. His research found the high-cost lines account for 61% of all telephone lines at 16 government departments and agencies.

Calls to 084- numbers cost up to 41p per minute and the Department for Transport earned £2.5 million from calls in two years.

The Home Office topped the list, with 96% of its lines being high cost: 22 out of 23 lines.

The Department for Work and Pensions was singled out for criticism given the number of low-income users likely to use its phone lines.

Services charging 0845 rates include sections dealing with disability living allowance, carers allowance, job centres and the social fund (can provide help for people on low incomes who are facing emergency expenses), as well as at the Pension Service, Insolvency Service, Rural Payments Agency and the Skills Funding Agency (houses the National Apprenticeship Service and is tasked with increasing apprenticeships).

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has since confirmed that new benefit helplines, for personal independence payment and universal credit, will also use 0845.

The HMRC also pocketed £4.7 million worth of free services offered by Cable & Wireless in exchange for 400 million minutes of calls to 0845 numbers.

A Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency spokesman said: "All the DVLA's phone lines for services to motorists are either free or charged at the local rate. Premium rate lines are only in place in response to requests from the motoring industry and any revenue raised is used to offset the cost of providing this service."

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Sky TV to hike fees from September

Adrian Holliday — 2013-06-11T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Prepare to pay up to 10% more for your Sky TV package from September. The specific costs aren't known but it looks increasingly likely the cheapest package will start from around £23.50 a month.

The news will disappoint many given the presence of competitor BT on the pay-TV block. So not much of a price war - so far.

Sky high?

Last year Sky hiked prices by 5% for sport bundles and around 7.5% for entertainment packages. The news of the increase was stuck on Sky's online shop web site. "Sky TV price will increase on 1 September 2013 by up to 10% in accordance with our standard terms," it said in a legal note at the bottom of the page.

Last week BT, having promised broadband subscribers its TV channels would be free, said it was hiking the price of its line rental saver plan by 10%, climbing from £129 a year to £141. With BT you can watch Premier League for free (though BT can't match Sky for sport output: cricket, golf, etc; Sky shows around three times as many Premier League games).

Shares in broadband players have come under pressure recently on fears that new competition would eat into profits. But it's still expected Sky will shortly slash prices for its broadband packages (though there is little detail currently) in an attempt to keep up the pressure on BTSport.

Package changes

"Many sports fans have broadband through us and their TV through Sky," said Peter Oliver, commercial director for BT Consumer, quoted in the Telegraph. "Our channels will be free for those households, so we'd be happy seeing their monthly bills reduced by Sky."

Oliver added: "We think Sky customers are grossly overcharged and welcome any cuts they make to their package."

Sky charges consumers almost £620 a year - including the price of line rental - for complete access to all its sports channels, plus 2GB of downloads a month. For the moment, it look like Virgin Media is keeping out of the fray though it's thought Virgin is interested in offering BTSport content.

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Freeview TV signal under threat from 4G

Adrian Holliday — 2013-06-06T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

You could lose your Freeview TV sound and picture - even entire channels, some predict - in the next few weeks as mobile phone companies switch on new 4G masts. 3 Mobile, 02 and Vodafone are all ramping up their testing regimes in preparation for rolling out the new technology.

Ofcom is worried. Who could be affected?

No signal?

It is difficult to tell as the situation will depend on the quality of your TV signal, the age of your equipment, and how close you are to a 4G mast. Many 4G masts will operate at an 800mhz frequency, very close to the 700mhz band taken by Freeview.

EE, which has already launched 4G operations, uses the 1800mhz frequency - which raises EE clear of the Freeview TV band by some margin.

"When the 800 MHz spectrum starts being used for mobile services," Ofcom has said in a statement, "they will be close in frequency to the spectrum used for digital terrestrial television (DTT). This means that there will be potential interference from mobile base stations."

Potentially up to two million people could suffer Freeview reception and sound issues. However At800, the company tasked with ensuring that problems are minimised, claims the figure is much lower.

Filter solution

"If national rollout reflects the results seen during its tests, At800 expects no more than 90,000 households with Freeview as their primary TV service," it says, "to experience disruption caused by 4G at 800 MHz."

If you suffer from picture or sound disruption, At800 will send you a filter in the post. If that doesn't solve the problem "it may be worth," the company says, "seeing if it is viable to move you to an alternative TV platform such as free satellite or cable services."

"Alternatively, it may be of more value to see if there are improvements to your existing TV aerial installation that are likely to restore Freeview, such as replacing old or misaligned aerials and improving coaxial cabling between your antenna and receiver."

A good swathe of Freeview customers though are elderly with some taking the service following the switch-off of the old analogue broadcasting signal. If you do have problems, contact At800 for advice.

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Ofcom considers BT 'dominance'

Press Association — 2013-05-02T04:30:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Telecoms watchdog Ofcom is probing BT's dominance and pricing in the superfast broadband market after a complaint from a rival.

TalkTalk Telecom Group (TTG) complained to the regulator that BT had been "abusing its dominant position... in relation to the supply of superfast broadband", following a public spat between the two telecoms firms.

If Ofcom rules against it, BT could be forced by the regulator to raise prices for households, cut wholesale prices for the likes of TalkTalk or pay a fine.

BT is spending £2.5 billion of its own cash to connect two-thirds of the country to its new fibre optic broadband network by the end of 2014.
In rural areas it is tapping Government funds to make the roll-out viable.

Fibre offers significantly faster internet speeds than existing copper lines and is sold to BT customers under the BT Infinity brand.

But TalkTalk, which buys wholesale access to the fibre network from BT, alleges the charges it and customers are levied do not allow it to make enough profit when selling on fibre broadband.

Ofcom said: "TTG alleges that BT has failed to maintain a sufficient margin between its upstream costs and downstream prices, thereby operating an abusive margin squeeze."

A BT spokesman said: "We're disappointed that Ofcom has opened this case despite the lack of any evidence and we're confident that there's no case to answer. It would be better if the industry's and Ofcom's focus was on investing in the future of the country rather than on spurious actions designed to hold up fibre in the UK."

A TalkTalk spokesman said: "We have long maintained that there needs to be tighter regulation in superfast broadband to ensure a level playing field and therefore deliver real benefits for consumers and businesses."

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Ofcom to end 0800 rip-off mobile fees

Adrian Holliday — 2013-04-16T08:30:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Ofcom is set to force all mobile operators to stop charging for 0800 numbers. The telecoms regulator is to moved on the practice which sees consumers charged up to 40p a minute for 'free' calls.

These fees are estimated to make around £100m a year for EE, Vodafone, Three and O2. How soon will the changes comes into place for you to save money?

Not so free

Don't hold your breath. Ofcom claims it will allow 18 months from the conclusion of its review, which closes on 28 May, for the fees to be abolished. That means it's giving mobile phone operators till January 2015 to continue rake in extortionate charges from British consumers.

Why so long? Ofcom spokesperson Joe Smithies told AOL Money that Ofcom wants to push through two separate changes at the same time. The first is an end to charging mobile phone users for 0800 numbers; the second is the technically bigger reform he claims: new rules on the cost of any number starting with 08,09 or 118.

Confusion potential

"It's a huge project. There will be an access charge and a fixed fee across all calls to those numbers, with caps on 09 premium umbers. Consumers will be able to compare who's offering the lowest charge." Smithies says the access fee should only be a few pence; the other element will be a service charge.

This charge will be set by the companies and organisations themselves, and they would have to make it clear to consumers how much they are charging. So there is still potential for confusion, though Ofcom claims the new changes should be easier to understand.

Save now

Bear in mind that websites such as JustsayNo can meanwhile help you keep the cost of landline calls down to companies with 0845, 0844 and 0870 numbers (charging up to 12p a minute in some cases). These numbers continue to be big revenue earners: a company with 3,000 daytime callers, each holding for 10 minutes, can generate £150,000, claims Money Saving Expert.

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Tesco launches free Clubcard TV: what's the catch?

Sarah Coles — 2013-03-07T07:16:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Last night Tesco launched Clubcard TV. Clubcard holders can get free access to 500 movies and 1,700 TV programmes, which can all be streamed direct to your television. The launch featured films ranging from the Shawshank Redemption to Oceans Eleven, and TV programmes included The Only Way is Essex and Doc Martin.

It's all completely free - forever - so what's the catch?

Freebie

You cannot knock the TV service itself. There's genuinely no cost, and the next 2,200 times you think there's nothing in particular to watch on TV you can opt for a film or TV programme on demand without having to pay for a subscription or a downloading fee.

Clearly these aren't the newest releases out there, or the hottest TV programmes, but there will be plenty for a wet Wednesday evening.

Michael Comish, CEO of Tesco Digital Entertainment, said: "Clubcard TV offers a whole world of free entertainment for all the family. It makes digital entertainment easy and accessible for our customers."

There will be new content added all the time, and there are plans to extend the service to a range of devices including games consoles, tablets, Smart TVs, Blu-ray players and set top boxes.

This is great in itself, but also raises the possibility that other subscription deals will be forced to raise their game in order to compete - and make a chunk of their programming free too.

Why?

If you're wondering what's in it for Tesco, it was an area where Tesco was always destined to go when it bought 80% of video-on-demand company Blinkbox in April 2011.

The company clearly believes that in future everything will be digital, so rather than just watch DVD and CD sales dwindle to nothing, it has put itself at the forefront of the future of how we consume media.

The tricky part was working out how to make money from it, but Tesco has cracked this too. And this is the part where we come to the catch.

The catch

There's a reason why you need to be a Clubcard holder in order to access the service. Cornish explains: "The reason we can offer great programming for free is because customers will see relevant advertising before and during the movie or TV show they are watching. We'll use Clubcard data to tell us what might be relevant for our customers and therefore help us deliver a more personalised service."

And what it means by 'more personalised' is 'more likely to get you to spend money'. One of the launch advertisers is Kellogg's. If you regularly buy products from Kellogg's, then the chances are that by showing an advert for a new cereal before the a kid's film they will get you and the kids considering a purchase.

You can be targeted with adverts for things which are slightly more expensive than the version you currently buy, or to buy more of the range.

Data

Even if you are immune to the power of advertising, the other cost is that the supermarket could be collecting data about you and your viewing habits. The company said in a statement: "Customers will have an opportunity to shape Clubcard TV by providing feedback both on content and additional features they would like to see added."

It means that if you provide this feedback, Tesco could know when you're most likely to have a family cinema night, or a 'girl's night in', whether it makes you more likely to buy popcorn or pizza, what they can sell you on those specific days, and when you are more likely to be tempted to indulge.

There are plenty of people who aren't worried by these things: they'd like to know if there's a deal on to suit them. However, there are others who worry that this data is all to readily available, and they don't want a large corporation knowing their business.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

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ICSS: this premium rate number rip-off will cost you a fortune

lovemoney.com — 2013-02-25T09:15:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

I needed to contact The Guardian earlier this week. I did not have a direct line and I could not recall the switchboad main number. So, being lazy, I hit the search engine with " Guardian telephone number".

The first entry "need the number for The Guardian ?" pointed to a website which started with "guardian". But opening the page, I did not recognise either the website or the number. It started with 09, had nothing to do with The Guardian, and was a painful £1.53 a minute premium rate line.

Welcome to the strange world of Information Connection Signposting Services (ICSS). It means that a ten-minute call to an organisation that would normally be free (thanks to either a freephone number or the number being covered by my phone package) will actually cost me a whopping £15.30.

Had I used the 09 number, I would have been connected automatically to my real target, but at a hugely higher cost - plus possible expensive delaying tactics to spin out the call.

Cracking down on the premium rate hijackers

It is true that the premium number website does indicate (in small print) that it has nothing to do with the paper and that there are other ways of accessing its number at no charge. But I'm not surprised that premium rate regulator PhonepayPlus has received "a significant number of complaints about these services", offered by around ten sites.

The regulator expects to announce tougher rules in the next few weeks.

PhonepayPlus told me it was concerned about the potential for these services to cause significant harm, misleading people into thinking that the premium rate number they are being offered is the actual number of the organisation, which in turn risks undermining consumer confidence in the public or commercial organisations with which the ICSS associate themselves.

It added: "Vulnerable consumers seeking information or helplines may be especially susceptible to misleading promotions, and may suffer particular detriment in terms of cost. Consumers may also be subject to delays - either through being put on hold or by being asked to provide irrelevant details. They may in some cases be asked for personal and/or confidential data such as account details or passwords."

It stops short of demanding a complete ban but it wants search engines to clearly indicate that the link leads to a premium rate number, and it intends stopping delaying tactics to pad out the time - and the cost - of the call. Above all, it wants a "prior-permissions" regime where users have to agree to the use of these high-cost numbers beforehand.

It's not alone

PhonepayPlus is not the only organisation that wants to see changes made. Citizens Advice is also calling for a prior-permissions regime, describing the "misleading practices" of ICSS providers as "indefensible". It's also concerned that two new public policy changes - Ofcom's intention to make 080 numbers free to call from mobiles and the effect of the Consumer Rights Directive in requiring companies not to charge premium rates for customer service phone lines - will be undermined by ICSS.

PayPal has also spoken up, demanding that ICSS are not allowed to ask people for personal and/or confidential log in details (such as online account numbers or passwords) which relate to the company or organisation that the consumer is ultimately trying to reach, as has happened with PayPal users.

How the ICSS justify their practices

The providers justify what they do as "finding hard numbers".

One told PhonepayPlus: "The majority of services exist to assist consumers in finding difficult contact numbers buried within services or websites or simply unavailable and are offered and used as a time saving measure and as a chargeable service. The Premium Number use covers the cost of advertising and offers a valuable service.

"It is clear that if the consumer took the time and effort that they may be able to find the number required and it should be assumed that for most cases they are using the service because they are unable to navigate the relevant corporate website and are looking for a quick and simple solution. We agree that the general public should not be misled and the website should be clear in its purpose and offering. "

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10 ways to energize your laptop or PC

AOL Money Staff — 2013-02-14T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Take care of your hardware

The health of your machine relies largely on the condition of its hardware. While you can't completely avoid wear-and-tear, you can keep your hardware as healthy as possible by following 3 simple rules:

o. Keep your display and keyboards clean. With proper care and treatment, your computer's display, keyboards, and tracking pad should last for a long time-even longer than the hard drive itself. However, these components can also be easily damaged through careless mishaps.

Keep food and liquids away from your PC or laptop to prevent any inadvertent spills or stains, regularly wipe the screen with a lint-free cloth (dry or lightly sprayed with glass cleaner), and clean out the keyboard using compressed air.

o. Don't let your PC or laptop overheat. Perhaps the worst enemy of hardware is heat. Hard drives in laptops can be more tolerant of high temperatures than those in desktop models, but even a laptop is susceptible to damage caused by excessive heat. If the temperature is high, make sure air can flow and circulate around your computer and that the exhaust fan is not blocked. Regularly clean out the fans and inlets with compressed air; these components often get clogged up with dust or pet hair. And consider getting a cooling pad, a laptop accessory that helps reduce operating temperatures.

o. Use a case. Laptops are designed for portability, but it's important to remember that they're also sensitive electronic equipment. The everyday hazards that befall laptops-the knocks, the drops, and the spills-can end up taking a toll on overall performance. While most laptop models are quite sturdy, it always helps to keep it in a padded case or sleeve to protect it from the inevitable bumps and jolts.

Take care of your software

The best way to extend the life of your PC is to keep its operating system and other software in peak shape. To ensure that yours operates smoothly and stably for years to come, you should:

o. Install and update antivirus software. It's critical to the life of your PC that you keep viruses, spyware, and other malicious programs from infiltrating it. Your first line of defense is good anti-malware software, and because malicious files evolve and change very quickly, it's equally important that you have a program capable of adapting to new threats.

o. Clear out system clutter. Eliminating clutter is one of the simplest and yet most effective tasks you can do for your laptop's health: regular de-cluttering prevents unneeded files from building up and needlessly draining your resources.

Maintain battery life

The more life your battery has, the better-particularly when you're on the go and it's almost impossible to find an electrical outlet in a busy airport or coffee shop. To maximize your laptop's battery power, you should:

o. Avoid extreme temperatures. Neither extreme cold nor extreme heat is good for the battery-but heat is especially damaging. Leaving your laptop in a car on a hot day or otherwise exposing it to extreme heat can cut the life of your battery in half, if not kill the battery altogether.

o. Put your laptop into "sleep" or "hibernate" mode when you're not using it. Configure it so that it powers down after being idle for a set amount of time-this conserves a great deal of battery power. Laptops typically offer a "sleep" (or "standby") mode and a "hibernation" mode.

With a sleep mode, power is suspended from the display and from most, but not all, system operations. When you return, you'll be up and running quickly, but your PC still will be drawing some energy from the battery pack.

With a hibernate mode, your laptop is not using any battery power at all. Of the two modes, hibernate saves the most energy, but the time it takes for everything to power up will be a bit longer; this mode may be ideal for when you're away from it for a long period of time.

o. Turn off or limit use of power-draining processes. There are a number of small changes you can make to cut down on the amount of battery power your laptop uses: for example, you can dim the brightness of the screen, turn down the sound, and turn off the WiFi feature when you're not web surfing. The basic rule of thumb is: if you're not using it, turn it off.

AOL offers a 30 day free trial for System Mechanic. System Mechanic is the world's best-selling PC performance software. It helps speed up your system start time and speeds up the overall performance of your PC. It was awarded PC Plus Magazine's Editor's Choice Winner (2012). To take a 30 day free trial for System Mechanic, click here.

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6 tips for cleaning up and organising Your PC

AOL Money Staff — 2013-02-12T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Step 1: Tidy up the desktop

As a general rule, the state of your Windows desktop is a pretty good indicator of the overall organisation of your PC. If your desktop is littered with shortcuts and files, getting rid of that clutter is a good first step to take.

o. Treat your Windows desktop like you would your physical one. You wouldn't keep stacks of old files on your office desktop, so why clutter up your virtual one? Important reference tools, immediate-response items, and frequently-used files can stay out on your desktop, but old documents, files, installers, or programs should either get deleted or filed away elsewhere.

o. Take out the trash. Emptying the Recycle Bin-especially if you haven't done it in a while-can free up hard drive space on your PC that could be better used for files and programs that you use and need (as opposed to those you've discarded).

Step 2: Clear out old or unnecessary files

Over time, people tend to amass all kinds of documents and files on their work computers. Some of them are important to keep around, while others don't necessarily stand the test of time.

o. Determine which files are important for you to save. Important files that are worth saving or having around just in case usually include:

Tax documents and financial statements. While you don't need to keep these around forever, it's a good idea to have your recent financial records and statements at hand. These can be filed away in a separate folder, marked by year (or by month, depending on your needs).

Files with sentimental or personal value. Whether it's a picture from your daughter's fifth birthday, a note of support from a good friend, or a draft of that novel you've been working on, there are some files that you know you can't afford to lose. Make sure these are clearly labeled so that you won't accidentally delete them. Ideally, you should also have a few copies backed up in a secure location (see Step 3 below).

o. Determine which files are dispensable.

Check the dates. When you look through the list of the files on your computer, check the date that each document or file was last modified. If you notice that a document hasn't been modified for over a year, you should consider whether you need to update them or discard them.

Long-finished projects. If you still have projects from a year or two ago still lurking on your hard drive, ask yourself whether or not you need to keep them around. Do you still use them for reference? Can you see yourself returning to them at a later date? If not, delete them.

Ephemera. These include the silly e-mail forwards and pictures that your friends may have sent along to you, fliers for events that have long passed, and so on. Unless they possess any sentimental value for you, it is a pretty safe bet that you can delete them.

Step 3: Back up and save important documents

If you have documents that you'd like to keep around but don't necessarily need to have on your everyday work or home computer, back them up or save them to an external drive or online storage source. (Ideally, you should back up your information in more than one location.)

o. Save to an external hard drive. External hard drives are usually very capacious and are particularly useful for storing entire collections-music collections, video and image galleries, and so on. If you have a large quantity of this kind of material on your hard drive, consider storing them on an external drive to free up space for new projects on your primary PC.

o. Use a secure online backup source. It's always a good idea to back up your documents online-whether that means emailing important information to yourself or using an automated online backup program. This way, you can be secure knowing that your most important files won't disappear even if your PC gets lost or crashes.

Step 4: De-clutter email inbox

Your email inbox is one of the places that can amass the greatest amount of clutter in the shortest amount of time. As a result, de-cluttering your inbox isn't just a matter of clearing out all of the junk mail, inter-office memos, listserv posts and forwarded chain letters every couple of weeks-it's also a matter of organizing your folders and setting up your email filters ahead of time to save you headaches later.

o. Delete old emails. First, go through your current inbox and purge old and unnecessary emails. Don't forget to also delete old items from your "sent mail" folder-especially files with large attachments-since these tend to build up over time. Getting rid of these emails will free up a lot of space in both your email program and on your hard drive.

o. Organise folders. If you haven't done so already, creating and using email folders to sort your mail into different categories can help you organize your emails more quickly and easily than before. Some people like to sort their email by project or category (e.g. keeping different folders for work projects, client correspondence, personal email, mailing lists, and so on), while others prefer to sort their email in order of urgency (e.g. keep one folder for emails that need an immediate response; another for long-term projects, and yet another as an archive of important information).

o. Set up email filters. With most email programs, you can set up filters to make sure that emails from particular addresses or domains are immediately directed into their relevant folder--automatically organizing your inbox for you! With filters, you can make sure that all of the emails coming from your clients get sent directly into your "clients" folder, the emails from your boss get directed to your "tasks" folder, and emails from your husband or wife get sent into your "home" or "personal" folder.

Step 5: Clean up internet files

Cleaning up and organizing your internet browser program can help you find and access your favorite sites more quickly and easily than before. What's more, regularly clearing out your browser cache can help your browser run more quickly and securely than before.

o. Organise your bookmarks/favorites. You bookmark your favorite sites to make them easier to access from the browser window, but if there are too many bookmarks for you to scroll through before you find the right one, then it seems almost counterproductive. Besides, do you still need to have all of these sites bookmarked? Take a few moments to get rid of the bookmarks you no longer need, and organize your bookmarks into folders so that you can access them more quickly and easily than before.

o. Empty your internet and browser cache. It's a good idea to clean out your browser cache every once in a while to get rid of all the junk file and clutter that may have accumulated over time. Additionally, if you work on a PC with multiple users, or are vigilant about maintaining your internet privacy, it's a good idea to clean out the cache on a regular basis to make sure that your passwords and other saved information gets deleted.

Sep 6: Get rid of unused and redundant programs

Chances are, you don't use all of the programs that are installed on your PC. In addition to the programs that you use on a regular basis, there are a number of programs that may have come pre-installed on your computer, as well as other programs that may have sneakily "piggybacked" in on one of the programs you downloaded and installed.

Getting rid of these unused and redundant programs not only helps to free up hard drive space and keep your PC streamlined and organized, it can also prevent the freezes and crashes that occur when two programs with duplicate functions compete over the same resources.

o. Use the Add or Remove Programs function in the Control Panel to review a list of the programs you have installed on your PC. You may be surprised at the number of programs that you have installed on your PC that you no longer use! If you know which programs you can safely uninstall from your PC, then you can do so from this screen.

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New 4G signal could cause TV blackout for 2.3 million households

lovemoney.com — 2013-02-12T07:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

As the super-fast 4G network is rolled out, TV signals across the country could be about to conk out.

The 4G network, which is being rolled out this year to increase internet speeds, could cause TV signal problems for 2.3million households. That's 10% of the population.

It will be rolled out from May 2013 and will mainly affect TVs close to 4G mobile base stations and those a long way from a TV transmitter.

To cope with the problem, a new company has been set up with £180 million raised from the 4G network auction.

The 4G blackout

Fourth Generation, or 4G, internet is a super-fast broadband which will provide internet services up to five times faster than the current 3G network.

But the problem is it's likely to interfere with existing TV signals because it works on the radio spectrum which was originally used for 2G networks. This network, also known as 800MHZ, uses a very close frequency to the Freeview network. This means some Freeview customers will notice signal problems, but those with cable or satellite won't notice a difference.

Those households which use Freeview as their primary TV source, (around 900,000 households) will be able to get free help from the Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited (DMSL) company.

It will contact people who are likely to be affected and give advice about how to avoid any problems. This includes giving out free filters for those households who are likely to experience problems.

These should stop any interference, but they won't work on all TVs. In these instances customers will be offered alternative ways to watch TV, such as being moved to an alternative satellite or cable platform for free.

The 4G roll-out

Everything Everywhere (EE) is the only operator with the right to offer customers the 4G network but other providers are currently bidding for licences.

Once these are approved, 4G will be rolled out across the country, with the aim of offering broadband speeds which are much faster than the current rate. This should begin in May and could take between three and five years.

More information can be found on the website AT800 (run by DMSL).

Will new handset mean the end of nuisance calls?

Trisha Doyle — 2013-02-07T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Sitting down to dinner or the very day you decide to enjoy a lazy morning in bed, the nuisance call strikes. Whether it's a PPI mis-selling claims firm, a recorded message or a silent call, it's a familiar problem for those with a landline.

According to research by Ofcom, 71% of us have received a marketing call to our landlines in the last six months, with elderly customers having a four in five chance of being affected.

There are steps you can take but there are potential pitfalls - particularly for those who aren't as web savvy - in the form of dodgy firms pretending to be the Telephone Preference Service (a free service), and who charge consumers for registering to stop marketing calls. Despite registering with the TPS, some firms continue to call consumers which means a potentially lengthy complaints process. For consumers wishing to sidestep these problems altogether, BT has developed a handset specifically designed to tackle nuisance calls.

How it works

Although withheld numbers can be legitimate, they are often used by telemarketers. The BT6500 handset allows consumers to block withheld and international numbers. Instead of ringing, the phone redirects the call to voicemail. If problem calls are emanating from a specific number, up to 10 numbers can be blocked on the handset.

The handset also features a 'Do Not Disturb' mode, meaning the phone won't ring unless the caller is on a pre-programmed list of friends and family.

By blocking international, withheld and up to 10 specified numbers, BT claims the handset can block up to 80% of unwanted calls.

Nuisance calls have been a continuing problem for consumers and the issue shows no sign of abating. BT receives more than 50,000 calls a month to their Nuisance Calls Advice Line. Ofcom alone receives around 3,392 calls a month about silent calls, with 57% of consumers receiving five or more calls a month.

What you can do

The BT6500 handset retails at £44.99 and is an expensive solution to the problem. There are free ways of stopping, or at least minimising problem phone calls. A full outline of the steps you can take can be found in this article How to stop unwanted phone calls. The most important first step is to register with the Telephone Preference Service. It will take 28 days for your number to appear on the banned list. If you're still receiving calls, Ofcom has further details on how to complain.

US firm poised for Virgin Media bid

Press Association — 2013-02-05T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Virgin Media has confirmed it is in talks over a possible takeover by US cable giant Liberty Global.

It is thought that Liberty Global could make a bid within days for Virgin Media - Britain's second biggest pay TV company, with almost five million customers.

Liberty Global has pay TV operations around the world and is the largest cable operator in most of its 11 European markets, including Ireland.

In a short statement, Virgin Media said: "Virgin Media confirms that it is in discussions with Liberty Global, a leading international cable company, concerning a possible transaction. Any such transaction would be subject to regulatory and other conditions."

It is the second time Liberty Global, which is chaired by billionaire media mogul John Malone, has looked at buying Virgin Media, in which Sir Richard Branson still holds a minority stake.

If a bid was successful, it would see Mr Malone, who is a former News Corporation shareholder, become a direct rival to Rupert Murdoch's market leading BSkyB.

Mr Malone had previously built up an 18% stake in Mr Murdoch's News Corporation, before Mr Murdoch swapped it for News Corp's interest in US satellite business DirecTV.

Mr Malone, who has said previously he would like to enter the UK market, surprised the City when he did not bid for a stake in BSkyB when the Murdochs were forced to drop their attempts to gain full control of the satellite giant in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.

It is thought that Liberty, whose European markets span from Austria to Switzerland, would make savings on set-top boxes and other technology across the group as a result of a deal with Virgin Media.

Virgin Media was formed through the merger of NTL, Telewest and Virgin Mobile in 2006 and is listed in New York.

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BSkyB sports channels daily deal: good value?

Sarah Coles — 2013-01-31T07:19:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Sky Sports divides many households. One person may think it's well worth paying for sports coverage, while the other may think they are forking out £42.50 for access to the sports channels (and get a host of other channels which they don't particularly want), when there are really only a few unmissable matches a season.

Now there's a new solution, as Sky has announced a transformation in its subscription services, with the option to buy sports packages for single day only. So would you do it?

Daily

The broadcaster said in its latest report that it will make all six sports channels available for a single day - even if you don't have any other Sky services or a Sky box. If you have a TV that is connected to the internet (like a smart TV) or you're happy to watch on your PC or iPad, all you have to do is pay £9.99 a day, and there's no commitment.

It's part of Sky's Now TV pay-as-you-go service, which has shaken up a subscription service that for so long has relied on big sports matches in order to get people to sign up for the full package.

It makes logical sense for the firm. It has a pay-as-you-go offering, because this is the way that much of our media consumption is moving. Its traditional business is static, but its download business is booming. Now it has extended the offering to sports fans, who may not be able to afford a full subscription, but don't want to miss out on certain matches.

But does it make sense for you?

Essentially it all depends on how often you really want to watch sporting fixtures. If you only ever want to watch your own football team play league matches then you're likely to spend just under £400 a year - compared to £510 for a full subscription.

If you want to watch all the Formula 1 (just the races) then you'll pay just under £200: if you want to watch the practice sessions too that'll still only come to £400, which again is a clear saving.

If you like to watch a bit of sport on a Saturday all year round then you should break even (which is presumably why they picked this particular price point).

If you only really want to watch the big fixtures, national games, and finals, then you could stand to save substantially.

However, if you are a die-hard fan of all sports, and can be found watching pre-season friendlies, or cup ties between two teams you wouldn't know where to find on a map of the UK, then all is lost. There's nothing to be saved from the new tariff, and you will have to sign up to spending £510 a year on your sporting obsession.

It may mean you don't ever have the cash to go out - but then again you probably don't have time or inclination to either.

But what do you think? Does this service appeal? Let us know in the comments.

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The 7 craziest bills: could you get one?

Sarah Coles — 2013-01-30T12:13:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

How would you cope with a £19,000 mobile phone bill? Or a £33,000 water bill? How about a £500 bill for porn you never ordered or watched? Or a phone bill with so many zeros that you're not entirely sure how much the bill is for?

All these bills have been received in the last year - most of them in the UK. So what are the seven craziest bills, and how can you avoid a nasty surprise like this?

1. £750 for checking Facebook (the roaming risk)

This bill emerged when Carphone Warehouse was researching how common it was to accidentally rack up big charges by checking social media sites when you're on holiday.

It came across Carly Woodgate, a 30-year-old mental health support worker from south west London, who regularly checked Facebook and Twitter while she holidayed in New York and was hit by a £750 bill when she returned.

The company warned that to avoid a surprise like this you need to check your data roaming charges, arrange to put a cap in place, turn off 'data-roaming', use local wifi rather than the 3G network, and avoid using data-intensive applications.

2. The £7,000 mobile bill (the downloading disaster)

Chris Wilson, a decorator from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, was left reeling when he received his mobile phone bill for just one month from Orange. He had been charged £6,875. The company says that the incredible charges came from downloading TV programmes and films.

The company and the customer disagreed dramatically over the quantity of downloading he had engaged in. However, it raises a real risk.

If you are to avoid download disasters you need to understand your limits and your usage. You need to know roughly how much data you are using, and keep an eye on it during the month to ensure you don't risk going over your limits. If you discover your use is very high, it may well be worth opting for an unlimited data package.

3. £19,000 internet bill (the technical glitch)

Chris Bovis, a 26-year-old builder from Tilbury in Essex, was cut off by Orange after it tried and failed to take £19,000, from his account. The company said it had been caused by unusually large amounts of data being downloaded through his mobile phone.

Investigations indicate that the sky-high charges were caused by a fault with his iPhone, which meant it started sending and receiving large amounts of internet data in error. Fortunately the company agreed to reduce charges to zero as long as Apple confirmed the fault.

There's very little you can do to stop a technical glitch. However, you can nip it in the bud if you keep an eye on your usage. You should have an idea of what you are using, and it pays to check a couple of times a month that your usage matches your expectations.

4. £33,000 for water (leaking on a meter)

Ryan Bishop, a 29-year-old scaffolding firm owner from Peacehaven in East Sussex, faced a £33,000 water bill after 21.5 million litres of water leaked around his property, and he was billed through the meter.

Eventually the water company repaired the leak and agreed to waive the charges for water that had leaked into the ground, but it comes as a timely reminder that we shouldn't just let meters tick away in the cupboard under the stairs. We need to check them occasionally to be sure our usage matches our expectations.

5. £500 for downloading films (bamboozled by technology)

Ron Hayward, 74, and his wife Ann, 71 from Reddish near Manchester, were charged £500 by Virgin Media, and the itemised bill reveals that this was largely caused by the live streaming of porn to their property. On some days they were billed for 14 of these films a day. The couple have no idea how or why this was happening, and the service has been turned off at the property.

It's hard to know what happened here, but it's worth considering whether you understand all the services you have signed up to. You may have bought a TV package, for example, but are you aware of everything in the package, and any additional charges?

If you don't know how something works, or how you could risk racking up large bills, there's an argument that you ought to get to know your technology, or steer well clear.

6. 12 quadrillion euros for phone calls (phone firm error)

Solenne San Jose, from Pessac near Bordeaux, got quite a shock when she opened a telephone bill for almost 12 quadrillion euros - that's almost 6,000 times the country's annual economic output. It was a final bill, calculated manually, after she closed her account.

It was only after a few calls to the company that they finally admitted they had made a mistake in the bill printing process. To apologise for the shock, they also waived the actual outstanding sum of 117.21 euros.

This has happened in the UK before. In 2003, Brian Law of Huddersfield received a final gas demand - after not getting round to paying his £59 bill. Unfortunately a glitch (whereby a reference number appeared as the amount outstanding) meant the demand was for £2.3 trillion.

7. £35,000 on the speaking clock (no mistake)

And finally, a shocking bill that was run up perfectly legitimately. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that the Metropolitan Police spent more than £35,000 making 110,000 calls to the speaking clock in the last two years. The force also spent more than £200,000 calling directory enquiries.

A spokesperson defended the money spent, saying there were good reasons why officers might need the exact time, and that many didn't have direct internet access, so needed to use a directory service.

It's an impressive sum - which presumably would buy an awful lot of highly accurate wristwatches and copies of the phone book.

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YouTube to start charging users?

Sarah Coles — 2013-01-30T07:55:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

Rumours are abounding that YouTube is going to start charging for some content. The stories started with content producers, who claimed that YouTube owners, Google, approached them asking for ideas for channels which could cost between $1 and $5 a month.

So what is it up to, and how will it affect you?

Subscription

The reports surfaced in Ad Age, which claimed that these channels would have episodes of regular programmes, as well as access to past episodes and live events. The report suggested that the new model could be launched as early as April this year.

This is not shocking news from YouTube - which is owned by Google. It has been talking about subscription channels at industry events for some time.

It has previously discussed offering subscriptions to existing channels which are currently only available on cable networks. Rather than paying for a cable subscription, people could choose the channels they want and get them through YouTube.

This would make them direct competitors to cable networks, but it's not the only option. Google said in a statement: "We have long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models. The important thing is that, regardless of the model, our creators succeed on the platform. There are a lot of our content creators that think they would benefit from subscriptions, so we're looking at that."

Wired magazine said that video producers would not confirm the reports, but added that this may not be a huge surprise, because if they had been approached, the chances are that they would have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements.

So what does it mean for you?

The good news is that this doesn't mean we'll be expected to pay for everything on YouTube. The Ad Age report said that it would be likely to start on a small scale, with 25 subscription channels at the launch. The idea would be to see whether they could persuade people to part with money for content from a site that has always offered everything for free.

So you can continue watching those funny cat videos free of charge, and choose whether to add in a couple of subscription channels of more mainstream programmes.

But what do you think? Would you pay for YouTube content? Let us know in the comments.

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Revealed: the fastest time for broadband

Jess Bown — 2013-01-28T19:00:00+00:00

Filed under: TV, Phone & Broadband

You have to get up very early to take advantage of the speediest broadband services, new figures show.

Internet surfers in urban areas receive the fastest service at 4am, while those going online at 9pm have to make do with the slowest broadband speeds.

At this, the most popular time to be on the internet, the average broadband connection runs a massive 28% slower than at 4am. And the average download speed plummets from 14.83Mbps to 10.72Mbps as a result.

The stats, which are from comparison website uSwitch, are based on more than 2.3 million consumer speed tests taken over the past six months.

They also reveal that those living in Birmingham and Middlesbrough enjoy the fastest evening surfing, while people based in Aberdeen and Swansea experience the slowest broadband speeds across the country.

While a Birmingham resident is enjoying an evening download speed of 12.88Mbps, his friend in Aberdeen could therefore be struggling with just 6.08Mbps.

Those living in Dudley in the West Midlands are the most likely to notice their broadband speeds changing depending when they go online, though.

The difference between the broadband speeds they receive at peak and off-peak times is an incredible 60%.

Julia Stent at uSwitch said: "This research shows the incredible strain that is placed on broadband when everyone logs on at the same time, particularly in densely populated areas.

"It certainly explains why some people may never actually feel like their connection is as fast as the one promised by providers when they signed."

Obviously, getting up at - or staying awake until - 4am is not the ideal solution for all those consumers frustrated by the slow broadband speeds they receive when they want to be online.

You can, however, run a quick test to ensure that you are getting the best possible service for your area.

Stent said: "Run an online speed test at home to check that you are getting the best possible service available in your area. And if you think you could do better, consider shopping around for a new deal."

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