News
8
IN BRIEF
THE WORLD’S
GONE MAD!27 April – 10 May 2022 • Issue 630Things seem
to be getting
madder
quicker. In
Issue 629
we featured
Heineken’s
spoof virtual
beer Silver.
Now Coca-
Cola has launched a real
drink, called Byte, that has
the “flavour of pixels” and
“transcends both the digital
and physical realms”. Watch
it materialise at http://www.
snipca.com/41570. Beware:
contains flashing nonsense.SKY LAUNCHES
900MBPS BROADBAND
Sky has launched its fastest
ever broadband, hitting a top
speed of 900Mbps, which
is fast enough to download
an HD
film in five
seconds.
The
Gigafast
package costs £55 a month
on an 18-month contract,
rising to £60 thereafter. Sky
says you’ll be able to claim
back money if speeds dip
below 600Mbps. Visit Sky’s
site for details: http://www.snipca.
com/41573.UBER TO SELL TRAIN,
COACH & PLANE TICKETS
Uber will soon let UK users
book train, coach and plane
tickets through its app as it
plans to become a “one-stop
shop” for transport. The
tickets will be available as
QR codes within the app.
You’ll also be able to book
Uber drivers to take you
to and from the station or
airport. The service will be
launched this summer.Internet firms must pay you
more for missed appointments
had been part of Ofcom’s
scheme he would have been
entitled to £88.66. A member
of Plusnet’s support team
replied to say that it has its
own compensation method
that pays £8 per day, after the
first 48 hours.
Any compensation you’re
owed under Ofcom’s scheme
is paid to you automatically, so
you don’t need to chase your
provider for it.T
he compensation that
internet providers must
pay you for missed
appointments and their
service being down has
increased with inflation.
The new costs, introduced
on 1 April, mean that you’re
entitled to £8.40 a day for a
service not working (if not
fixed within the first two
days); £5.25 per day for a
delay to the start of a new
service after you’ve switched;
and £26.24 for missed
appointments.
These rises are around
4.2 per cent, and are up from
£8.06, £5.04 and £25.
respectively. They’ve been
introduced by Ofcom based
on the CPI rate of inflation as
it was on 31 October, 2021.
The compensation scheme,
which began in April 2019, is
voluntary, though most
providers have now signed up
to it (see list at http://www.snipca.
com/41571). Vodafone was the
latest firm to sign up, in
November, but only forcustomers on the Openreach
network.
Plusnet is the biggest firm
not to have joined the scheme,
triggering complaints from
some customers.
In December, one customer
wrote on Plusnet’s forum
(www.snipca.com/41572)
that after Storm Arwen
knocked his internet offline
for 11 days, the company
offered him one month’s
credit (£22.99) – a decision
that “staggered” him.
He claimed that if PlusnetWater pipes to deliver broadband in trial
F
ull-fibre broadband is
being fed through water
pipes in West Yorkshire in a
Government-backed trial to
test whether it’s a feasible
method of delivering fast
internet without digging up
roads.
Seventeen kilometres of
pipes between Barnsley and
Penistone will have the
potential to connect up to
8,500 homes and businesses.
The technology will also be
used to power new 5G masts
to connect people in remote
areas.
The Government claims the
‘Fibre in Water’ scheme could
be a “greener, quicker andmore cost-effective” method
of connecting fibre-to-the-
premises (FTTP) broadband.
Most of the cost of FTTP
comes from engineering
works such as digging up
roads, the Government said,
so anything that reduces this
is “worth examining”.
The tests, supported by
Yorkshire Water, engineeringfirm Arcadis and
Strathclyde University, will
also examine whether fibre
can help the water industry
detect and repair leaks.
Currently, around 20 per
cent of water is lost each
day due to leaks.
The technology has been
approved by the Drinking
Water Inspectorate (DWI),
which rigorously tests any
equipment and processess
that are used in pipes that
provide drinking water.
The trial will run for up to
two years. If successful,
internet providers should be
able to use the technology
from 2024.Have you ever got compensation
from your provider? Let us
know: [email protected]