Countdown to cheap broadband TV

Broadband TV package prices look to be on the way down soon, with the news that Ofcom is set to slash the price that broadband provider pay to Sky for its premium channels.

At present, Virgin Media, Tiscali and BT are bound to pay Sky the princely sum of £23.50 for every customer on their books. However, early next year Ofcom is planning to cut this by a third to £16.50, on the grounds that Sky’s dominance of the pay TV arena is distorting the market.


Of course this spells a whopping cut to Sky’s revenue – and naturally they plan to challenge the regulation. But for us, should the reduction get passed at least, it looks like a result all round.

With a price reduction of that magnitude, providers will surely pass on the benefits to customers. Leaving us to enjoy cheaper Premier League football and movie premieres as well as more competitively priced broadband bundles. Roll on next year.

Your starter for ten: Can ISPs prevent exam cheats?

Recently, I offered to help a little Czech chum of my acquaintance with his A-Level film studies essay. It was to be simply a case of tucking and tidying up his prose and checking spelling. I thought it'd take five minutes of my time.

But when I looked at the piece it was a different story. Instead of an original work, it was a Frankenstein's monster of an essay, cobbled together from other people's travails he'd found online. After a while I gave up. I'd been chastened partly by my boy's lack of effort. But mostly I'd quit when it dawned on me that cheating in national exams is now much easier than ever before.

That's something that's been confirmed for me today by a report in the ever-reliable Register. In a great story, the site notes that exam boards are asking broadband providers to take a greater role than ever before in clamping down on exam cheats. In particular, they're asking for a hotline to be manned by ISPs' staff who'll be tasked with taking down exam papers as soon as they come to people's attention.

It's too early to tell how many providers have taken these extra measures. But it'd be hard to blame them if they didn't - especially since they're being expected to pay for it themselves.