蜜芽传媒

Understanding broadband speed

• Rory Cellan-Jones
• 13 Mar 08, 16:31 GMT

What do broadband firms mean when they offer you 鈥渦p to 8mbps鈥�? And just how likely are you to get that speed if you sign up? I suspect most people鈥檚 answers to those questions would be 鈥渘ot sure鈥� and 鈥渇at chance鈥�.

I was pretty confused about the speed issue but after spending some time with BT broadband engineers I now feel a little clearer. had summoned a group of IT journalists to its Gatwick headquarters to tell them about the exciting future that its new broadband products promised. But it turned out that all anyone really wanted to talk about 鈥� on both sides 鈥� was speed.

BT is obviously worried that the 8 million users getting their broadband from the ISPs who use its network will blame it for the fact that they aren鈥檛 getting the speeds that they expect. It appears uncomfortable with the advertising of headline speeds of 鈥渦p to 8mbps鈥� or 鈥渦p to 24mbps鈥�. Why? Because it knows that nobody will actually experience those speeds when they are using the internet.

The engineers explained that customers needed to look at two different things 鈥� line speed and throughput. Line speed is what the line between your modem and the exchange can theoretically achieve. So if that is 8mbps, you might achieve that if you lived right next to the exchange 鈥� but if you live three miles away, have a sub-standard modem or suffer electrical interference within your home (Christmas tree lights are one culprit, apparently) then you are likely to get much less.

Then there is throughput, which is the speed at which data arrives down the line while you are online, doing anything from reading web pages to downloading video. Throughput is what is measured by the various web speed-checkers, and it is bound to be slower than your line speed because it looks at what happens when you leave the exchange and head out onto the internet, where you can hit congestion.

Perhaps rather than advertising an 鈥渦p to 8mbps鈥漵ervice, ISPs should describe it as 鈥渂etween 512kbps and 7.5mbps鈥�. But that might be rather harder to sell. is talking to the broadband firms about how they advertise speeds 鈥� and everyone seems to agree the current system is broken. But what should replace it? Your ideas would be welcome.

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Bebo is bought

• Rory Cellan-Jones
• 13 Mar 08, 13:09 GMT

Rumours that the social network would be swallowed up by someone have been swirling around for at least a year. Google, Yahoo, MySpace and Viacom have all been names as potential suitors. Now the truth is out 鈥� which has picked up the prize for $850m.

Last year, while compiling for Radio 4, I met Bebo鈥檚 founders, Michael and Xochi Birch. They鈥檙e a charming Anglo-American couple who have managed to combine bringing up a family with starting a fast-growing business in California. In my interview with them, they first dismissed the latest rumour that they were about to sell up, then very charitably agreed to be my Bebo friends 鈥� I鈥檇 explained that nobody seemed to want to know me.

Anyway, I can鈥檛 say that our social networking relationship has been very close 鈥� I have to confess I spend more of my time on a rival network 鈥� but I have watched their progress with interest ever since. The first hint that they might not be as averse to a sale as they claimed was when they hired a senior Google executive Joanna Shields. She was named president rather than chief executive, but always gave the impression that she was running the show and turning it into a more professional outfit.

While Facebook made all the media noise last year, Bebo was in some ways more innovative. It recognised the potential of video, introducing its own interactive TV soap opera katemodern, and striking deal with broadcasters to bring their content to the site.

But its problem has been that it has remained a 鈥渟tarter鈥� social network 鈥� hugely popular in schools (where some teachers have sought to ban it) but not really graduating to older users. How attractive this population is to advertisers isn鈥檛 clear 鈥� especially at a time when companies are beginning to look just a little more sceptically at the potential of social networking.

So Michael and Xochi Birch may have sold out just in time. While their share of that $850m makes them very rich indeed, it is another reminder that Facebook isn鈥檛 really worth $15bn. That valuation 鈥� implicit in the price Microsoft paid for a tiny stake last year 鈥� puts a price of $250 on each of Facebook鈥檚 60 million users. Bebo has just sold each of its 40 million users for a rather more modest $21.50 per head.

I have sent a couple of messages to my Bebo friends Michael and Xochi over recent weeks, asking them if rumours of an impending sale were true. Unsurprisingly, they decided not to share that information with me in advance. But Michael, Xochi 鈥� if you鈥檙e listening get in touch 鈥� and tell the 蜜芽传媒 what your Bebo users can now expect from this change of ownership.

UPDATE
In the conference call after the deal was announced one AOL boss promised to "supercharge the monetisation of Bebo." I wonder if that message will be passed on to users?

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