Wi-Fi hits the Underground allowing travellers to use the internet at Charing Cross Tube Station.

Society has moved so much with the help of the internet, if there is a success of the internet in the London Underground it should be a tremendous result helping Business Management and interaction improve where Lean Management being more relevant and applied allowing businesses to work while on the move.

The telecoms giant BT are ahead of the game again by trialling out the Wi-Fi Broadband Wireless Internet. The place they have chosen is the London Underground in the UK, this is all to be done through their BT Openzone. The trial is expected to last six months with the selected Tube Station being Charing Cross aimed to start on 01/11/10.

The FT (Financial Times) believe that the Wi-Fi deployment can easily be tagged on to existing private wireless networks used by Transport for employees in London therefore allowing it to be reasonably cheap.

The London Underground Strategy and Commercial Director Mr Richard Parry said, “Around 68,000 passenger journeys are made a day at Charing Cross Tube station. We hope that our customers will find it useful to have access to the internet while they are using the Tube station during this six-month trial. Live service updates will allow passengers to check the status of the Tube and other transport services while they are on the move at the station.”

The CEO of BT Openzone Mr Chris Bruce must be very pleased with this move he said, “Wi-Fi is rapidly becoming the simplest way for people to access the internet when out and about and with the launch of this trial at Charing Cross we are now giving commuters the chance to enjoy the UK’s biggest Wi-Fi network.”

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ISP Vtesse Networks has lost its case at the Court of Appeal over unfair fibre taxes issued by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) when compared with taxes issued to BT. The row exists due to the way the VOA evaluates how much companies should pay in taxes for fibre optic cable that is put in the ground. The standard method used for most companies involves paying a 45.6% tax when the fibre is lit and is based on the hypothetical rent which could be achieved from renting out the fibre. The value of this uses the length of the fibre as a basis for the cost.
BT however face different rules. They are not taxed per kilometre but based on the overall rentable value that the VOA deems is available for their network, and this is averaged over 5 years. This came in at £533m in 2006, but has decreased year on year with a value this year expected to be £255m. Based on the distance rules alone which other operators face, BT would be due to pay over £1bn.
Vtesse also object to an 11% premium to operators who run short networks, and higher costs that are imposed for the first fibre that is lit on a specific route. They believe that these taxes which are only charged in the UK and Ireland are putting operators off entering the market, and leaving it within the hands of BT to deploy next generation access (NGA).
Tony Ballard, a partner in the Harbottle & Lewis law firm representing Vtesse said, “We believe it’s fundamentally discriminatory for one company to be taxed at this massively higher rate. Unless a fairer means of taxing such companies emerges, there’s going to be a diminution of enthusiasm among potential entrants to the market.”
Vtesse plan to take the dispute to the Supreme Court.

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Mobile anti-virus software will be coming out over the next six to 12 months, but companies are generally unprepared for how mobiles will impact business security.

In a study of more than 50 large and mid-sized companies by Acumin Consulting and security analyst Goode Intelligence it was found that businesses believe mobile security will become increasingly important.

Anti-virus security company Kaspersky concurs, and they have predicted that hackers will target the iPhone and Google Android phones in 2010.

Goode Intelligence said: “Apple’s mobile App Store, distributed through iTunes, and Google’s Android Marketplace are changing the face of the mobile phone industry, allowing users to benefit from increased mobility and convergence.”
Goode Intelligence also believes that businesses have not fully considered the security impact of mobile technology on their businesses.

They noted that organisations were increasingly allowing employees to use smartphones in business where the mobile phone operating systems supported downloadable applications and access GSM and Wi-Fi networks.
“To support these devices, organisations must have effective and relevant information security policy and procedures and adequate technology controls to manage them,” Goode Intelligence said.

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