Are you happy with your mobile operator on VoIP?

Mobile operators blocking Skype and other internet voice calling (VoIP) apps could cause more than 18 million British mobile phone users to switch networks.

In a survey by Rebtel up to 60 per cent of mobile phone users said they were prepared to switch networks if so-called 'over the top' applications, such as those which make VoIP calls, are interrupted. The poll said only 8 per cent believed operators had the right to stop users from accessing VoIP on their phones.

Several mobile networks in the UK currently take steps to prevent access to VoIP services. Now, you make take a jaundiced view about Rebtel’s findings given their business model. However, a report from BEREC, the European telecoms regulators' body, claims that at least 20 per cent of mobile Internet users in Europe experience some form of restriction on their ability to access VoIP services.

The BEREC report was compiled in a joint investigation with the European Commission, and was largely based on data submitted by 32 regulators, 266 fixed and 115 mobile operators. A questionnaire asked operators and regulators what traffic management techniques and practices are being applied currently.

The most frequently reported restrictions are the blocking and/or throttling of peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic, on both fixed and mobile networks, and the blocking of Voice over IP (VoIP) traffic, mostly on mobile networks.

As regards P2P, some level of restriction is reported by 49 operators (out of 266) on fixed networks and by 41 operators (out of 115) on mobile networks. As regards VoIP, some level of restriction is reported by 28 operators (out of 115) on mobile networks. Each of these types of restrictions affects at least 20 per cent of subscribers.

A number of cases of operators giving preferential treatment to specific types of over-the-top traffic were also found (e.g. prioritising streaming and other real-time applications, HTTP, etc.)

Some examples of special treatment for over-the-top traffic reported by fixed operators are prioritisation of certain kind of traffic or applications at peak times (such as HTTP, DNS, VoIP, gaming, instant messaging, etc.), and assigning lower priority to applications such as file downloading, P2P, etc.

What’s been your experience? Have you ever been denied service when using VoIP?

How we add value to our services

Nick Ryder and Paul Hollingworth

Hollingworth & Moss, the Leeds-based traditional bookbinding company, is forging its way into the 21st century with a £250,000 investment in new services and technologies with help from us.


Family-owned Hollingworth & Moss has been based in Leeds since 1966 and continues to use traditional bookbinding skills and craftsmanship, hand-making a wide range of books for customers including universities, local authorities, companies and individuals.


At the heart of company is the world’s fastest automated book scanner. Capable of capturing a massive 3,000 pages per hour, the book rests gently in the ‘SmartCradle’ dynamic book handler, which keeps the book open at exactly 110 degrees thus providing low-stress support for rare and fragile books. This means there is no need for de-binding thereby preserving the integrity of the original documents.


The new state-of-the-art technology at Hollingworth & Moss required a high quality infrastructure to support the amount of data which the company handles across its divisions, and that's where CCS came in, to create a bespoke IT solution for the company which saw all their data being moved from four servers on to one, which was specially configured for their needs. The result is a server which works faster, has more storage capability, and can handle a huge amount of data 24/7.


Nick Ryder, our technical sales manager, said: “The servers Hollingworth & Moss had previously were too slow to cope with the amount of data they now needed for their new services. They had basically outgrown the installation and something needed to be done if they were to be able to offer a fast, efficient service.


 “We looked at their processors and identified a number of weak links. We have replaced hardware and configured it in such a way that creates a system which works faster, is automatically backed up and therefore safer in case of power failure, and enables multiple operations to take place at the same time.


 “It has been a very rewarding project and in some ways has been a challenge – bringing together a great amount of technology for different applications – to allow Hollingworth and Moss to embrace new technologies and create new strands to their business.”

Free web hosting for 10 Yorkshire charities

At CCS Leeds we are always keen to support local good causes and as you might have seen from recent newspaper coverage we are now offering to host websites for ten West Yorkshire charities for free!

We are already hosting the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Charitable Foundation website for nothing and we are now looking to offer the same free service to a further 10 local charities.

Nick Ryder, technical sales manager at CCS, says: "Like most charities the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Charitable Foundation relies on the generosity and support of the general public. We’ve been working with the Foundation for several months now and after finding out more about the amazing work they do, we decided that helping to cut their running costs was the least we could do.

"On the back of that, we have decided to offer the same service to other charities too. We would like to invite charities to apply for free web hosting and we will initially choose 10. The charities must be based in West Yorkshire and will have to meet certain criteria, but in the first instance we would like any charities who are interested to get in touch with us and we will take it from there."

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals Charitable Foundation is run by a group of independent trustees who manage all the charitable funds raised for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals. The Foundation raises funds for various appeals with the two major appeals at the moment being The Yorkshire Cancer Centre Appeal and the Leeds Children’s Hospital Appeal.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust has created a new children’s hospital on the Leeds General Infirmary site which resolves the problem of seriously ill youngsters being transferred across the city for treatment.

The Foundation needs to raise money to make every child’s stay as wonderful as possible by providing toys, DVD players, art work for the walls and ‘put up’ beds to enable parents to sleep by the side of their child. This is in addition to the state-of-the-art medical equipment that all staff would like to work with.

Any charities who are interested in receiving free web hosting should email nick.ryder@ccsleeds.co.uk or ring 0113 2946699.

Third of UK homes suffer from poor broadband

Despite the promise of UK-wide super-fast broadband, new research uSwitch.com shows just how many areas of the country are being left behind in the high-speed broadband revolution.

More than a third (34%) of UK postcodes receive average broadband download speeds of 5 Mbp/s or less, almost a quarter have average speeds of 4 Mbp/s or less, and one in 10 has speeds of 3 Mbp/s or less – at least six times slower than even the basic super-fast broadband speed of 20 Mbp/s.

The data - based on 1.68 million broadband speed tests carried out by home and business broadband users over the past six months - reveals that despite major investment by providers into upgrading Britain’s urban broadband infrastructure, there is still a significant number of larger towns and cities across the country that have download speeds well below the UK average of 6.742 Mbp/s.

The cathedral city of Hereford has a population of more than 55,000, and yet average download speeds are a pedestrian 3.196 Mbp/s, more than 50% slower than the national average. Lancaster, with a sizeable population of almost 134,000 and home to two universities, is also below the national average speed, at 5.479 Mbp/s. At this speed, it would take just under 24 minutes to download a standard quality 1.5GB movie.

These figures bring into sharp focus the challenge the Government faces if it is to fulfil the pledge made back in December 2010[5] that everyone in the UK would have access to super-fast broadband by 2015. More than 12 months down the line and that target appears to be a long way off, with large swathes of Britain still having to make do with broadband speeds that are more snail’s pace than super-fast.

When it comes to the worst broadband blackspots in Britain, it is clear that it’s still the UK’s smaller towns and villages that are suffering from a serious bout of broadband lethargy, having to endure frustratingly slow speeds of below 2 Mbp/s which make surfing the internet a chore.
In our part of the world Richmond and Helmsley in North Yorkshire have to struggle with just over 2 Mbps.

However, with an average broadband speed of just 1.11 Mbp/s, Winchelsea a small village in East Sussex, currently holds the unenviable title of having the slowest average broadband speed of any postcode in the UK, six times slower than the national average.
Britain might be riding the wave of a super-fast broadband revolution, but for the 49% who get less than the national average broadband speed, the wave isn’t causing so much a splash as a ripple. And what’s really surprising is the number of cities and towns such as Hereford and Carlisle that are suffering from slow broadband speeds, dispelling the view that it’s just rural areas and small towns that have issues with their broadband.

It is important to remember that the fastest headline speeds being punted by some broadband providers are not guaranteed and home broadband users should run online broadband speed tests to check they’re getting the best possible performance. If broadband users feel the service they’re receiving is not up to scratch, don’t be afraid to shop around for a better deal.