BBC and Tiscali lock horns
9th April 2008
Tiscali has hit back at recent assertions by the BBC that a broadband charter should be introduced to ensure fair internet access.
Ashley Highfield, head of future media and technology at the BBC, sparked the debate when he argued that marketing of broadband services should be clearer in order to allow consumers to identify providers that offer truly unlimited internet usage.
Tiscali representative Simon Gunter has responded by saying that it was "a bit rich" that a publicly-funded group should offer private companies advice on how to run their businesses, the BBC reports.
Mr Gunter continued by saying that the organisation should do more to contribute to the costs arising from the increased popularity of video-on-demand services such as BBC’s iPlayer.
Ofcom estimates that broadband providers will need to invest an additional £830 million to increase capacity in order to cope with the increase in high-bandwidth video content on the internet.
A Guardian report published in February revealed that more than 17 million programmes had been watched on the iPlayer since Christmas.
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