Member Info for fleccy

"Fleccy - application layer requests MAC address......
Boom identity of that machine has just been passed end to end..... like I said VPN only protects in-between. At either end is an application."

For a start, you're not talking directly to Sky, or whoever, you're going through a third party who are operating an illegal service anyway. MAC addresses are on multiple devices on a computer and they can be spoofed in software. There's no way in the world your devices would be compromised, unless some sort of trojan software found its way onto your computer. I use Bitdefender personally, which protects my machine and gives me access via VPN, so if I was interested in accessing such content, which I'm not, I would be completely anonymous. It isn't difficult to protect yourself from prying eyes.

"Illegal content can be closed down & people do get prosecuted for it (I had a job doing that). & as I’ve already said & don’t take this the wrong way, but a vpn does not protect your privacy between both ends, only in-between. Your computers unique identification can we requested & then used to track you down from other sites"

You say that, but I'm not so sure you're correct. VPN masks the destination IP addresses from the ISP, with VPN content protected under privacy laws and possibly encrypted. Sites appear in countries like Russia, offering illegal content via VPN at a small subscription cost; These sites use multiple VPN's and change them regularly, and advise their users by email. As you can imagine, the people running these sites are experts in I.T. and are hard to trace, and almost impossible to prosecute due to their locations. The end user (customer) is anonymous to the legitimate provider and virtually impossible to trace. Even the illegal provider wont know their customers IP address, since it will connect via VPN. MAC addresses don't make it past your home router.

As far as I can tell, BT's operating costs are going to drop dramatically over the next 10 years. Here's a summary list of where I think the savings will materialise:

1) Pension Deficit will no longer be an issue.
2) BT's long term leaseback costs will massively reduce, due to building closures.
3) Exchanges will go, meaning less buildings, Equipment, power requirements, and Engineers.
4)Passive network requires no on street Equipment, or street power requirements, and is much more reliable than powered access networks.
5) Much simpler access network, with all the complexity built into the core and software configurable.

Overall BT will require less Engineers, have a much simpler access network, and see massive cost savings after the changes.
I don't see the current drops in Revenue as the story, the transformation to lower operating costs should become the narrative. Growth can come later on the back of IOT and new opportunities that materialise.

"So I would like to see BT find other income streams."

Maybe BT can see content is becoming an ever crowded space, with competition driving down margins. Maybe they see partnering with content providers, as the way forward, rather than competing with them. Why not make money from them by offering them server space, high speed connectivity, enhanced QOS on their cloud traffic, etc, etc, all at a cost of course. I'm sure BT have a plan, since they're at the sharp end of UK Telecommunications.

"So I would like to see BT find other income streams."

BT do have other income streams, they're not just Openreach. BT have multiple different businesses, and are heavily involved in new tech. I haven't seen anything about Talk Talk, involved in the development of Quantum encryption to secure transmission to the cell, for applications like driverless cars and other IOT applications. BT have multiple other business offerings too.

"Any fixed line provider other than Bt will end up paying BT a pittance wholesale cost. I can see the business of networks becoming smaller and smaller margins over next 10 to 30 years."

Why is that Aus, have you got a crystal ball? As far as I can tell, we're just seeing history repeating itself. All your arguments were out there in the early 2000's, with DSLAMS being installed in BT co-location areas and BT written off, yet here we are now with BT remaining the dominant player.
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, BT are completely rebuilding their network, from scratch, which is where the massive cost savings will come from.
BT are spending £12 Billion to build the new network, but I believe they'll recover that in short order with the new network.

It's a bit out of the blue, but it doesn't surprise me in some respects. The sports package would have been aimed at attracting pubs, clubs, and sports enthusiasts, but you don't need to own the rights to offer the subscription package on behalf of a partner. I think they need to keep BT TV though, as it could be offered as part of a converged package. Maybe they're looking at using the cash saved, to offer other content. I think FTTP and 5G will open up lots of new VR type applications

"I believed that until I read where you said 'raised in his honour'."

Haha, I'm surprised you picked up on that.

As well as Rod's posts go missing, the representative statue raised in his Honour has also disappeared.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-phallus-sculpture-missing-grunten-mountain-b1764432.html

According to Rod "Without Me":

Two LSE Dudes go round the outside
Round the outside, round the outside
Two LSE Dudes go round the outside
Round the outside, round the outside
Guess who's back
Back again
Rod Mitchell's back
Tell a friend
Guess who's back, guess who's back
Guess who's back, guess who's back
Guess who's back, guess who's back
Guess who's back
I've created a monster
'Cause nobody wants to see Fleccy & Aus no more
They want Rod, I'm chopped liver
Well if you want Rod, this is what I'll give you
A little bit of weed mixed with some hard liquor
Some vodka that'll jump start my heart quicker
Than a shock when I get shocked at the hospital
By the doctor when I'm not co-operating
When I'm rockin' the table while he's operating
You waited this long, now stop debating

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY

"I have always considered you the 'Banky' of this particular virtual world and am beginning to wonder if there might be some foul play evident.
Perhaps some unscrupulous individuals are stealing your work, for personal gain undercover of anonymity."

Maybe they've been moved into an NFT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrNOYudaMAc&t=12s

"Vodafone Ltd, part of Vodafone Group PLC, got a licence for the 3720 to 3760 megahertz frequency band.
So did we only bid for the above frequencies or were we just unsuccessful at getting any in the gigahertz band? Interesting!"

Pete, 3720 to 3760 megahertz is 3.72 to 3.760 Gigahertz, so Vodafone did bid for Ghz Frequencies, it was the 700Mhz Frequencies they didn't win, or possibly bid for.

Heading in the right direction.

"Slightly different, wasn’t there a company called energis. Was that power lines or tracks or something like that?"

Cable & Wireless also took over Thus, which started out as a subsidiary of Scottish Power, and is also now part of Vodafone.

"Slightly different, wasn’t there a company called energis. Was that power lines or tracks or something like that?"

Energis went bust, and Cable & Wireless bought the assets from the receivers. The old Energis network is now part of Vodafone, after they took over Cable & Wireless Worldwide.

"But will bt be interested ?"

Anyone's guess. Am I right in thinking someone will pay to replace Network Rail's aging infrastructure, and then they'll be able to commercialise 50% at their own expense? I don't know if that's a good deal, or not, as Network Rail already lease out Dark Fibre to Telecom providers. Will Network Rail agree not to compete for Fibre leasing customers, after the upgrade? The Towers may interest some, but I suppose it would depend on locations available, access roads, etc, etc.
No doubt all parties will look closely at the proposal.

"That looks like £18bln dept to me."

Yep, the new company will indeed start out with £18 Billion in Debt, but they've signalled they'll spend a further £10 Billion on broadband and 5G build. Last year, out of the two businesses O2 appears to be the most profitable, with an operating income of around £1.9 Billion, VM's operating income was apparently just under £334 million. They'd have to plough every single penny of operating income into infrastructure spend, to meet the £10 Billion spend by 2026/27, but they've signalled that they might be looking at an IPO within 3 years of the merger.
It's possible that they wont borrow that extra £10 Billion, but with debt being so cheap, it's highly likely they'll borrow more.
It will be really interesting to watch their progress, but as I've said previously I don't see them as a threat to BT. If they do eventually decide to go public, there accounts will come under much more scrutiny, and they'll become answerable to shareholders. Interesting times in the Telecom world, with the changes coming over the next 10 years. Of course, this is just my opinion.

"Not sure where you get £28bln in debt, articles I’ve read say O2 comes debt free & Virgin has 11bkn dept post merger."

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/07/virgin-media-and-o2-owners-confirm-31bn-mega-merger-in-uk

"The deal will include recapitalisations under which Telefonica will receive £5.7bn in proceeds and Liberty Global £1.4bn. The new venture will be laden with £18bn in long-term debt"

"The new company will invest £10bn in areas including gigabit-speed broadband and 5G networks."

The new venture will start out with "£18bn in long-term debt", add the "£10bn in areas including gigabit-speed broadband and 5G networks", and you get £28bn

"If in 10 years time FTTP is what people want BT should have reach and scale. But only if Virgin don’t continue with their rollout they don’t need to care about unprofitable, rural areas."

But VM/O2 will have £28 Billion in debt, a less cost efficient network, and have to pay wholesale rental fee's to Openreach in non Franchise areas. It isn't like Field Of Dreams where Kevin Costner will build it and they will come, a much more cost efficient BT/Openreach will compete for customers in all areas.

"BTW the power in cabinets / distribution points is also bogus, unless BT have invented telepathic. Monitoring & control.... all these things I guess will need power. Therefore power will be needed."

What is there to monitor? All you need is good records. As long as you know which customer ONT's are connected to which OLT, and the Fibre routes and distances, you don't need monitoring along the route. If you lose one customer, you send an Engineer to the customer site to check the ONT, and the Fibre back to the nearest splitter, if you lose 32 customers on one OLT you check the common points, and if you lose 100's of customer connections they'd send Engineers to check the common multi core Fibre optic cable connecting the affected customers to the head end.
In the video below, the narrator makes reference to an optical power meter, but it's also an Optical Time Delay Reflectometer, allowing Engineers to locate Fibre breaks very accurately from either end of the affected Fibre cable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InjZDBBgkps

No Telepathy, or monitoring along the route, is required to get an idea of where a fault might be.