ntl budget cutbacks
 

For Sale - One Communications Company (ntl)
Good Runner - Good Network - Good Staff - Very good Products
Requires the following;
Major overhaul of upper and middle managment (most need sacking !)
Staff require tlc, and being showed they are valued by the company

Has been poorly run for a number of years but still shows an operating profit!

This could be your chance to own the No1 communication company in the UK.

PS: Time is running out, the company is about to go bust!

Re: For Sale
 

erm wrong forum area - this should be in the FOR SALE or (UN)WANTED area!

:)

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Can you be a bit more specific please Womble-I think I know what you are referring to.....

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Yeah like the cost?

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:notopic: womble, do you have that bike, the one in your avatar, as a large jpeg file ?

ik

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I *think* what Womble is referring to is a major announcement to ntl staff today about things like evening calls outs/overtime being heavily restricted/stopped.

I heard a whisper earlier today, so I'm presuming that's what is being referred to.
__________________

Take it to PM pls Ik. :)

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About a quid by the time our beloved managment have finished screwing it up!
__________________

Done, sent you a PM Ik

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:scratch: Hmmmmmmmm May take you up on that. Need to count my pennies :tu:

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Sorry, wrote the post in the wrong frame of mind...... can't belive they can do even more damage to an already beleagured company!!



anyone fancy a tear up?? come on its theraputic!! :)

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All I can say is

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what the company lacks is the balls to admit the new system ie harmony has caused major hart ache for customers and staff alike sky have been the benifactors of this. The rot set in when the shareholders
wanted a quick kill get as many on and take the money and run.

Re: For Sale
 

How much is post and packaging ?
And do we get all the green street boxes too ?

Re: For Sale
 

I heard earlier this week, not sure if theres any connection to whats being discussed here, that all non-essential maintenance is being stopped...I Never knew they were doing any maintenance.

I guess Womble has been in a meeting this week!

I think this was specifically aimed at network upgrades and resegs etc, the guy telling me said it was amazing that they are cutting costs at a time when they are launching vod etc. All service affecting changes have to be carried out on an out-of hours basis, and this is as always caused a big impact on overtime pay. (Although I understood they were tricking the vendor into paying most of this ;) )

Also they are looking at wroking practices in the region/regions, and the minimum amount of cover they can get away with out of hours. He said it looks like they are going to change things back to how they were before they messed about with them.

I have told you all before, there is a big financial problem with ntl. There is absolutely zero money available, and after they have cut staff to the bone redundancies are not a big saver anymore. I have exchanged a few PM's with one employee and told him of a department that will be hit before the end of this year, it looks very likely that support functions carried out by the most skilled employees ntl have will come under attack. It also looks like this time around jobs will not be created to keep people.
It was also rumoured that many of the administrative posts created after the big re-shuffle will also come under scrutiny, this is a sad shame for the people affected if this is true but there is a big question mark over why so many admin posts were created after the big re-shuffle.

ntl is in big bother, the shareholders have tried to cut corners and make a quick buck. A few employees have been taken in by their actions, but at last it looks like their plans are breaking at the seams.

ntl's problems were not just financial before they went into chapter 11, they were just as much about how the company operates. Making people redundant and then creating new "jobs for the boys" will hopefully not happen this time around.

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All-We are currently preparing a news item regarding today's situation, & will post it up as soon as we possibly can. :)

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thought you would buy it neil :D or is it the AA thats buying it

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Has anyone else in ntl heard that the latest redundancies were because the shareholders wouldn't release any of the money from the broadcast sale to pay for the police contract c**k-up?

Apparently the shareholders told the directors, it's your problem you sort it out!

I am also wondering now what security arrangements ntl are making to guard the headends that were remotely monitored by cctv from broadcast buildings, ntl home got rid of all the securty guards to improve (cough cough) the security arrangements.

I just exchanged PM's with someone here and told him about an incident that happened over the christmas, I didn't post it before because I would of only got accused of lying as I did with a similar incident a while ago by a bum kissing ntl employee.

A node went off service after 8pm on christmas eve, and the fault was not arttended until the following bank holiday monday. The reason for the lack of suitable call-out cover was cost saving, the management were made aware that this sort of thing could happen and they decided to take a gamble by not providing suitable cover.

It all looks like levels of service will be going downhill sharply. :shocked:

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'Due to yet more budget cutbacks (they had more money than this while bankrupt!) the managers of ntl in their infinite wisdom ( :rolleyes: ) are cutting back on various things in an attempt to save more cash.

Mark my words-these things will be detrimental to your service, but the bean counters in charge really couldn't give a toss.

These masterful steps are....


The monkeys responsible for coming up with these masterful plans to enhance the balance sheet *cough* sorry-your service, have of course been promoted to a major position where they can make even more of an impact on your experience as a mug *cough* sorry-customer.

"Thanks for choosing ntl, best hope your BB / telephone doesn't break at 5:01PM on a Friday..."

Good luck......

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And just to put one bit into perspective here.... the bit about running on battery back-up!

Only Telco cabinets generally have battery back-up, the battery back-up UPS project was shelved a number of years ago. That means only a small number of CATV cabinets have battery back-up at present.

To make that clearer....Cable Modems are carried on the "CATV" network, so not attending CATV outages means your "always on" cable modem, will in fact be off until the next day for something as simple as a mains surge causing the trip to cut out, all for teh sake of sending an on-call tech out to reset the trip at the cabinet!

Service will be very much affected by these service level cuts, that are a direct result of understaffing due to the recent redundancies.

Re: For Sale
 

I know my cab has no batery backup its already had downtime due to power failure...........

Maybe we should have a vote on if the customers have any faith that the NTL management. Has the customers rights to the level of service they pay for being devalued at the expence of managment jobs.

With the number of staff made redundant over the last 12 months NTL must have more managers than they need so perhaps we should see redundancies in managment posts only now.

Re: For Sale
 

There is another down downside of leaving the CATV off for the night is, once the amps go cold it might not be that easy to restart them in the morning! They are on 24/7/365, then all of a sudden they are goning to be without power for the night, they will cool down, maybe a tiny bit of moisture will get in....and bang.
Another well thought out plan by the monkeys, I mean managment (calling them managment is a bit 1984 new speak-ish, as they couldn't manage a **** in a brothel!)

The other downside is my porn downloads won't be finished overnight :Yikes:

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I have just been informed that South Wales will only have 3 on call technicians at any one time, to cover all services. ie: Telco, CATV and Broadband.

They will be covering an area stretching from Cwmbran, Newport, Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Treforest and all the Swansea areas. :disturbd: For those who know the area they can conform it's a big one!

This is for financial reasons, and the number of network technicians they now have after the latest redundancies means they would struggle to up the callout cover without employing. :rolleyes:

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To quote the Doors.............


This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end

http://www.lyricsdomain.com/4/doors/the_end.html

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Looks like we are all going to have to become NTL engineers ourselves then and repair NTL boxes and sort all problems ourselves at this rate.

I wonder what this spells for the speed upgrades planned. Will they go ahead.? :erm:

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*No preventative maintenance*

Great plan. Didn't the railways have a similar plan a few years ago.

*Power Outages will be attended until 11pm, then cab will have to run on batteries until 8am.*

So, can we sue for negligence if the batteries give out & those 999 calls don't go through?

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will it cost them more in refunds for loss of service and customers getting fed up and canceling services than the amount they may save with this mad idea.

I thinks kits may be right about managers, pretty soon the only people they will be managing will be themselves. (wonder who'll get the blame then) ;)

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Omg Please tell me that is a bad joke. That is an aboslutely HUGE area and how on earth three people are expected to cover a radious of 550 miles is beyond me !


Sian

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And dont forget, The engineers will not pick the job up till 8.00 am. They then have to get to that cab which can take a while. The battery backup only lasts for about 4 hours on most cabs. I have seen it last for far less than that.

So let me see.


They cut call centers to improve customer service.

They reduce the hours those call centres are open to improve customer service

They cut Engineers to improve customer service.

They do No Preventative Maintenance to improve customer service.

They reduce the amount of hours they spend fixing faults to improve customer service.


If these are not the actions of a company on its last legs i dont know what are.

What next

Reminds me of the information Minister for Baghdad when the yanks where all around him and he said everything is OK

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I'm sure anytime soon we will expct an announcement like the one from Barclay Knapp gave out, saying "we are not in any financial difficulty" :rolleyes:

The truth is they have never been out of it, my friends say they are still wasting money in other areas. They are not actually saving a lot of money by cutting back on the amount of techs on network call, but on the other hand the redundancies mean they are unable to offer a higher level of cover anyway.

One of my contacts said they are still sending non esssential network spares out from the central stores by courier for next day delivery, even if the item is just to replenish stock levels in the region. I never thought morale could get any lower when I left over 3 years ago, but the treatment of network technicians is now disgusting, I am sure the problem will get worse as more leave on their own decision. I also heard yesterday that another one in South Wales has found another job and put his notice in, thats on top of the ones already highlighted for redundancy. I was told they are not going to change their minds and keep one of the guys being made redundant or employ a replacement.

They do not care in the slightest how many people leave.
Crazy :confused:

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Time to give the share holders a feeling of the customer revolt. Lets start finding ways to get our information over to these people that we have taken enough from the present managment and wish to have some sort of customer focuses management as if the customers go then they have a company worth nothing.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

The only way NTL will reply to this is for this story to be taken up by the press. I have heard a manager talk about this site and he said there was not enough users here to make a impact even if they all left. He had a big smug grin on his face when that was said. :2up:to Him

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

so does this mean the speed increases to 100mb are going to be put on hold?
;)

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

The only failure in your plan Kits, is the shareholders are forcing these things!

The shareholders appear to have one interest "making a quick buck" The shareholders have done nothing but encourage cutting costs by making people redundant, outsourcing, cutting maintenance and cutting service levels.

The shareholders know exactly whats going on, it would highlight the way customers feel but would certainly not tell them anything about whats going on, as they are part of it.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Interesting he has got so much to smile about, when the majority of his colleagues around him and throughout ntl are bloody angry at this latest move. What that selfish smug manager needs to know is, that should wipe that cocky smile clear off his face is that we are linked with a big news agency, the clock is ticking its only a matter of time until this information is known about on a wider scale. He also needs to know that we have a lot of media contacts and will not hesitate on getting this information out to them.

Like Frank said to me not that long ago....

By the time ntl have realised that their market is getting smarter and using the Internet to communicate like never before, it will be too late.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

It's only a matter of time.

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This will be on ISPreview later today so the number has just increased soon it will be on most forum based websites. Its not just this site he needs to consider but they way its moved to many others. The only difference between this site and others is they get the news first before NTL can parcel it up to look good.. :D

Edited to add a link if the mods are unhappy with the link please remove it.
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/show...078#post137078

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No, because NTL do not refund for loss of service, unlike BT.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

We don't mind :D

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But they do :erm: and even if they didn't people will soon start leaving if/when it becomes a regular problem.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Well, he's probably right - however if everyone from here, everyone who reads ispreview, everyone who reads el reg (Anyone tipped them off yet?) and everyone who reads digital spy, or BBC Online (again, if they get tipped off) started asking questions, that smile may flicker...

This is stunningly bad management - sticking plaster over something that a sticking plaster wouldn't fit...

Actually, he's definately right - a large amount of people on here *HAVE* Left NTL, and they're doing alright... um... ah... praps not, then, eh?

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

:angel:

:angel: :angel:

:D

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

I said it before the shareholders are to blame for all this crap we put up with, they are very very powerful, but I think the customers CAN be more powerful if they pull together on this in large numbers. What we have witnessed here is greed take over the well been of the company's employees and the quality of service for customers. Where are the ntl defenders now? they are hidden away ashamed.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Well I know that el reg are aware. ;)

Makes me glad I left them last year. Not the luckiest escape though, a mate of mine was offered a Job with NTL something to do with technical support. They were dicussing a part of the renumeration when the job offer was pulled due to budget cuts*. I posted him this link earlier and he was a lot happier about the fact that it'd fallen through (he hates his current job and was well up for escaping)

Scarlett.

* cuts I say, nay. No budget all of a sudden... This has obviously been been brewing for some time.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

this sounds like a restructuring exercise to me ready for a possible merger or buy out.
a certain leading uk diy chain i work for is doing exactly the same, cutting everything to the bone.
of course this could all be b*%$$$$ s and NTL could be going down for the third time so to speak.
i've never had a problem with NTL, if they are going to the wall it will be a shame, although i have to say that i have seen companies talked out of existence before, as rumours are leaked throughout its customer base, and NTL seems to leak more than most lol
NTL could be genuinely trying to re structure, if this is the case then we are not helping them by being the harbingers of doom.
i just cant see them going down after all the current activity they have gone through ie the speed upgrade's telewest and the sell of in the states??
i hope they come through this cos i love cable broadband, adsl is just over subscribed and so last century.


thank you for enjoying my annual post. see you all again next year (i wonder who i'll be with then isp wise??)

salem

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Care to name that person? :angel:

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Not automatically, like BT do. If you want to get a refund from NTL you have to beg them and probably threaten to leave... and then you only get a customer courtesy credit to your account and not a refund.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

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That's not the case-BT have a written charter regarding refunds, & you don't need to beg at all, it's even in writing on their website.

http://www.bt.com/customerservices/c...=our_guarantee

Please tell me where ntl's is (I'll save you the job-they don't have one, & you certainly have to beg ntl to get any form of refund/compensation)

[Edit]-Sorry-totally mis-read what you posted! :dunce:

We're both saying the same thing....:blush:

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

bet it was Mr Goodland ;)

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I've been passed this from an annonymous source....

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

There's a job going as "Head of Network Evolution".....:erm:

http://www.totaljobs.com/jobseekers/...605%2C14409076

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Re: For Sale
 

That is OK Neil! :handshake

Thanks for backing me up with some written evidence.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Are you applying:LOL:

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Haha - The "Salary" line is left blank ;)

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Today BT announce they are reducing broadband wholesale charges and increasing speeds where possible. More pressure on NTL while NTL are cutting costs like mad.

oh dear!

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

I wouldn't get too carried away with what seems at first glance to be the death knell for NTL. Don't forget that the bondholders have an immense amount of finance invested in the company and will not sit calmly back and watch it all go down the drain. NTLI shares are trading at just under $69 and rising. Reuters give it a very low risk grade http://investing.reuters.co.uk/Stock...boutRiskGrades

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

No but they will cut everything they can from the company and leave it limping along barely able to function before selling it off to the highest bidder.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Cannot do that. They will be able to see who i am.
__________________

Could this be what the £25.00 per head on the speed upgrade is going

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Shareholders wont give a rats ass if ntl go down (the major ones who are rich) like all failing companies they will pull out just before it crashes leaving it without a spine. Out of interest say someone who owns 10% of ntl how much would they have pocketed from that division NTL sold recently?

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

I think everyones getting a bit carried away here. Who suggested ntl was going under???

ntl is still generating very good revenues.

It would appear that there have been 2 cock ups recently that have had 2 impacts.

1. the Met Police Contract = current redundancy program
2. field operations reporting = current overtime ban

The company is trying to save as much cash as possible because of the above. Which is prudent so that they "don't" end up the financial creek.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

The major shareholders who are rich have more sense than to let a company devalue itself before getting rid of their shares. They didn't get rich by throwing money down the drain. If a company is seen to be going down the pan who is going to take the risk of buying shares at an high price? The big shareholders have to protect their investment. The funds raised by the sale of broadcast is only a drop in the ocean at the side of investors current share value. Any savings made by the actions just reported are miniscule at the side of the companies worth. Have a look at the big shareholders and the value of what they own of NTLI. http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=NTLI

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Nice to know someone is getting minted while the rest of us get well and truly screwed!!!!!!!!!

INSIDER & RULE 144 TRANSACTIONS REPORTED - LAST TWO YEARS
Date Insider Shares Transaction Value*
18-Jan-05 MOONEY. 4,166 Auto Sale at $66.87 - $67.55 per share. 280,0002
18-Jan-05 MOONEY 4,166 Plan Sale 279,8021
31-Dec-04 MOONEY 15,000 Option Exercise at $15 per share. 225,000
31-Dec-04 MOONEY 31,667 Sale at $72.72 - $73.35 per share. 2,313,0002
31-Dec-04 MOONEY 31,667 Plan Sale 2,313,9071
3-Dec-04 KERREST 4,000 Acquisition at $71.36 per share. 285,440
15-Oct-04 MOONEY 4,167 AutoSale at $62.25 - $62.35 per share 260,0002
30-Sep-04 MOONEY 15,000 PlanSale 2,363,4991 30-Sep-04 MOONEY 15,000 Option Exercise at $15 per share. $225,000
30-Sep-04 MOONEY 35,932 AutoSale at $61.46 - $62 per share. $2,218,0002
30-Sep-04 MOONEY 2,400 AutoSale at $62.04 - $62.2 per share. $149,0002

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=NTLI

Using my limited maths! he has binned $9,998,7533, nearly 10 million :Yikes:

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Not all profit though as some of the transactions were take up of options and we don't know from those figures how much he paid for some of those shares. Still not bad picking up share options for $15 and selling them for $60-£70. Wish I was a couple of coppers behind him.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Sound's like all the NTL doom mongering is premature. I wouldn't like to work for COBI right now though.

Alan :)

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

If all this noise has made NTL change their minds then we have won an important battle. You cannot keep laying of the staff that are customer facing in a company with thousends of customers. It's upper managmant now that needs culling. They have too many bosses and not enough workers, NTLs pyramid has gone upside down..

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Good words

Re: For Sale
 

Is this a *real* possibility that calls to 999 could end up not routed to the emmergency services if the batteries fail?

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

A couple of words to sum up ntl,

Its a technical company run by sales people.

Hope that makes sense.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

I have not picked this thread to reply to cos an ntl employee has posted, it just covers 2 issues close to my heart in the past.

The met police contract was obviously a big c**k-up, that's nothing new in ntl, more projects were wrong than right with the biggest offenders being the business department. ntl always employed plenty of "project management" types, and not enough people who actually knew how all the nuts and bolts went together.
I think the big difference now and a few years ago is money, ntl used to get into deep trouble on contracts and they would always use the one card they had up their sleeves when things went wrong. "Throw money at it" and "Give it the customer for free because we have made such a big hash of it"

The good skilled engineer type employees were always thin on the ground in ntl, I noticed most started leaving from corporate positions around 1998-1999, we saw the same happen in our region with some very good guys walking away. When things get bad the first to go are the ones who can find a better job, and the company is left with the unemployable ones. I do not generalise with that statement because ntl obviously has some good engineers still working for them, but the overall standard of skills compared to 5-6 years ago is definately lower due to people leaving and lower qualified and skilled people moving up to take their place.

The field operation situation is only the tip of the iceberg, those departments have been treated very badly for a number of years. They have undergone changes to working hours and practices and some I know have even been threatened with the sack if they question for example "why they are paid a few grand less than anyone else in the deaprtment" The latest redundancies in my old region of Wales, has meant they are able to get rid of 2 guys that have been off long term sick and were quite frankly long overdue for disposal, but they have also lost another 2 that have taken exeption to the latest shafting and gone out to find themselves another job.

Unfortunately for ntl as a company and it's customers, the 2 guys who have decided that ntl can stick their job where the sun doesn't shine are 2 of the best employees I have had the pleasure of working with on occassions. one guy was always very keen and very intelligent, his father was even an ntl manager and he had enough a while back and decided it was time to get out of the sorry place. The other guy had been with ntl from about 94-95, and was a very hard working guy. I understand he has left due to problems similar to my own when at ntl, he just had no work to do!

To correct that, there was plenty of valuable work for him to carry out but no budget for it to be done. I understand he has left because he doesn't want to carry on sitting on his backside taking the money every month whilst waiting for a bit of work to come his way.

Money problems aside, ntl is in one big hell of a mess :disturbd:

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Just as a mental exercise - If ntl went belly up what do you think would happen?

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

The situation will not arise where someone switches the power off on a friday night, but if this did happen customers would just go elsewhere, BT would probably suffer coping with demand for extra lines and Sky would have problems meeting demand for dish installations. It would be no great loss for the customer, but however it would be bad for the employees still left at the company.

Business customers wouldn't be affected a great deal, ntl has lost a lot of large customers and there would be no security/defense problems because the likes of ntl and telewest are not trusted with carrying traffic for the critical national infrastructure.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

I disagree it would be very bad for customers.

1 - Some have no ADSL in area and would lsoe their only option of broadband.

2 - Some cannot have sat dishes on property for various reasons and lose option for extra channels.

3 - Reduced competition making both BT and SKY get a nice present.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

I'm sorry to sound harsh here, but that's the price that is paid when a bunch of monkeys run a company the way ntl has been run for the last 'I don't know how many' years.

What goes round comes around, & all those idiots at the top must be feeling really proud of themselves now....:rolleyes:

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

So who does carry traffic for critical national infrastructure? :confused:

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

BT.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

God help us...

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

And you can bet they will get a nice fat bonus and a pat on the back for what they have done to NTL.

Neil you do not sound harsh at all, The realty of it all is starting to sink in even with the employees that have defended NTL before now. This can be seen by how much of the bad news leaks out,This in the hope that something can be done to halt the tide of destruction being heaped on the company by managers that could not sort out a ****up in a brewery.

I for one have had enough.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

That all depends on what you mean by "critical national infrastructure". The answer for some traffic is covered by the OSA.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Indeed. Both NTL and Telewest actually carry a significant amount of PSTN traffic (eg phone calls). If you ring one BT line from another BT line, your call may go through NTL/TW's equipment if BT's Exchanges are busy.

A lot of the truely 'critical' stuff, however, goes nowhere near NTL or TW. They wouldn't be touched with a barge poll (and rightly so).

Even 999 calls and management for NTL and TW is outsourced via Cable and Wireless.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Sadly, many places are like this.... including where I work (nothing to do with ntl ;) ). Recently, my employer held an Achievers' Trip - a free vacation in the Caribbean to reward its top sales people! Of course, they all forget that the sales people wouldn't be anywhere without support from my team, nor marketing people to advertise our products, nor HR to ensure they get their big pay cheque, nor the cleaners to clean-up after them, etc... etc... etc... :mad:

Sadly, every place I've worked at so far has had the same sales-oriented culture. :(

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

If NTL went completely bellyup, and was banned from trading, it's assets would be sold off - and that inclused the significant infrastructre that currently exists.

Another company would come in and there would be a cable service again - however it would be a whole new set of people... which might at first seem a good idea, but there would be no experience so we'd pretty much be back at square one.

I would also note the timing of this - it's february, there's only a couple of months till the new financial year - chances are they're just cutting back expenditure for the rest of the financial year, so they can go into new budgets in april...

Re: For Sale
 

Yes, if the battery ran out you would have no dial tone and so not be able to call anybody!
__________________

I doubt the government would let NTL close down the cable networks due to the lack of competition and they would try to ensure some other company took over. As a final straw, I suspect they would take over themselves with a view to reprivatising in a few years (a bit like they did with Railtrack).

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

I would imagine that NTL have contingency plans to cover the potential loss of telephony services whilst the situation is sorted out.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Yep, like when they had to withdraw from Ireland last year. They just cut everybody off, and sent the customers letters days later telling them to find another phone company.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

You're talking about two very different scenarios there with very different potential affects on the company.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Teehee, well, yeah.

Let's not forget, though: NTL's aim, make money. Planning for shutdown? Not so much.

I worked in Telewest provisioning for 18 months, and I can state for certain they had 0 plans in case of company closure (for telephony customers, PSTN network etc).

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Now how do you know that for certain? :erm:

I worked in the news industry for many years and took part in many contingency planning meetings at the time of Eddie Shah coming on the scene and News International moving to Wapping. These meetings were highly secret and the plans only known to senior management. Many companies have contingency plans that are known to only a few because of the sensitive nature of them, particularly if unions are a factor.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Yeah, but in terms of, for example, planning for unrouting PSTN Exchanges etc - I'd need to of known. The department I worked in was a complete and utter mess (and really, I mean that) - we couldn't even manage day to day issues, let alone anything else. Some areas of Telewest are a farce, and telephony is one of them.

Of course, higher up the tree there probably was thought put into it years ago. Could they actually action anything nowdays? Erm.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

I take it that the batteries in the cabs are constantly charged & should be replaced at regular intervals?

So it won't take long, given that there will be no more maintenence before they go belly up & don't get replaced.
And then there will be no emergency services in a power cut etc.

What do BT cabs do about this?

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

A vast majority of NTL cabs don't even have battery backup - NTL abandoned the roll out of UPS-style systems years ago for cost reasons. If there's a power failure, it will almost certainly just go off.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

BT have a different system to ntl, ntl have local multiplexers and their telephony system is fibre to the node. BT's cabinets are all line powered so no need for battery backup apart from a UPS at the exchange.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

still no answer to the question re speed upgrades... ie. will these cut backs put back the upgrade to 100mb? :confused:

it's a friday afternoon so it's the usual time NTL slips out some bad news. ;)

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

BT do not have cabs in the same sense. You have a copper wire link all the way to your exchange, which is were they have very large batteries powering everybody's lines.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

The "100mb" thing has not been announced by NTL as a service. There is no press release. The news article stating about this launch was a misquote from a government session with NTL involvement.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

BT would not use Ntl or Telewest for a BT to BT call. The BT network is far larger, more diverse and more resilient than Ntl's or TW's, the only time they would need to use ntl/TW network would be to deliver a call to either an ntl or tw phone number. Traffic flows from NTL/TW to BT are far greater.
Ntl have about 100 local voice switches nationally, BT probably have that many in London alone!
Ntl does carry traffic for Orange & Vodafone and ironically will also soon be routing some o2 traffic too. (seeing that o2 was once Cellnet and owned by BT! I know whose network I would trust more, oh well I expect they'll learn the hard way like the rest of us!).
It's true that 999 calls etc are still outsourced to C&W in the old CWC areas but in "old" Ntl areas it's done by BT. :D

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

ntl's core SDH network which Orange and Vodafone would be travelling along is superb.
Shame the same TLC, manpower and funding isn't given to the local HFC networks.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Shame the managment feel they can neglect the local HFC networks. I am sure that if customers was allowed to reduce the cost for every time the network was lost for over 2 hours they would soon rethink their crackpot idea.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

Every BT exchange also has a diesel engine/s which can run for at least a week or two without refuelling.

Re: ntl budget cutbacks
 

ntl (in the UK) won't go belly up.

Their gross profit is in the region of 60% to 70% of revenue.

Their problem is the amount of debt this profit has to service.

The debt arose partly in building the network, but mainly in taking over over companies.

Last time they went bankrupt the debt was reduced, but it is still very substantial for the company.

However, whilst their gross margins are so high, the business will continue.
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If what you say is true, two things come to mind:

Firstly, if it is a short term accounting issue, then presumably it will be reversed in the next accounting period; but

secondly, as it appears that COBI is being run at arms length from ntlhome, should there not be a minimum service level agreement in place? If COBI can decide exactly what level of service they provide, then why do they provide any service at all?

It seems to me that there is more to this than the explanation provided.