Quote:
Originally Posted by popper
Neil Berkett made some interesting comments
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...eutrality.html
Cable providers must engage with issues such as net neutrality, privacy, copyright and child protection, Neil Berkett told an industry conference yesterday.
"In the UK, attitudes towards service providers are at something of a crossroads," he said. "If we can simultaneously demonstrate we're engaging with these complex issues and capture the excitement and opportunity of our services, we could emerge as the enablers of choice in an industry that is sometimes regarded as a bit sterile and remote.
"Or we could go the way of the utility companies or the financial services industry and become resented by consumers and seen as little more than a necessary evil." |
But Neil, you
aren't engaging with your customers. A letter or a couple of phone calls to the hangar doesn't amount to much in VM's abysmal dealing with this issue. You had the chance to properly issue a public statement and blew it. You had an opportunity to put the BBC right about what looked like wrong reporting. You didn't take it and now questions must be asked about the veracity of the statement that "customers will not be forced to use the [Phorm] system".
You may be excited about the possibility of making money via schemes like Phorm but you've proven nothing to the intelligent and informed customers that VM has. There's no excitement to me as a customer about adverts being fired at me. I don't want adverts, I block virtually every advert provider I become aware of.
Now VM is as resented as much as Phorm and BT are. VM's reputation is headed on a downward spiral and you've got one hell of a job on your hands to stop it from dropping any further.
You want VM to be seen as an "enabler of choice". Maybe we should have a little meeting Neil, because I've worked for a company which claimed it wanted to be an "employer of choice". Then it read what I thought an employer of choice was (I loathe spin and soundbites so had to respond in kind) and dropped the claim as soon as it was convenient to do so.
Here are a few things I expect from an enabler of choice:
An enabler of choice respects the law of the land
An enabler of choice knows that its reputation is affected by those with whom it associates and actively rejects those who are not honest, open and transparent
An enabler of choice respects my online privacy
An enabler of choice respects my decision to block adverts
An enabler of choice respects my decision to not use its proprietary software
An enabler of choice respects the concept of proper informed consent
An enabler of choice is open and honest about its Ts & Cs
An enabler of choice is open and honest about what it has been testing and what it will be testing, ESPECIALLY when it risks affecting my "internet experience"
An enabler of choice doesn't halve my bandwidth half way through my downloading the new version of my OS
An enabler of choice has competent technicians on its helpdesk who don't panic and leave me on hold the moment I mention I run Linux
Get the message Neil?