The best of 'Reader Comments': More mobile health fears, BBC selling out and Orange network woes

--Another potential BSE can of worms?
From George A. Smith

The Government should act upon the lessons they should have learnt from the BSE PR disaster - listen to the independent inquiries and inform the public now. If some hands free kit is dangerous, or if some hands free kit helps to reduce radiation - inform and advise now!

--Better than smoking?
From Jean Tempest

The amazing comment I heard on the news this morning was that having a mobile phone is better for teenagers than smoking cigarettes - don't get me wrong, I am not advocating that young people smoke. Perhaps, like the tobacco companies, mobile phone manufacturers will find themselves 50 years down the line with a whole load of lawsuits hanging over them from those with health related issues.

--A final revelation...
From Jeremy Newman

In 1992 I acted as a guinea pig for a new type of treatment for a hearing condition called Otosclerosis. This involved a small implant in my mastoid bone at the rear of my skull to
which an electronic device is attached. This small transducer picks up the radiation from mobile phones in the form of a series of buzzes, which can sometimes be heard when your mobile is left next to a cassette/CD player, desktop speakerphone or similar device. While this can be annoying it allows me to get my head/brain out of the way of the radiation of my phone. What is even more significant is that I can also detect when other peoples mobiles are having the same effect. How many times have you been standing or sitting next to someone who is on their mobile, not knowing that the route from their phone to the cell transmitter happens to be directly through your head?

And we also covered the BBC debating whether it can and should run banner ads on BBC Online: http://www.silicon.com/a40538 .

--In favour...
From Alan Jackson

It is nice to think that good old Auntie will ride the tide of commercialism.
But the cracks in this once great vessel are running deeper and wider than ever before. This great corporation needs more funds than ever before to compete in the big bad world we live in. Don't allow a high moral stance on advertising to kill its future off. I say go for it.

Another reader took a commonly heard opposing view...

--Keep BBC Online advertisement free
From Doug Spencer

BBC Online should be kept advertisement free. As a resource for education it is excellent. Our children and young people are exposed to enough advertisements without being bombarded with them when they are trying to revise for exams or do homework. In addition too much advertising will make the site run much slower, frustrate users, and thus they may get fewer hits, making the whole exercise pointless!

--Let it be...
From Mary Genovese

Let BBC Online thrive as it is - those who complain can't compete with its quality content

While another read simply commented...
If Auntie Beeb wants to be free to compete, let's all be free to opt out of the licence fee.

Also we covered the recent poor performance of Orange's mobile network, and received a record number of responses: http://www.silicon.com/a40497 .

--Who are Orange trying to kid?

I am on BT Cellnet and my son is on Orange. It can take anything up to 12 hours for SMS messages to get to and from his phone but mine to any other, or from any other provider, is almost instantaneous.

When he complained about this he was told that there was nothing wrong with the system but 'peak hours are naturally busier'. Neither he nor myself regard late evening as 'peak time' and Orange can't do either or they would be charging peak rates for it!

Someone else noted...

Last year the director general of Oftel David Edmonds took a firm stand on mobile phone operators racing to win new customers in the run up to Christmas and failing to meet network requirements. This year it looks as though once again customer service will take second billing, but Oftel says it can only act if it gets large numbers of complaints, so if you have problems on Orange or any other network contact advice@oftel.gov.uk .

Anything Orange can do...
From Neil Holmes

Orange customers need not feel they are alone. All networks treat their customers poorly. One2One offers perpetually poor service in the capital, as do the other networks. Orange denying this is due to over use must think we are a bunch of idiots.

--With an eye on the future...
From Richard Weeks

If this is what things are like as the number of voice users surges, what will it be like when the amount of users increases with GPRS and 3G? Are the networks ready for the internet-like traffic loads or are we going to have to put up with the dropped call, low bandwidth frustration that marred the web in its early days?

But not everyone believed what they read...

--It's a conspiracy...
From Mark Harold

I haven't noticed any "chaos". But then I interpret chaos to be the complete absence of predictability, whereas my Orange phone is 99% dependable.

There is no word that rhymes with Orange, but 'Hellnet' and 'One to None' are well-worn jokes round these parts. So whichever PR agency cooked up this pile of dung story, just before Christmas, the public know you're lying.

We have been told...

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