My account | Help & support | Feedback | Contact us eNewsletter October 2008 Welcome to the Karoo October eNewsletter With the successful upgrade of our network to the new generation of broadband services, you might think what could be next? Well, weve got lots going on that we want to tell you about because most importantly, everything we do is to make you happy. • Karoo launches MyTech • Combating online child abuse • How we compare with other ISPs • Paper-free billing helps save the environment • Getting the best speed possible MyTech - the hassle-free PC support service from Karoo General help with equipment Router configuration Securing your wireless network No monthly subscription From just £9.99 we can configure, secure and enable your internet connection for you. Call 0800 915 9116 for more information about MyTech and what services we can offer you. Combating online child sexual abuse content together Karoo is a member of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the UK internet Hotline for the public to report their inadvertent exposure to online child sexual abuse content hosted anywhere in the world and criminally obscene and incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK. The IWF works in partnership with the online industry, government, police and the public. As a result of this self-regulatory approach, less than 1% of online child sexual abuse content has apparently been hosted in the UK since 2003, down from 18% in 1997. For more information or to report a website visit www.iwf.org.uk. How we compare with other ISPs Our overall performance in September as monitored by Epitiro 1.BT Broadband 2.Karoo Broadband 3.Eclipse Home (LLU) 4.Talk Talk 5.Eclipse Home (BT) 6.Plusnet Broadband 7.Tiscali Broadband 8.Virgin Broadband Last month we told you about how we are monitoring the Karoo service and comparing our performance against the competition using a company called Epitiro (an independent ISP performance benchmarking company). Through our e-Newsletter and our new Customer Zone we will bring you the results of this monitoring every month. We are proud to compare our service against some of the UK largest ISPs, so when we come second place we want to understand why. We discovered that the Karoo network experienced an increase in Spam traffic during the middle of September, resulting in lower results than usual for Email Time (one of the core measurements of Epitiro). This was resolved immediately, but was to the detriment of our performance overall for September. We are working hard to ensure we have the number 1 spot again for October. Paper-free billing helps save the environment We are constantly looking for ways to reduce the total amount of paper we use. Bill production accounts for a large proportion of our paper usage and this can only be reduced with your help. >From 1 January 2009 there will be a £1 charge applied for each telephone paper bill you receive. To avoid the charge and help us to reduce our impact on the environment, please sign up now to view your bills online. Click here to sign-up now (all you need is a copy of an old bill). In 2007, our customer bill production used just over: Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Defence Paper Calculator www.papercalculator.org. Please note this link takes you to a third-party website which is not part of Kingston Communications or its partners. Getting the best speed possible Could you benefit from faster speeds? Switching to Karoo Lite, Mid or Pro could improve your broadband speed. Check out our broadband speed checker to see >>>>   For top speeds Did you know extension leads (i.e. long telephone cables) can cause disconnections and slow broadband speeds? Click here for our top tips to improve broadband speed.