nthellworld was one of the first mainstream independent consumer
lobby
Lobby may refer to:
* Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building
* Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians
* Lobby (food), a thick stew made in Leigh, Greater Manchester and North Staffordshire, like ...
groups in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, whose main focal point was British
ISP
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non ...
and
Cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
company
ntl Group. nthellworld.com was created by Frank Whitestone, a university student, in November 2000 to create a community where people could discuss NTL issues, submit their own views of the company and publicise ntl's failings.
Frank Whitestone later joined NTL and sold nthellworld.com to them in the process. ntl:home, as the consumer division of the NTL was known (now
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...
), closed nthellworld.com in November 2003. However, in June 2003 after foreseeing the closure of the original nthellworld site by NTL, Neil Crayne and Mick Ramsden, launched a new version of nthellworld using the domain nthellworld.co.uk, which was purchased from its original owner by Frank Whitestone as an insurance policy shortly after joining NTL. In February 2004, nthellworld was renamed
Cable Forum in preparation for an NTL -
Telewest
Telewest (previously Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also ...
merger and to shift the emphasis of nthellworld in a positive direction. In October 2005, merger plans were confirmed by ntl and Telewest boards. NTL (Now Virgin Media) provides an official community forum for its customers.
Dates
* Nov 2000 : nthellworld.com created
* Apr 2002 : Frank Whitestone takes job at NTL and sells nthellworld to company
* Feb 2003 : nthellworld leaks information regarding a controversial broadband bandwidth cap which provokes a consumer backlash
* Jun 2003 : nthellworld.co.uk launched by former administrators
* Oct 2003 : Frank Whitestone quits ntl, ntl pull nthellworld.com
* Nov 2003 : ntl confirm nthellworld.com closure
[
]
* Feb 2004 : nthellworld.co.uk renamed
Cable Forum
* April 2005 : Simon Duffy, ntl Chief Executive Officer, invites Cable Forum to meeting to discuss overall customer service issues.
* 16 July 2007 (23:55): Cable Forum passes 1 million posts.
* 23 Feb 2010 : The former
CableHell domain and database were acquired by Cable Forum.
See also
*
CableHell
References
nthellworld.co.uk is formed after ntl closure of nthellworld.com - The Registernthellworld gets mention in Telegraph (August 2004)
External links
Frank Whitestone's blog
nthellworldCable ForumVirgin Media Help & Support Forum
Consumer rights organizations
Consumer organisations in the United Kingdom
{{citationeeded, date=March 2017