U.K. telco BT, which had steadfastly pursued a targeted ad trial and planned commercial deployment despite the controversy generated by such efforts, has decided not to follow through on its commercial deployment for now. The decision is not due to any new anti-privacy pressures, but instead BT's own full plate of other responsibilities as the company continues to cut costs and re-focus its resources in an effort to come back from mounting financial troubles.
The decision appears to be a postponing of a targeted ad launch rather than a complete abandoning of such a program. Still, the move is being perceived by some observers as a major blow to Phorm, the technology vendor for BT's program. Phorm still claims several service provider customers, however.
For more:
- Light Reading Europe has this story [1]
Related article
BT finished its initial targeted ad trial last year [2]
Links:
[1] http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=178820&
[2] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/phorm-bt-trial-done-deployment-next/2008-12-17