DEC has once again been forced to delay the launch of its UK value added data service. DEC originally intended to provide a service for the financial community at the beginning of the year but postponed the launch until April to coincide with the introduction of the Financial Services Act. DEC is now saying that its offering will not be ready until early summer even though the main plank of the Act is still on target for the end of this week, fuelling speculation that the minimaker is rethinking its marketing strategy. The original plan was to make the UK the test bed for a European value-added data service. But DEC has since decided to extend its offerings worldwide to include the US, and the company also admitted last autumn that it was disappointed because the expected surge of demand from the financial sector has not happened. An industry source said that he believes the company will tailor services to suit each country instead of offering a pan-European service. DEC says only that it will be making an announcement soon. The UK network will be based on two VAX 8550 clusters with 12 MicroVAXes offering regional access.
