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NTL Amend The Rules To Allow Napster
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Friday March 30, 2001 Add your comments here... (7)

It was reported earlier in the week that the cable giant NTL, had ruled-out the use of Napster saying it was against the company’s Acceptable Use Policy.

However, it now appears that they have revised their AUP to allow its use.

ntl has responsibly revised its policy towards the running of servers over its internet access service. The new Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) ensures that those who truly abuse the service are restricted, while being fair to ordinary paying customers.
The story at CableNews goes into more details about the revised conditions. Definitely good news for all those music fans out there. Well done to NTL for listening to its customers.



Realtouch Tachyon Satellite Internet Connectivity System
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Friday March 30, 2001 Add your comments here... (6)

Fed up with waiting for ADSL to be available in your area?

Well if you can afford it, there is an alternative for your business - two-way satellite access.

Realtouch provides a fast, reliable network connectivity which is critical to all companies, as the information age is now part of our lives.

Realtouch have teamed up with Tachyon to become the UK's first commercial ISP to deliver a satellite based IP system for use as either a primary data traffic mechanism or as a backup to traditional leased line connectivity.

Normally Internet access by satellite relies on a dial-up connection for upstream traffic. But with Realtouch, businesses can have an upstream traffic limit of up to 256K and downstream speeds of up to 2Mbps.

The installation cost will knock you back at £3,995 + VAT with monthly payments starting at £350 + VAT. This will get you a 64K upstream connection with downstream speeds of 300K.

For some organisations the opportunities offered by this new system are unparalleled, delivering business benefits and extensive cost savings. For example there are:

• No Geographic Limitations - with all other broadband options such as leased lines installation cost can be prohibitive or unrealistic

• Fixed Monthly Payment - Leasing option available to spread the payments, providing big year-on-year savings compared to tradition connectivity

• Complete Scalability - fast upgrade options without the need for any new infrastructure, plus burstable data capabilities

• Efficient Multicasting - European and US coverage from one single access point, ideal for companies with European wide operations

• Network Backup Solution - providing a resilience to your corporate infrastructure like no other system available

• Service Level Agreement - backed by an SLA that reflects the commercial demands of modern businesses
So, whether your company is large or small, this system provides the opportunity to connect to the Internet via a state-of-the-art Network Operations Centre that delivers up 24 x 7 support to ensure an uninterrupted quality of service.



Oftel Announces New Work Programme
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Thursday March 29, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

Promoting greater broadband and narrowband Internet access to consumers is one of a range of initiatives included in Oftel’s new work programme published today.

Other work includes taking forward the Government's plans for a new communications regulator and market reviews to ensure the appropriate level of regulation.

Announcing publication David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications, said, "Oftel has a wide ranging and challenging programme of work for the year ahead.”

"All staff in Oftel are committed to carrying out this work so consumers can get the best deal possible for their telecoms services. Oftel has consulted widely on the proposed work and have included a number of useful suggestions from consumers and the telecoms industry.”

The work is set out in Oftel's 2001/02 Management Plan (Acrobat Reader required) which is published today and aimed at ensuring consumers get the best deal possible for their telecoms services.



Oftel Orders BT To Agree Wholesale Leased Line Offer
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Thursday March 29, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

Oftel has today ordered BT to agree a new wholesale leased line product with other operators.

Operators will be able to buy wholesale leased lines from BT and use them to provide a wide range of dedicated telecommunications services to their customers when the negotiations are successfully completed.

Under a Direction published today, BT has two months to agree the terms and conditions for providing wholesale leased lines, and a further month and a half to offer the product to the operators.

Leased lines are permanently connected communications links that are used by business and other operators for 'always on' telecommunications services such as voice and data traffic and Internet access.

Announcing the measures, David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications said, "Oftel has ordered BT to agree a new wholesale leased lines product with other operators. The arrangements must cover the provision of leased lines and inter-connection arrangements for operators on a non-discriminatory and cost-orientated basis.”

The successful implementation of this Direction will have the effect of introducing greater competition in the provision of leased lines and will increase choice and downward pressure on prices for UK businesses. Operators will be able to gain access to BT's leased lines network and therefore compete more effectively with BT and each other.

Edmonds added, "The successful outcome of negotiations will significantly increase choice and competition for the provision of leased lines, which are used by businesses to provide dedicated telecommunications services. Oftel will assess the impact on the leased lines market of the new wholesale arrangements before deciding whether further measures are necessary to bring down prices."

If BT and the operators are unable to reach agreement, either party can refer the dispute to Oftel to set the terms and conditions.

Meanwhile Energis has already welcomed today’s announcement by Oftel.

Energis asked Oftel for a determination on the provision of wholesale leased lines in June 2000, following which Oftel commenced a review of the national leased line market. The determination, issued today, is a vindication of the approach by Energis and will result in greater competition in the provision of leased lines. It will increase choice and reduce prices for UK businesses.

Welcoming the the Oftel determination, Energis' Head of Regulatory Affairs, Carl Gibson said, "Energis welcomes this outcome. We believe it will lead to a fairer pricing structure in the market for leased lines and deliver significant cost savings for Energis".



Madasafish Introduce Fair Usage Guidelines
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Thursday March 29, 2001 Add your comments here... (8)

Customers of the ISP Madasafish face termination of their unmetered Internet access if they use their 24/7 TimeZone account for more than 8 hours a day on average.

Launched in June 1999, Madasafish has sent an email out to their users, the ISP has set out the guideline in a bid to prevent a drop in standards of their Internet service.

Here is a copy of the email being sent to users:

As a company, we aim to provide a quality of service to our customers that can be rivaled by none and that is accessible to all those who subscribe to the services offered. As a Madasafish TimeZone or Jings Unmetered user you will be aware that we have for many months now offered unmatched levels of connectivity (i.e. very few engaged tones), speeds of connection and general service.

However we are sad to report that, due to the excessively long time some of our users spend on-line, our ability to continue offering this level of service to all our members is under threat.

Having spoken with many of you about this, we believe it is the opinion of 95% of our members that we should strive to maintain these levels of service for the majority of our users and should not accommodate the excessive use which threatens this.

To this effect, we have chosen to establish a regular program to terminate users accounts where their usage is believed to be detrimental to the service as a whole.

In order to ensure that we are able to maintain this level of service, we ask that all members try to maintain their usage below 8 hours per day on average. This will ensure that all others are able to maintain the service they currently receive from us.

We will monitor all usage on a regular basis and users who choose not to observe this request may have their service terminated. Obviously this will not be relevant to most of you and while we very much regret having to take this action, we are sure that most of you are in support of this.

If you have any comments on this action, please feel free to feed them to us by responding to this email address (tzaccounts@madasafish.com
Cheers

The Madasafish Team.
The Iomart powered ISP has so far terminated around 300 accounts for heavy usage. Unless users adopt the daily limit, there will undoubtedly be more to follow.



PlusNet Releases New FRIACO Pricing
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Thursday March 29, 2001 Add your comments here... (15)

The ISP PlusNet now have pricing details of all their new FRIACO based unmetered products available on their site.

Admittedly they are expensive, but if they can provide a high-quality service without the mass bootings they have become renowned for, customers might be tempted not to cancel their existing accounts come the end of May when they are expected to launch.

Connect Light User
Comparable to our OffPeak account, Connect Light User will give you a contention ratio of 20:1 meaning that you would expect to be able to connect to the Internet, at a fixed-cost price, for up to 10 hours a week.
only £9.99 per month

Connect Standard
Comparable to our 24/7 SurfTime-based account, Connect Standard will give you a low contention ratio of 10:1 meaning that you would expect to be able to connect to the Internet, at a fixed-cost price, for up to 20 hours a week.
only £19.99 per month

Connect Heavy User
Comparable to our 24/7 SurfTime-based account, with a low contention ratio of only 5:1, the Connect Heavy User account is, as suggested by its name, designed for heavier use than a standard account. You would expect to be able to connect for up to 40 hours a week.
only £29.99 per month

Connect Always On
Uncontended 24/7 dialup access!
For the ultimate in modem dialup, Connect Always On offers home users permanent availability and home network compatibility. Your optional Static IP address will allow the use of Network Address Translation for your network.
only £119.99 per month

PlusNet Lite
Offering the same exceptional range of added-value services as the Connect Light User accounts, together with local-rate 0845 access as standard, PlusNet Lite makes an ideal choice for those with high service level demands but relatively low connection needs. Priced at only £4.99 per month, Lite gives you all the standard services you have come to expect from PlusNet and offers fantastic value. Better still; you get to choose optional fixed-cost Connect hours for when you need them.
With the heavy user account being limited to less than 6 hours per day, we can’t see many stumping up for the Connect Always On at £119.99 per month.

There is also a range of packages available for business users including Connect Biz+ which offers 70 hours a week of unmetered access with a contention ratio of only 3:1 priced at £54.99 per month.

What do you think? If you are a PlusNet customer will you be sticking with them?



European’s 225% Increase On Time Spent Online
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 28, 2001 Add your comments here... (4)

Latest figures from Internet research company Jupiter MMXI reveal that the amount of time Europeans are spending on the Internet from home has increased significantly in the last nine months.

Latest trends show that not only more and more people are logging on to the Net from home every month, but they also use it more and more each month.

In Europe’s biggest Internet markets, the UK, France and Germany, the total monthly time online has increased by 94% (UK), 225% (France) and 226% (Germany) between June 2000 and February 2001. The average time spent online per Unique Visitor per month was also highest in Germany (more than 13 hours), followed by Spain (more than 9 hours), Norway (9 hours) and Italy (8 hours).

"The tremendous growth of time spent online by European consumers, together with a steady increase in the number of Internet users confirms that the Internet itself is not affected by the current financial issues some dotcoms are facing", said Staffan Engdegard, advertising analyst at Jupiter MMXI.

"The softening Internet advertising market is primarily a result of the financial reality catching up with dotcom’s extravagant spending. It’s now up to the sellers of Internet advertising to show traditional advertisers the most efficient and effective ways of reaching the growing Internet audience."



NTL Contradicts Itself On Napster Use
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 28, 2001 Add your comments here... (8)

CableNews have recently published an email from NTL stating that Napster is not allowed on their ntlworld Internet service.

Despite NTL being the largest cable company in the UK, NTL have stated that because Napster is a server, its use “is not permitted.” As it’s against the company’s Acceptable Use Policy, the subscriber “may be subject to immediate suspension or termination.”

Yet a customer’s quote on the ntlworld website contradicts this:

"WOW the cable modem is FANTASTIC!! Napster downloads are amazingly fast. (The number of uploads from my PC is mind boggling!)"
More on the subject at CableNews.



FRIACO Pricing Looks Set To Be Cut
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 28, 2001 Add your comments here... (18)

According to Netimperative.com today, it appears that BT may be dropping the price for its wholesale FRIACO unmetered product it provides to Internet service providers.

As a result of the impending price change, ISP PlusNet, which had announced that it would roll out unmetered access by the beginning of April, is now to delay its launch until 31st May 2001. ISP Sniff Out has also delayed its impending unmetered access service.

Richard Skeels CEO at Sniff Out said: “We were advised that the pricing was being looked at. We would be foolish to launch it with a big fanfare. We are adopting a relaxed attitude. ”

In a letter sent to its customers, PlusNet said: “However, recent developments regarding wholesale FRIACO pricing at BT have meant that we can now expect to be able to add even greater value to our forthcoming range.”
Net4Nowt always welcomes any steps which cuts the price of accessing the Internet, especially if it allows smaller ISPs to compete with the big boys. This makes the market more competitive and offers the consumer more choice.



ic24 Free Unmetered Offer Extended
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 28, 2001 Add your comments here... (15)

The Mirror Group owned ISP ic24, have yet again extended their free 0800 access.

Running for more than a year, the 0800 access has been extended month after month despite many other unmetered ISPs closing down or raising monthly subscription fees.

The 'After 8' offer has been extended for another 2 weeks until 11th April when the company will again decide what will happen.

Completely free 0800 access is available between 8pm and midnight, 7 days a week. All other calls are charged at the local rate.



Net4Nowt Removes TFI Content
Posted by: Peter Harris | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 27, 2001

Net4nowt regret that due to recent threats of legal action from Internet Service Provider 'The Free Internet' we have taken the unprecedented decision to remove all 592 (predominantly negative) comments regarding this ISP from our discussion groups.

This action is very much regretted but we hope by providing links to other discussion areas for this ISP the needs of Net4nowt users can still be met. Other appropriate forums include:

The Free Internet Users Group - http://www.tfiusers.uklinux.net/index.php

Usenet alt.internet.providers.uk accessible via Google - http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&group=alt.internet.providers.uk

UK ISP Users Group - http://www.ukispusersgroup.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/topic.cgi?forum=22&topic=7

Net4nowt does not have the intention or financial resource for entering legal battles with any ISP always preferring to reach amicable agreement over content. Unfortunately, for the first time in our 3 year history, it has not been possible in this instance.



Police Carry Out Home Raids Of Suspected Internet Paedophiles
Posted by: Sarah Brown | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 27, 2001 Add your comments here... (2)

This morning saw the largest ever operation of its kind in the UK in a bid to crackdown on Internet paedophiles. This involved a series of raids on 43 address by 25 police forces and the seizure of computer equipment from the homes of the suspected paedophiles.

The Register reports that Greater Manchester Police's (GMP) obscene publications unit was in charge of Internet Operation Appal, that focused on individuals suspected of using the Internet to exchange and store obscene pictures of children. It is the culmination of a four month investigation led by GMP.

A spokeswoman for GMP said the operation was the largest ever operation of its kind in the UK and involved raids on 43 address by 25 police forces and the seizure of computer equipment.

So far 22 people have been arrested and are being questioned about offences related to the Protection of Children Act. More arrests are likely to follow.

In a statement, Inspector Terry Jones of GMP's Obscene Publications Unit said: "Work by the Obscene Publications Unit identifies those people abusing one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, and we will continue to track down those individuals who believe the Internet gives them the anonymity to continue to trade in obscene pictures."

SurfControl, whose Internet filtering software recently blocked access to The Register for many of our readers, was responsible for providing GMP with customised software to help officers locate and track Internet users involved in possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

According to SurfControl, where previously 60 man-hours of Internet checking were needed to develop leads on 16 suspects using its software meant the same task could be performed in 16 man-hours. This allowed police resources to be directed more efficiently.

A spokeswoman for GMP assured us that officers "manually checked" all the content flagged as obscene by the SurfControl software. This provides welcome reassurance for us at Vulture Central, we thought SoHo's dirty squad might be coming round to kick our door in.

SurfControl's Cyber Patrol blocked The Register in order to " prevent [customer's] children or pupils from being able to surf Web sites containing sexually explicit, racist or inflammatory material".
The Register explains in the report that the ban followed the publication of a story that was carried by other news services - who weren't blacklisted - about a site that provided information on how to disable filtering software, called Peacefire.org. However, a large number of The Registers own readers objected to the actions and SurfControl and subsequently lifted its censorship of The Register.

It appears that the police are taking adequate action in the fight against paedophiles who abuse the technology of the Internet for their own satisfaction.....



Sharp Maybe Onto A Winner With Linux For The Handheld
Posted by: Sarah Brown | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 27, 2001 Add your comments here... (1)

The Register reports that Sharp are about to overtake Palm in the PDA market to regain itself as a leading handheld device company. In this part of the technology market, Palm are currently at the top within the US and Europe, and although Sharp still remain the leading PDA maker in Japan they are up against other arch-rivals akin to Casio.

In a bid to win back their supporters, Sharp plans to utilize a mix of its own Zaurus operating system, still fairly popular on Sharp's home turf, and Linux for overseas markets, as the report states:

Java will cement the two, courtesy of British embedded OS developer Tao, which has licensed its Intent Java Technology Edition to Sharp. Intent JTE is a fast, compact hybrid virtual machine/just-in-time compiler optimised for embedded systems. It's also highly portable, reckons Tao, which is why Sharp can get it running quickly on both the Zaurus OS and, later, Linux.

Java provides Sharp with a consistent API for application developers to write to both versions of the new Zaurus PDA. The Linux version will itself form the basis of three different models: a wireless PDA-cum-phone for the European GSM market, and a Palm-style PC accessory and a Sony Clié-style multimedia handheld, both for the US.

Incidentally, Tao's Intent platform also comprises a compact, high performance (according to Tao) multimedia library. Again, it's highly portable, and already runs on Linux. Sharp didn't say so, but the Intent Media Libraries have to be a strong contender as the basis for its multimedia PDA.

Java is important to Sharp because it reckons the basis for Palm's success has been the availability of third-party applications to "make their products more user-friendly", said Yoichi Sakai, general manager of Sharp's telecoms systems group. "We would like to adopt that strategy as well... We hope that Java will be a catalyst for our Zaurus global expansion."

Ultimately, Sharp will roll-out Java across all its communications products, from phones to fax machines to PCs, using it to provide a consistent user interface to all of them. That sounds a bit pie in the sky to us, and indeed, Sharp won't say when all this will happen.

As far as the Zaurus plan goes, its Java implementation, will ship for Zaurus OS PDAs on 4 April. The Linux machines, also going out under the Zaurus brand, will ship next October, according to comments made by Hiroshi Uno, the head of Sharp's mobile systems division, earlier this month.
Sharp also intends to achieve around one million unit sales by the end of March 2002, and according to Uno's estimation, Sharp should be able to boast over 10,000 applications for its PDA by this time next year with Java support. The Register comments that many applications are more likely to come from all those Linux coders chafing at the bit to get X running on the handheld.

Are Sharp being over-zealous and unrealistic do you think? Or, can they achieve what they are setting out to do?.....



UK Internet Use Steadily Climbing
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 27, 2001 Add your comments here... (5)

The number of Britons accessing the Internet has finally crept above the 50% mark, while over a third now have access from home, official data has shown.

National Statistics said on Tuesday that 51% of the adult population, equivalent to 23 million people, had used the Internet in the final quarter of last year, up from 45% in the third quarter.

That usage breaks down into 57% of men and 45% of women who had surfed the web during the October to December period.

Internet usage is by far the highest among the 16-24 age group, at 8%, a figure which falls to 39% for the 55-64 year olds and only 6% for the over 75s.

Access was also highest in families headed by a professional, at 7%, and lowest among families headed by a non-skilled worker, at just 2%.

NS said an average of 8.6 millions households in Britain had access to the web from home in the fourth quarter, equivalent to 35% and a number that is four times higher than two years earlier. The figure includes access from things such as digital television as well as by computer.

Reuters



GUS Responds To Paper’s Closure Claims
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 27, 2001 Add your comments here... (4)

Retailer Great Universal Stores (GUS) has refused to comment on speculation that it is to shut down its ISP Breathe to concentrate on promoting it as a shopping portal.

It was also reported that the GUS plans to end the ISPs mobile Internet service in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. GUS acquired Breathe in December

"All that we are saying is that the technology and assets were the main reason for the acquisition," says a spokeswoman for GUS. "It has been very pioneering in the multi device access and there is a growing market for mobile shopping that is interesting for GUS."

If the ISP were to close, it would be a serious blow for the UK's new media industry which has suffered closures and layoffs in recent weeks. Breathe's management team was in a meeting this morning and unavailable for comment.

Breathe is the UK's sixth largest ISP with an estimated 400,000 users. It was bought by Great Universal in January for £1.4m after it amassed debts of £50m.

Source: Reuters



Tiscali Looking To Buy ic24
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 27, 2001 Add your comments here... (2)

Italy's Tiscali is looking to buy Internet service provider ic24 from media group Trinity Mirror as part of its expansion in UK Internet service provision.

Analysts expect ic24, with 244,000 active users, to fetch around 25 million pounds for Trinity, Britain's largest newspaper publisher.

Consolidation among European Internet companies in recent months has been rife as valuations dropped from last year's stratospheric levels and larger players seek out footholds in foreign markets.

One source said Tiscali was among several parties interested in buying ic24, put on the auction block by Trinity Mirror earlier this month as a non-core asset for disposal.

Tiscali is already looking at Britain's LineOne, and another source said it had eyes on other UK players including Excite UK, 42 percent-owned by British Telecommunications Plc and a potential non-core disposal option.

LineOne went on sale by joint owners BT and United Business Media late last year, and industry sources told Reuters in December Tiscali was in early talks about buying it.

"Tiscali confirms that it is interested in investing in Britain and Germany. But we cannot comment on individual stories," a Tiscali spokeswoman said.

Trinity Mirror declined to comment.

Source: Reuters



Affinity Internet – Take Up Of Broadband Service Disappointing
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 27, 2001 Add your comments here... (1)

Yesterday Affinity Internet said that its high-speed ADSL service was not as successful as first thought. It also announced widening losses.

In a statement, Wayne Lochner, CEO of Affinity Internet Holdings, said that take-up has been slow due to the lack of availability of services.

The Fastlink service offers a 500Kbps downstream service for £99.99 per month, 1Mbps for £130.00 per month and 2Mbps for £160.00 per month for business customers. This is a similar pricing model to BT Openworld.

It is not clear, however, why the services were unavailable or whether this is due to the fact that BT’s wholesale rollout nationwide has been delayed. Affinity was unavailable for comment.

Affinity is also restructuring, and will move its ADSL services to its leased line and hosting services business, brought in as the result of the acquisition of Sonet Internet in July last year. The plan is to pool all SME activities into one business.
The article at Netimperative.com then went on to state that the company is much happier with its unmetered access package. Although so far only Time computers have announced that they will offer unmetered access as a client of Affinity Internet.



AOL Calls Time On Its Staff
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 26, 2001 Add your comments here... (8)

In what appears to be a bizarre move, AOL UK has stopped all the clocks in their offices as well as covering up any displays on their office equipment that shows the time.

An article at Vnunet, reported that the ISP also asked its staff not to wear watches at work after it was revealed by a professor of organisational psychology and health that clock watching is the real problem in the workplace.

"It's the long working hours culture that's the issue, particuarly in IT. The interactive nature of what people are dealing with seduces them into working longer on something than they want to, and that spills over into their private lives, so they become less effective and make more mistakes," he explained.

"Working consistently longer hours is damaging to people both physically and mentally. It burns you out, takes you away from your family and means you don't have time to rest and recuperate. It might be a more interesting exercise to tell people to simply go home when they feel like they're not adding value any more," he added.

Studies elsewhere also indicate that technology itself is putting personnel under stress.
All they need to do next is cover the windows up to stop them staring outside.



Combined Unmetered Net Package Deal
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 26, 2001 Add your comments here... (8)

ISPreview have today published details of a new combined PC and Net access deal from a company called Net in a Nutshell.

For a single payment of just £29.99 per month for 3 years, they are providing its customers with a brand new 633 MHz Intel Celeron E-PC computer from Hewlett Packard. 24/7 unmetered Internet access is also included.

“Consumers want something that is simple, affordable, and with no strings attached” says Nutshell Chief Executive Scott Ide “We have created an entirely new concept that will provide a complete package, including a PC and Internet access, at a price everyone can afford”

Other packages are also available which include bigger monitor size, printer and scanner. At the end of the 36 month contract, the PC is yours to keep.

The unmetered Internet access is through an 0800 number so it is available for users of any telephone company.



Sniff Out's SurfTime Stops After Contractual Dispute With BT
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 26, 2001 Add your comments here... (19)

Sniff Out has announced that it has ceased providing SurfTime linked Internet access, with immediate effect.

The Company has been in dispute with British Telecom as a result of the latter's failure to meet the contracted delivery date for SurfTime last summer. Unfortunately, BT has consistently refused to acknowledge any liability arising from its written commitment. It has also been insisting that rent is due from the time the service was finally supplied in late October.

Sniff Out's shareholders were, in effect, being asked to pay for BT's own mistakes and failures - something that they have quite rightly refused to sanction.

Accordingly, the Company has ceased support for SurfTime access, with immediate effect. This has naturally been an extremely difficult decision in the light of directors' commitment to provide an Internet access service that has been consistently praised for its reliability and customer support.

Members with accounts opened in the years prior to the introduction of SurfTime will be able to use their accounts as normal. Email and web space access will be available to SurfTime linked members via any other dial-in. The directors will be working to arrange refunds to recently subscribed SurfTime linked members. Sniff Out's portal site will continue to operate as normal.

At least it explains why my connection isn’t working today, very disappointed as I have not long left PlusNet. The words frying-pan and fire spring to mind at the moment. For further information customers can email support@sniffout.co.uk



Tiscali’s World Online Launches New Unmetered Products
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 26, 2001 Add your comments here... (11)

As expected today, Tiscali UK, formerly known as World Online UK UK has announced the launch of a new Internet access model. The launch of this new product is in response to changing market conditions and aims to provide customers with better value for money.

Available from today, the new packages should cater for everyone’s needs:

Tiscali Classic - 0845 local tariff rate applies. No monthly charges
Tiscali 50 - 50hrs for £5.99 per month,1p a min thereafter
Tiscali 100 - 100hrs for £9.99 per month,1p a min thereafter
Tiscali Unlimited - Unmetered use for £14.99, 24 hours/day
According to recent research conducted by MORI, on behalf of OFTEL, a typical British household connected to the net will spend an average of 40 hours a month online. According to Tiscali this research means that the new unmetered products will be more cost effective than products offered by other leading ISPs and will confirm Tiscali's reputation as 'best performing UK ISP ' in terms of quality, speed of service and now value for money as well.

Tiscali will introduce a web-based billing service to the World Online UK website, enabling users to monitor the amount of time they spend online as well as the costs.

Another advantage of Tiscali's new offering is that subscribers to the service will not have to change telephone provider, as long as they are already with BT or a BT Calls and Access service provider.

Andy Frost, consumer director, Tiscali UK, said: "The beauty of the new Tiscali internet products is in the adaptability. Take a typical home Internet customer who signs up for the Tiscali 50 package. On checking the new web-based billing service, they might notice that they are spending more time online than their allocated 50 hours, so, with a couple of mouse clicks, they can change to the Tiscali 100 product instead. Should their number of hours online then reduce to below 50, the customer can revert back to the Tiscali 50 package. It's as simple as that."

Frost added: "We believe that by introducing these flexible services we are offering consumers great value for money and a unique competitive advantage over other ISPs."



Granada To Close Down G-Wizz
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 26, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

Granada is to shut down its ISP and entertainment portal G-Wizz this Wednesday.

The site now has the following statement: “G-Wizz will be closing down on 28 March 2001, from that date it will no longer operate as an Internet Service Provider and portal. You will still be able to visit Granada’s most popular websites.”

G-Wizz provided access to Granada’s portfolio of web sites including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Popstars and This Morning. Although they are still available by using their individual URLs.

Source: Netimperative.com



BTopenworld Victim Of BT’s Restructuring Programme
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Sunday March 25, 2001 Add your comments here... (7)

In BT’s latest restructuring plans, today’s Telegraph has reported that the broadband Internet company BTopenworld looks set to be scrapped and re-absorbed into the group’s retails business.

Genie, the mobile Internet operation which was part of Openworld, has already been injected into BT Wireless. At the same time BT is abandoning plans announced in September to create a national network of Automatic Teller Machines allowing customers to charge up cards for shopping online.

Openworld, which is BT's consumer internet business, was one of a family of new businesses announced amid a blaze of publicity by Sir Peter Bonfield, BT's chief executive, along with Ignite, which offers broadband services for business, BT Wireless and Yell, the directories company.

BT has since abandoned plans to float 25 per cent of Yell and is expected to scrap the proposed flotation of BT Wireless. Although no final decision has been taken on lossmaking Openworld, analysts say BT can no longer justify the costs of having an independent Internet unit addressing the same customers as the main consumer telecoms arm. The company may retain the Openworld brand name.
With the company facing debts of around £30 billion, similar re-structuring announcements are expected to follow.



Breathe ISP To Be Scrapped
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Sunday March 25, 2001 Add your comments here... (7)

According to today’s Telegraph, GREAT Universal Stores (GUS) is preparing to shut down the Internet service provider component of breathe less than three months after buying the company from the administrators.

GUS is expected to reveal this week that it wanted the company primarily for its technology and that the ISP, the sixth largest in Britain, is surplus to requirements.

The move will come as a blow to Sean Gardner, Breathe's chief operating officer, who supported the GUS takeover and believed that it had the "same vision for Breathe that the company has for itself". Gardner, who was within days of securing finance to stage a management buyout when GUS swooped, also felt the takeover offered more security to the employees.
Only last month it was reported that breathe were set to return to the unmetered Internet market. Breathe’s existing telecoms supplier, Affinity Internet Holdings, said at the time it would resell BT’s SurfPort FRIACO product to its ISP customers.



New Unmetered Services On The Way
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Sunday March 25, 2001 Add your comments here... (3)

4theNet have announced that their new long-awaited unmetered services will be available within the next six weeks.

As well as the usual off-peak and 24/7 options for home users, they also plan to release a package aimed at small to medium sized businesses.

Here are the packages on offer:

4theNET Unlimited 24/7 - £12.99 per month
Surf the net anytime of the day or night without worrying about the cost of the call. For a single monthly fee of £12.99 and NO CALL CHARGES. This service is designed for domestic, not business, use - and is subject to a 2 hour cut-off period, after which you may re-connect immediately. Free webspace and email come as standard.

4theNET Unlimited DayTime - £4.99 per month
Surf the net 7 days per week between 12 noon and 5pm with NO CALL CHARGES, outside of these hours you will be charged at less than the price of a local call. Free webspace and email come as standard.

4theNET Unlimited Business - £15.00 + VAT per month
The access package for small to medium business. Unmetered access to the Internet between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, with no cut-off period.
Outside of these hours the following call charges apply:
Evenings (Mon-Fri 6pm-8am) 1.3p/min (excl VAT)
Weekends (Fri 6pm - Mon 8am) 0.85p/min (excl VAT)
Pre-registration (no money taken) is available at http://www.4thenet.co.uk/unlimited.htm



NetGamesUK - Victim Of Its Own Success
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Friday March 23, 2001 Add your comments here... (18)

The unmetered ISP aimed at online gaming has announced that they are no longer taking any further subscribers.

Reported at ISPreview today, NetGamesUK have reached their intended ceiling of users. Several users have experienced a drop in the service saying that they have found it difficult to connect at times.

NetGamesUK provide a 24/7 0800 service which can be used by any telephone company, not just the usual BT. After a successful public beta-test ending in January, many users rushed to sign-up to the £25 per month 0800 service.



Launch Of PlusNet’s FRIACO Unmetered Service Delayed
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Friday March 23, 2001 Add your comments here... (8)

PlusNet has announced that they are to postpone the launch of their FRIACO based unmetered service. It is now not due to be up and running until June.

Here is a copy of the email being sent out to their customers:

As a result of an impending major change of BT's wholesale FRIACO offering (BT Surfport 24) and after listening carefully to you, our customers, over the last couple of months, we would like to announce the delayed launch of our FRIACO-based Internet access services.

We recently have made a number of announcements regarding our intention to move to FRIACO-based services. However, recent developments regarding wholesale FRIACO pricing at BT have meant that we can now expect to be able to add even greater value to our forthcoming range. We would ask therefore that you disregard any correspondence you may have received over the past month or so from us regarding this.

In order to be able to pass this extra value onto you, the delay in launch is unfortunate but necessary. We believe that the new products and pricing structure will make an already cost-effective fixed-cost access account even better value for money.

This means that if you are currently using a SurfTime-based service, that you will be able to continue using your existing service right up until the new service launch date. Any decision you have made regarding the change to FRIACO-based service will not now be implemented.

The new launch date is 31st May 2001 and, based on us establishing the new products and services over the next four to six weeks, we see no reason why this date should move again.

We will shortly be e-mailing you once more with further details of our new products and we will, of course, be listening to all our customers' feedback regarding this. Once we have settled upon a range of services that has been designed in line with our customers' requirements, we will then give you a final opportunity to choose which FRIACO offering you want to migrate to or confirm that you wish to discontinue your PlusNet account.

Please note, that we have updated the online FRIACO FAQ consistent with this latest development (available from the main page of our Portal www.plus.net) and that all other elements of the FAQ still apply.

We thank you for your continued custom and look forward to receiving your feedback on the new products and services.
PlusNet hit the headlines at the end of January when they booted off over 1,000 customers for over-usage of their SurfTime accounts and for using them for business use. This caused outrage amongst it subscribers and as such, many others have left in disgust looking for another ISP.

They then went and insulted their remaining customers by stating that any customer who used their 24/7 account for more than 3 hours 40 minutes a day were “Taking the Michael”. Many have vowed never to go near their FRIACO product.



Madasafish Announces New Personalised WAP Services
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Thursday March 22, 2001 Add your comments here... (1)

A major new alliance struck between lifestyle ISP, Madasafish and mobile Information Management specialists Future Internet Technologies plc (FIT) will give Madasafish members a host of exciting new personalization and WAP communication tools on their desktops.

iomart-powered Madasafish which specialises in MP3 music, movies and online games, are reinforcing their already strong Internet offering with online Organiser features and WAP messaging after joining forces with FIT’s core product Anytimenow.com.

The new Madasafish functionality represents a complete online toolbox to help their members organise their busy lives and get the most out of their computer and Internet experience.

As well as being able to access vital personal information from any computer in the world, Madasafish members will also be to do so from the latest generation of WAP mobile phones

There are nine components to the Madasafish personalisation of FIT’s flagship AnytimeNow Information Management and communications tool kit: a personal online address book, an interactive calendar to oversee your schedule, a ‘to do’ list, 20MB of secure web space to share files, online bookmarks for when you are on the move, text to mobile phone messages, group accounts with private bulletin boards, browsing by WAP mobile, and online-PC synchronisation of contacts, calendars, tasks and bookmarks/favourites.

Madasafish Product Manager, Forrest Duncan said, “We’re really excited about these new developments, and we’re sure our members will be too.

"With the increase in broadband and WAP connections, the way people use the Net and Madasafish is changing too. We are pleased to be in the forefront of offering members applications that take advantage of this increased bandwidth".

AnytimeNow’s Business Development Manager Ziad Salem commented, “FIT is delighted to add another quality partner to the growing number of carriers, ASPs and ISPs that use our AnytimeNow product as the heart of their Information Management solution. Its scalability and support for multiple deliver technologies ensure that users get the information that is relevant to them and in a form that is appropriate to the device that they are using. We look forward to helping Madasafish’s customers get more out of their lives by managing and sharing their personal information more efficiently.”



ASA - Freeserve Advertisement Misleading
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 21, 2001 Add your comments here... (4)

Today the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against Freeserve.

Freeserve ran an advertisement in the national press with the headline "Freeserve HomeTime. No charges until March 2001*". The body copy stated "... you won't have to pay Freeserve a penny until March 2001*..."; the asterisks were linked to a smallprint footnote that stated "*Charges for BT Surf Together and BT SurfTime will apply during this period".

But the ASA upheld the complaint because customers who registered with Freeserve HomeTime still had to pay a monthly charge to BT to take advantage of the advertisers' free Internet access. Therefore the headline “No charges until March 2001*" was described as misleading. Freeserve confirmed they would not use the advertisement again.

In another complaint from BT, the ASA ruled that an NTL direct mailing for a digital TV and telephone package was also misleading.

Source: Netimperative.com



Vispa’s New FRIACO Product
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 21, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

Details of Vispa’s new FRIACO based unmetered product have been revealed at ISPreview today.

They report that Vispa have signed an exclusive agreement with Norweb Telecom which will provide the ISP with the required phone lines as well as form the building blocks for their new unmetered service.

Although pricing is still to be finalised, they expect to charge around £15 per month for 24/7 access. An off-peak option will also be available in the region of £9.99 per month.

If all goes to plan, Vispa will launch their new unmetered product in April.



Quik Internet To Launch A "Business Only" Access Package
Posted by: Sarah Brown | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 20, 2001 Add your comments here... (11)

With the introduction of FRIACO, many ISPs are bringing out their new residentail packages for home consumers in a bid to strive for superiority in the residential market.

Now, that is all well and good for home users, but what about the business market? It seems that little thought is given to this area, and no doubt the business market would benefit just as much from lower rate access as lower phone charges could mean more profit.

Although businesses can and already have signed up for unmetered deals aimed mainly at residential cutomers, often the access has been poor quality with interruptions to the service along with engaged lines. This can be damaging for the serious business as reliability of access can be of great importance depending on the type and need of each business.

This nightmare can now be left in the past thanks to Quik Internet who have been working closely with their Internet backbone provider "Colt Telecom" securing unmetered deals for their business customers:

All businesses could benefit no matter how large or small. Quik Internet offer a competitive rate in comparison to other providers who offer a similar service. The only stipulation is that businesses must connect through Quik Internet's "Connection Account" for the new package to run alongside.

Conditions apply to prevent abuse of the new service enabling Quik Internet to maintain the standard of service quality offered to their customers. Quik Internet are confident that with the launch of their "business only" access they will be at the forefront of ISP services for businesses with their 'One Stop Internet Shop' approach providing any business with a comprehensive package coupled with fast, reliable and untouchable service.

You can register your interest now and be amongst the first to experience the benefits of "Quik2surf" by clicking here.



Select Committee Releases Report On LLU
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 20, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

The local loop unbundling (LLU) process may well become a joke according to a recent report released by the Trade and Industry Select Committee on the state of broadband technologies in the UK.

Reported by Netimperative.com today, the report follows discussion between the select committee and Sir Peter Bonfield, chief executive of BT, David Edmonds, director general of Oftel, and operators including Atlantic Telecom, Energis, Thus, Kingston Communications and Iomart.

It said: “We understand that Oftel has had little hands-on experience of the practicalities of LLU and that some senior officers had not even visited an exchange. The episode has shown up some weaknesses in Oftel's grasp of the technical issues involved.”

As well as slamming the participants, the report detailed issues that operators have been discussing for months. The report re-hashed and accounted for many of the problems associated with the process, including the fact that BT had initially created the impression that there was a shortage of space in almost all exchanges, charges that have now been withdrawn.

However, there were comments about the future, for example recommendations for a quick resolution to Oftel investigations into the fact that BT Openworld may be selling ADSL products at a price that would suggest that wholesale products are being bought at a cost with which other operators cannot compete. It has also called for a speedy resolution to concerns by the operators over lack of transparency on the actual costs of co-location space and discrepancies over the time between sites being handed over to an operator and when services are likely to be delivered.
To read the article in full, check out Netimperative.com.



E-Minister Backs “Next Wave” Technology With £70 Million Package
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 20, 2001 Add your comments here... (3)

The governments E-Minister Patricia Hewitt recently announced a three-part £70 million Government investment in electronic technologies to keep the UK at the forefront of the high-tech revolution. Proposals include:

• £20 million for pioneering work for "intelligent products" (next-wave technologies);
• £30 million for transforming business practices using technology; and
• £20 million for a national computing grid for UK scientists.
Launching the package of measures, Ms Hewitt said, "The internet as we know it today is only the start of the revolution in information communications technology. The UK is already one of the world leaders in mobile Internet and digital TV. Now we are investing an additional £70 million to ensure that UK business and scientists can be in the lead for the next generation of electronic networks."

Over the next four years the £20 million for "intelligent products" will fund a centre where Britain's top researchers, manufacturers and marketing gurus will come together. Their work will ensure that the UK takes a lead role in moving computer and communications technology from the desktop to the kitchen worktop.

"Next Wave" technologies will bring computer power into everyday gadgets. For example washing machines which read intelligent clothes label before selecting a washing programme, "Internet fridges" which order groceries direct from the supermarket, and home diagnostic devices which help patients communicate with GP's remotely. The market for these thinking machines could be worth up to £1 trillion per year by 2005.



24-7Freecall Announces New Internet Services
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 20, 2001 Add your comments here... (8)

The unmetered Internet provider 24-7Freecall has recently started to email its customer informing them that they will be introducing a new unmetered service based on the FRIACO product. Also on offer is a high-speed ADSL package.

This will mean the slow wind-down of its current unmetered service which starts this week with customers accounts ending at the end of their monthly credit card renewal date.

Here is a copy of the email being sent out:

NEW SERVICES FROM 24-7FREECALL.
SUBSCRIBERS INVITED TO SIGN UP AS EXISTING SERVICE IS GRADUALLY WITHDRAWAN

Dear Subscriber

I am pleased to inform you that we will soon be able to offer 2 new unmetered Internet access services.

The first is our low cost dial-up service using the new FRIACO model for delivery.

FRIACO stands for Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination. It's a fixed cost monthly subscription service that allows access to the Internet at any time of day or night and has NO call charges and NO hidden expenses. Anyone with a standard telephone line can use the service to benefit from low cost access to the Internet. You will soon be able to join instantly online or through a CD.

This service will be priced at £14.99 per month and introduced in London to begin with, then rolled out elsewhere. You can register your interest at http://www.24-7freecall.net/Members/unmetered.htm and we'll keep you updated with further news.

The second of our new services is the ADSL broadband access for both business and domestic users. Again you can register your interest at http://www.24-7freecall.net/Members/adsl.htm

Register now for either the FRIACO service or for the ADSL service and not only will you be amongst the very first to be using it, once launched, but you'll also receive the first months access COMPLETELY FREE!

In anticipation of these two new services and for the reasons outlined above we are now ready to slowly wind down the existing 24-7Freecall unmetered service over the coming months.

In future, 24-7Freecall will be operating services using FRIACO and ADSL. This will overcome the difficulties that we are faced with due to the current system for Internet access in the UK. The new services will be based on fixed costs and transparent charges, which means that we can sustain quality services for our customers in the long term.

The best way to wind down is to allow you to use the service up until your monthly Credit Card renewal date i.e. the time that you have already paid for. Your Credit Card will not be debited and the service will be withdrawn on that date.

This process will begin on Wednesday 21st March.

Obviously some subscribers will receive more notice than others and I apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

I hope that you will register your interest in one of our new services and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your custom and for your support to 24-7Freecall.

Please feel welcome to email us with any comments at helenpannum@24-7freecall.net


S J Abdin
Director
24-7Freecall was last in the news in December when they terminated around 1,000 accounts. Hopefully with the new FRIACO powered package, the service will become more reliable without the need to boot off users.



Update On 08002go Unmetered Service
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 19, 2001 Add your comments here... (4)

The long-awaited launch of the unmetered service from 08002go.com looks set to take place next month.

As well as recently promising a launch date of 24th April, they have now updated their site with available payment details.


Monthly Cheque, 1st monthly payment of £9.98 to reach us no later than 16th April 2001, so we can include you in the live date of 24th April 2001.

Or

Yearly Cheque, Yearly subscription of £99.96 (Discounted) to reach us no later than 16th April 2001, so we can include you in the live date of 24th April 2001.

Or

Credit/Debit Card, Monthly payment of £9.98. (Not before the 18th April 2001)

Or

Credit/Debit Card, Yearly Payment of £99.96 (Not before the 18th April 2001)

Or

Monthly Standing Order, of £9.98 To reach us before 16th April 2001 so we can include you in the live date of the 24th April 2001.

Or

Yearly Standing Order, £99.96 (Discounted) To reach us before 16th April 2001 so we can include you in the live date of the 24th April 2001.
They also guarantee that their pricing structure will remain unchanged for the first twelve months at least.

As always at net4nowt.com we do not advise signing-up for a full year if you get the choice. There are too many changes in the market. For example, it is nearly a year to the day when the unmetered service from RedHotAnt was launched. This ISP has now been and gone. Also credit cards offer more protection - just make sure the web page is secure.



Anonymity In Forums No Longer Guaranteed
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 19, 2001 Add your comments here... (18)

A High Court has recently made a ruling which could have wide ranging effects on many sites including ourselves here at net4nowt.com.

The court hearing ruled that the investment sites Motley Fool UK and Interactive Investor International had to disclose the details of an anonymous poster in their forums called Zeddust to the ISP Totalise.

Totalise had complained to the investment sites after Zeddust had allegedly posted defamatory statements in their forums. Both sites removed the postings and banned the user responsible. But when Totalise requested the offenders details, both sites refused.

The court ruled that the disclosure was necessary in the interests of justice.

Your comments on the ruling is appreciated as always, but don’t leave you details as we may be forced to hand them over :)

Source: ZDNet



UK Internet Population Steadily Climbing
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 19, 2001 Add your comments here... (1)

According to new figures from Jupiter MMXI, the number of Internet users in the UK has grown by 1 million since last October to 13.5 million.

Adult men are the biggest users of Net accounting for 49.8%. Women are slightly behind at 35% while children aged between 2 and 14 years make up the remaining 15.2%.

The report from Jupiter MMXI shows that on average, users spend on average 6 hours and 48 minutes online every month.

Source: Netimperative.com



BT Launches Pre-Pay Scheme For Low Income Households
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 19, 2001 Add your comments here... (18)

Oftel has today welcomed the launch by BT of a new pre-pay scheme aimed at low-income households.

As part of its Universal Service Obligation, Oftel requires BT to develop services to meet the needs of low-income households who might otherwise not be able to afford a basic fixed line phone.

BT’s In Contact Plus product, launched today, combines a low cost line rental of £9.25 per quarter with a BT pre-pay phonecard. Using an access code, customers will be able to make outgoing phonecalls up to the amount of credit on their card.

David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications said today, "Our research shows that an estimated 300,000 households in the UK do not have a fixed line phone but would want one if they had the ability to control costs and without high quarterly line rental.”

In Contact Plus costs £9.99 to join and £9.25 per quarter line rental. In Contact Plus provides the facility to make local and national calls, as well as calls to mobiles, premium rate numbers and international destinations.

There is a flat rate fee of 10p per minute for local and national calls, while other call rates are at published Phonecard Plus tariffs.

Edmonds added, "The In Contact Plus scheme allows low-income households to have a fixed line phone with the facility for both incoming and outgoing calls but at the same time allows them to keep close control over their spending."

Phonecards will be available from many retail outlets including newsagents and post offices, and customers will also be able to top up using a credit card over the phone.



Comic Relief To Receive £350,000 From BT
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 19, 2001 Add your comments here... (12)

After the story we quoted last week from the story that appeared in The Register, we thought it was only right to correct the article.

BT did not profit from the £1 a minute calls used during the Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day appeal, instead they are to donate £350,000 to Comic Relief which is actually more that what was earned from the calls to the premium rate line.

A row emerged at the weekend that BT were to benefit from the fund raising event. But according to the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme, BT’s social policy director Adrian Hosford said, "The story is complete pants. We give the money straight back to Comic Relief.”

Mr Hosford also said that volunteers worked through the night to ensure callers got through on Friday.



BT To Meet Over £30 Billion Crisis
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Sunday March 18, 2001 Add your comments here... (36)

The Sunday Times have reported that the directors of BT will on Tuesday be called to a critical board meeting to discuss the company’s £30 billion debt crisis.

BT's plan to reduce the biggest debt burden in British corporate history lies in tatters after the collapse of the stock market last week. The board is expected to decide to abandon moves to raise cash through a partial flotation of BT Cellnet and the rest of its mobile phone business. Instead it is likely to recommend a £5 billion issue of new shares, the biggest cash call by a British company.

This is expected to trigger moves leading to the departure of Sir Peter Bonfield, BT's chief executive. Some of the company's biggest shareholders say they will not put up money without changes in senior management.
The paper contacted BT to try to confirm if its directors were meeting. But all a spokesman would say is, “We are looking at lots of options. Nothing's ruled out and nothing's ruled in.”



Telewest In £2 Billion Debt Restructuring
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Sunday March 18, 2001 Add your comments here... (1)

The Sunday Telegraph is today reporting that the cable giant, Telewest, is on the brink of announcing a £2.2 billion debt restructuring.

It is hoped that the move will reassure investors over its current financial position and give it scope for continued expansion.

The deal will be seen as a major achievement for Adam Singer, Telewest's chief executive, and particularly for Charles Burdick, the finance director.

The announcement is expected to come this week when Telewest releases its financial results. They are also due to announce that they have signed up half a million subscribers to its digital service.



UK Lagging Behind In European Broadband League Table
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Friday March 16, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

Van Dusseldorp & Partners, in partnership with International media analysts, Screen Digest, have recently published a report examining the full potential of broadband Internet access and what it will mean for the European market.

The report shows current figures for cable modem and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) penetration of European households at 1.79% - up three times from 1999's figure of 0.48%. The report predicts that by 2003, penetration will stand at over 21% - with over 18 million subscribers - up more than 44 times than in 1999.

The report suggests that broadband access, which is already been available in the US for some time, is only now starting to make inroads into Europe making a whole range of new services possible. As download speeds have increased and more bandwidth has become available, the possibility of delivering screen-based content such as films, television programs and music has moved a step closer to mass market usage.

Van Dusseldorp & Partners and Screen Digest estimate that at the end of 2000 there were approximately 400,000 DSL subscribers in Germany, compared to the next largest market, France, which has 60,000 subscribers.

But the UK comes in at number nine in the European DSL league table with only 30,000 DSL subscribers. Ireland and Portugal are the only European countries to have no DSL subscribers.

By 2003 the German market will have increased to 5 million DSL subscribers, whilst France, the Netherlands and the UK are predicted to have just 1 million subscribers each. This will bring the total European market up to 13.3 million DSL subscribers.



BigBlueSky In Price Rise
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Friday March 16, 2001 Add your comments here... (12)

Now up and running for two months, the unmetered ISP BigBlueSky is still up and running in the face of criticism that it will not succeed.

The ISP originally started to charge its customers just a one-off payment of £25 for a lifetime of unmetered access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Now they have changed their pricing strategy but are still operating.

In a much needed site update, BigBlueSky have added a monthly fee to their service. Anyone who signed up after March 1st will now have to pay £5 per month on top of the original £25 subscription fee which is now payable an a yearly basis.

Feedback on the service from our readers is mixed. But the general theme running through the forums are difficulties in connecting during evenings and weekends. Also getting the necessary sign-up details in the beginning is proving impossible for some. BigBlueSky rarely send out details by email and are difficult to contact by phone with the office appearing to shut at the weekend.

But for those who signed up before March 1st, they will carry on enjoying the service for life without having to pay the monthly fee. But just what is the life expectancy of an ISP who offers such inexpensive Internet access?



BT Set To Profit From Comic Relief
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Friday March 16, 2001 Add your comments here... (25)

For those out there just coming out of winter hibernation, today is Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day where millions of pounds is raised by people dressing up in silly costumes and climbing into baths of cold baked beans.

However the powers-that-be at British Telecom has decided not to say Pants to Poverty and will actually receive 36p from every call made when someone calls to vote during the fundraising activities on TV tonight.

At £1 a call, this is a very good way to raise money as people donate to charity and they get something back as well. Imagine our surprise then when the Today programme today on Radio 4 revealed that for every phone call made, Comic Relief receives just 64p. Where does the other money go?

Why, BT of course. Apparently it costs BT 36p of every £1 for line rental and setting up the network. That's over a third of the total cost. Does this not seem a little excessive? Especially considering that the entire event is for charity?

If this really is cost price to BT, it must surely raise questions about BT's efficacy. It sets up hundreds of charity phone lines every year and has been doing so for a couple of decades. Does it really cost 36p for every phone call? And we thought telecoms had become a low-cost all-encompassing industry.
The rest of the article at The Register went on to say they were still waiting for BT to get back with an explanation.

To make a donation to Comic Relief either visit http://www.comicrelief.com or ring 08457 910 910.



Supanet Deny Possible Sale Rumours
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Friday March 16, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

After the recent announcement that Trinity Mirror will be selling its ISP ic24, rumours are spreading that Supanet could be looking for a buyer.

Although the company is denying media reports, it has admitted that it is looking at options for raising additional financing.

A company spokesperson said Supanet is indeed consulting with Close Brothers to look at the possibility of forming a joint venture or heading towards an IPO.

However, he firmly denied that the business is up for sale, or that it is in financial difficulty: “We are not up for sale. In fact, Supanet will be breaking a profit this year. We are not in the position where we need to raise extra funding.

“However, the market needs to look at the fact that there will be further consolidation, and we are looking at various funding possibilities.”
The article at Netimperative.com went on to say that Supanet admitted that they had been approached by companies to discuss possible joint ventures.

However, the spokesperson added: “No one has made an offer, no one has put through a proposal and we are not in discussions.”
Trinity Group announced that they were putting up the ‘For Sale’ sign for their successful ISP, ic24, stating that it was “no longer regarded as essential to the group's digital media activities".



New Telecoms Ombudsman To Resolve Consumer Complaints
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Thursday March 15, 2001 Add your comments here... (2)

Detailed proposals for a new Telecoms Ombudsman with powers to resolve disputes between consumers and telecoms companies have been published today by Oftel.

The telecoms Ombudsman will provide an important new layer of consumer protection and is based on other successful industry Ombudsman schemes.

Under the proposals, the new Ombudsman would:

• encourage companies and consumers to resolve their dispute as quickly as possible;
• resolve disputes up to the value of £5000 when the consumer has been unable to reach agreement with their phone company;
• award compensation on a case-by-case basis; and
• be as accessible as possible in order to meet the wide range of needs of different consumers.
Announcing the new consumer protection measures, David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications, said, "The new telecoms Ombudsman will be a fast and effective service for consumers to get their dispute resolved, without the expensive and time-consuming process of going to court. These proposals result from a joint industry/consumer working group chaired by Oftel.”

Although Oftel will continue to investigate complaints and enquiries about telecoms services, they can refer consumers to the Ombudsman when is a contractual dispute which companies have failed to resolve through internal procedures.

Edmonds added, "The Ombudsman will encourage companies to resolve disputes as quickly as possible, backed up with powers to decide on individual cases and award compensation to consumers as appropriate. The Ombudsman will be funded by the industry and will be independent, fair and publicly accountable. It will be essential for the Ombudsman to be accessible to all and demonstrate best practice when dealing with consumers, especially those with special needs.”

The proposals for a telecoms Ombudsman were welcomed in the Government’s Communications White Paper.

Patricia Hewitt, Minister for Small Business and e-commerce, said, "I am delighted that Oftel and the telecoms industry have responded to the challenge to create a new consumer Ombudsman. As customers become more demanding, services become more sophisticated and the telecoms industry becomes more competitive, it is vital that consumers who are unhappy with their telecoms service should be able to have a fast, effective, independent complaints body."

Oftel has begun a public consultation to consider the practicalities of setting up the Ombudsman. The consultation period runs until 15th June. Oftel will issue a statement in July. It is expected that the Ombudsman will be up and running by April 2002.



Canada Takes Action To Combat Online Child Porn Trade
Posted by: Sarah Brown | Submit news/press release
Thursday March 15, 2001 Add your comments here... (5)

Reuters has reported on international ground-breaking news that the Canadian government introduced a bill on Wednesday to make it a crime to surf for child pornography on the Internet.

In an age where child porn is just a mouse-click away, Justice Minister Anne McLellan said:

"Combating crimes committed using the Internet is crucial, particularly when it come to the most vulnerable members of our society -- our children. It's very important that our criminal code responds to a variety of changes, in this case technological...we wanted no doubt left for those who investigate these horrible crimes and those who prosecute them."
Canadian officials said they were unaware of any other country with similar legislation to crack down on the mushrooming Child porn trade. The legislation means that accessing child pornography would carry a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Let us hope that other countries follow suit.......



IC24 For Sale Expected To Be Confirmed
Posted by: Sarah Brown | Submit news/press release
Thursday March 15, 2001 Add your comments here... (11)

Yahoo (LONDON - Reuters) have reported today that one of Britain's largest newspaper publishers is expected to confirm plans today to sell its Internet service provider ic24.

Trinity Mirror is also selling its business magazines and exhibitions arm, and is expected to announce the sale of its sportinglife.com website which is a joint venture with the Press Association.

According to expert analysts, the service provider is estimated to be worth between 20 and 25 million pounds alone, and the business magazines arm could raise a potential 50 million.

Although the ic24 offer has just been extended further do you think that the sale will prove to be the end of the truly free service?



BTopenworld Launches Broadband Security Service Trial
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 14, 2001 Add your comments here... (1)

BTopenworld has today launched an exclusive trial which will provide its broadband customers with improved security and privacy while online.

Online Scanner from Internet Security Systems (ISS) will, for the first time allow BTopenworld broadband customers to have their PC's security scanned while online to identify any potential security weaknesses and give recommendations on solutions to any problems or gaps found.

The free 90-day trial uses Online Scanner, the first commercially available online scanner product from market-leading provider ISS - which has more than one third of the UK market.

BTopenworld is leading the way in addressing increasing customer concerns about computer security and privacy when online. These concerns have been heightened with the advent of broadband Internet which, owing to its 'always on' nature, potentially places users at greater risk to hackers and viruses. Mindful of this issue and concerned to avoid it becoming a restraining force on the growth of e-commerce, BTopenworld is taking the initiative by providing its customers with a first-step solution to the problem.

Online Scanner is part of an integrated portfolio of security based services due for launch later this year, and is one of the first projects to emerge from BT's Broadband Applications Laboratory at Adastral Park, a technical incubator for new broadband applications.

Marc Deschamps, chief operating officer, Broadband, BTopenworld, said, "With increasing customer concerns about security in the Internet, BTopenworld has taken the initiative with ISS to address these and provide a solution. We at BTopenworld are keen to ensure that e-commerce is successful and this is just the first step in a roll-out of an extensive security programme."

The Online Scanner application can be downloaded by means of the BTopenworld site and will run from within Internet Explorer (IE) versions 4 and above. Once the scan is completed, normally within nine seconds, it provides the user with a list of potential security hazards with the software on their PC. These are ranked as high, medium and low, along with recommendations on how to tighten up security. If the ISS trial is successful the intention is to make the service available on both BTopenworld's broadband consumer and SME portals. Further security features, with links to the BTopenworld shop, are also planned such as anti-virus software and firewalls. A link to BTInternet will also enable the downloading of the filtering software CyberPatrol.



More Customers Affected By Account Terminations
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 14, 2001 Add your comments here... (25)

Yet more unmetered customers are to be booted by their ISP. This time the boot comes from the direction of Madasafish.

Several of their customers on the TimeZone unmetered accounts have been informed that their account will be terminated immediately.

Madasafish, who suffered network problems last week, say the action has been taken to maintain a quality service to its existing customers.

The ADSL service from Madasafish is being recommended to those customers affected, which is just another kick in the teeth for many because the high-speed service has only been rolled out in a few selected areas.

Madasafish are quoting term 13 [unlucky for some] for the account termination:

In addition to its other rights of termination ISP shall be entitled to terminate the Service with immediate effect by notice to the User, in which event the ISP shall repay to the User any sums prepaid in respect of the period after such termination takes effect.
Although unlike some ISPs in the past, Madasafish are offering refunds to those affected and will be crediting users for any unused portion of their pre-paid month's service.



Totalise To Go FRIACO After New £1.4 Million Deal
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 14, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

Today Totalise has announced that they intend to offer a FRIACO based unmetered product to its customers after exchanging contracts in a £1.44 million deal.

Late yesterday Totalise exchanged contracts with a company called Secure Browser Ltd (“SBL”) for the sale of its rights to the dial up revenue from Totalise’s existing dial-up user base. As well as the £1.44 million from the deal which is payable over 6 months, Totalise will also receive £40,000 under a loan stock agreement.

SBL has also agreed to subscribe for approximately 3.25 m shares in Totalise at a price of 16p per share (£520,000 total value).

The total effect of the overall transaction will be to increase the cash position of Totalise by £2m.

The deal will also give Totalise the opportunity to offer FRIACO (affordable unmetered Internet access) based products to its customers later on in the year. Totalise is entering into a joint agreement with SBL in relation to a web site that is personally customisable by individual users. This is in line with Totalise’s aim of making the web easier to use for everyone. Contracts have been exchanged, and a deposit taken. Completion is expected to take place on or before April 2nd, 2001.

New customers to Totalise will continue to generate call share revenue or equivalent for Totalise as they select Internet Access packages and facilities available through this relationship.

Peter Gregory CEO of Totalise said, "With the future of 0845 Internet access under some debate, this is a great deal for us. Little will change as far as the customer is concerned. However, with this cash in the bank - we are now in an even stronger position."

Further information will be made available on the Totalise web site in the coming weeks and fuller details of the contractual arrangements will be disclosed at completion.



EXCLUSIVE: ic24 Free Unmetered Offer Extended
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Wednesday March 14, 2001 Add your comments here... (7)

The Mirror Group owned ISP ic24, has just informed us that their free 0800 access will yet again be extended.

Running for more than a year, the 0800 access has been extended month after month despite many other unmetered ISPs closing down or raising monthly subscription fees.

The 'After 8' offer has been extended for another 2 weeks until 28th March when the company will again decide what will happen.

Completely free 0800 access is available between 8pm and midnight, 7 days a week. All other calls are charged at the local rate.



Unmetered ISP To Launch
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 13, 2001 Add your comments here... (3)

According to ISPreview today, another unmetered ISP is on the way with a launch anticipated for April.

LogicSurf will be offering off-peak access for £9.99 per month and 24/7 access at £15 per month.

The managing director of the company, Steve Hubbard, informed us of the ISP last month when it was just offering a standard 0845 local-rate service. It appears that LogicSurf is reselling the Vispa service and is just waiting for the FRIACO based unmetered products to go live next month.

Many extras are included with the accounts including unlimited email addresses, 15MB of Webspace which also supports MS FrontPage extensions, Voice and Fax to email services, games servers, access to over 51,000 newsgroups and ISDN support upto 64K.



New Record Set For Internet Traffic In The UK
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 13, 2001 Add your comments here... (3)

Internet traffic in the UK has hit an all time high of six gigabits per second last week.

Equivalent of 360,000 email messages every second, the new record has beaten a previous barrier of five gigabits in early January showing an overall growth of 20% in the past two months.

The data from the London Internet Exchange (LINX) today shown that the peak is reached in late afternoon and early evening which reflects the growth in home use including increasing numbers of broadband "always-on" connections, the exchange said on its website.

LINX reported the three Gb/s mark was passed in June so traffic has doubled in nine months. The exchange, which handles 90% of UK Internet traffic, connects the networks of its 120 UK ISP members.



FRIACO: Small ISPs Cast Out In Cold
Posted by: Sarah Brown | Submit news/press release
Tuesday March 13, 2001 Add your comments here... (22)

Small ISP companies seem to be excluded from utilizing the new flat-rate internet access call origination (FRIACO) product that is offered by British Telecom.

FRIACO is largely aimed at the larger companies with 50,000 users or more and offers ISPs and VISPs - Virtual Internet Service Providers - unmetered round-the-clock access. Unfortunately, the smaller ISPs that don't fit into the 50,000+ user category are being advised to stay with pay-as-you-go, as Silicon reports:

Catherine Hawley, senior vice president at BT Openworld, says that the product which is due to launch in April, is only suitable for ISPs and VISPs with users numbering over a certain threshold. She says: "It is suitable for larger ones like Tesco which has over 400,000 user to 500,000 users - any lower than wouldn't want to use FRIACO."

She adds: "I would recommend for [smaller ISPs] to stick to pay as you go because they would struggle to make money out of it, we wouldn't want to fool them."

BT Openworld currently counts a throng of corporates among its client base including Tesco, WHSmith and Boots.

However Neil Barker, managing director at Chocolate Internet says that BT is too easily dismissive of what smaller ISPs do or do not want.

He says: "At the end of the day it is BT which rules because it controls the network and it would probably like if ISPs like us packed up and went away."
It is also reported that Barker would 'be very interested in the idea of the FRIACO product - if BT catered to his size of company', which we would think is true of the many more smaller sized ISPs out there.

Do you think this is fair play in the ISP market?



Net4nowt In Partnership With DooYoo
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 12, 2001 Add your comments here... (6)

Net4nowt is pleased announce a partnership with dooyoo.com to provide an improved ISP review and rating service.

Not only does this improve the range of information about Internet Service Providers that can be found within Net4nowt, but the ability for consumers to share their experiences of use of ISPs is made even easier. Further more, Net4nowt users who provide reviews can now get paid for them.

Dooyoo.co.uk is a dynamic new consumer opinions platform. dooyoo users can view the opinions of real consumers of a wide range of products and services. This places products under the harshest spotlight of all - that of the consumers themselves. From these reviews, dooyoo.co.uk together with Net4nowt provides a perfect source for unbiased and knowledgeable information about Internet service provision.

This is just one improvement Net4nowt is making with some exciting new initiatives coming online over future weeks and months.



World Online And LibertySurf To Unite With Unmetered Service
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 12, 2001 Add your comments here... (1)

According to Netimperative.com earlier today, World Online and LibertySurf could well be joining forces to launch an unmetered service, when the Tiscali deal with LibertySurf goes through.

Tiscali, the pan-European ISP that bought WorldOnline last year, may merge the two companies’ platforms. According to managing director of business services Quentin Birchall, both WorldOnline and LibertySurf have complementary networks.

He said: “We will be offering unmetered in the short-term to business and consumers. We will move towards one set of products for the customer base.”

However, the company will make use of a FRIACO interconnect product – similar to the type used by AOL to offer its unmetered access product. AOL, with technology partner Viatel, pays an unmetered access charge for traffic taken from homes to the local exchange and then siphoned off traffic from the local exchange onto its IP network and then onto AOL’s network.
World online who already offer unmetered access, although restricted by monthly limits, moved away from the telco market last month. World Online decided to concentrate on being an ISP instead.



New ISP Launched To Aid Charities
Posted by: Paul Hillbeck | Submit news/press release
Monday March 12, 2001 Add your comments here... (0)

In a bid to raise funds for charity, a new ISP has been launched.

Called ItsGoodToGive, the ISP will donate 50% of its revenue generated from e-commerce sales and 10% of its ISP revenue to partnership charities. The ISP has already signed up 200 partners including Lastminute.com, CDNow, Amazon and Iceland to name a just a few.

Subscribers will receive free web-based email, web space as well as secure online trading. The first 100,000 will also receive a free Nokia 7110 WAP phone from Genie mobile.

Subscribers to ItsGoodToGive can help raise funds for charities including RNIB, The Children’s Society, Blue Cross and The British Heart Foundation.



Popular Firetalk Service To Be Withdrawn