|
|||
|
|
||
|
News Archive |
||
|
One.Tel Goes Into Administration The news agency Reuters reported that One.Tel would continue as a going concern while the true extent of its debt was investigated by the administrators Ferrier Hodgson. Joint administrator Steve Sherman was quoted by Reuters at a Sydney media briefing that they planned a review of One.Tel's Australian operations and would hold discussions with its major creditors to identify the best means of maintaining value for the benefit of its stakeholders. Separate investigations would be held into One.Tel's overseas operations in the U.K., the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Germany and Hong Kong, he added. The creditors meeting is scheduled for 5th June and staff, customers and shareholders will have to wait until then to hear the fate of the company. Meanwhile the company will continue normally with its 1,400 staff and 2.6 million customers worldwide. One.Tel has proved very popular amongst our readers with their 1p per minute service. BT Blamed For Fasthosts Outage According to Silicon.com today, potentially thousands of websites were offline for over 24 hours while BT rectified a problem after a denial of service attack on a core BT router in Reading. John Davies, CTO of Fasthosts, denied suggestions that Fasthosts was to blame for the prolonged downtime. Instead he added, “The only mistake we made was to trust BT with aspects of our Internet service.” The routing blunder left many Fasthosts customers seeing red. The Silicon article quoted Ian Harrison, technical director at design firm Hartech Deign. He said they had a flood of enquires from 20 to 30 customers demanding to know what had happened to their sites. "We have an excellent service from Fasthosts, but as usual BT has let down ISPs, like they've always done." Redstone's DSL Plans Enhanced In BT Deal This approach, using BT's new large-scale wholesale ATM product, "MacroNet", considerably improves the economics involved in Redstone’s SDSL network rollout, as it avoids the need to construct full Metropolitan Area Networks. Martin Wall, Managing Director, Redstone Networks, said, "We have been in discussions with BT Wholesale regarding the development of this wholesale product for over nine months. I am extremely pleased that BT Wholesale has agreed to provide such connectivity, which I believe will speed up the unbundling process in the UK." MacroNet will enable Redstone to extend its Smartbuild strategy by leasing the Metropolitan Area and backhaul network whilst co-locating its DSLAMs in street cabinets outside the BT local exchanges. This strategy replaces large up-front capital investments for civil engineering for metropolitan area networks with connection charges and yearly rentals. Stuart Horwood, Managing Director, BT Wholesale Markets, said, "This is a great move for the industry. BT Wholesale is pleased that innovative product development is helping other licensed operators accelerate their strategies to deliver Broadband Britain." Any extended DSL rollout using MacroNet is subject to Redstone obtaining additional funding. Viatel In £4.3m 24-7Freecall Contract Viatel will provide 24-7Freecall with “ISP Dial Flatrate”, a service that allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to offer unmetered pricing, to their subscriber base and provide them with cost certainty when launching those services. “A flat-rated Internet offering is integral to an ISP gaining market share in the UK,” said Mr. Sal Abdin, Chief Executive at 24-7Freecall. “Customers today demand a fixed-priced package, which is both affordable and reliable. We are confident that we have found the right partner in Viatel to deliver a quality service at the right price.” The new unmetered from 24-7Freecall is expected to launch on 20th June providing access around the clock for £14.99 per month. Alternatively customers can save around £30 by paying annually. While it will be limited to BT line holders, there will be no cut-off apart from an idle period of 15 minutes. Sad Day For ic24 Customers  In an email to its customers, the Trinity Mirror Group owned ISP stated that “providing free telephony service hours as well as free access services cannot be sustained indefinitely” and will be ending their ‘After 8’ campaign as from tomorrow.The pay-as-you-go 0845 access will continue to be provided to customers and will remain unchanged. However ic24 are developing a series of unmetered, unlimited use telephony packages and details will be available soon. We will update you as soon as we have further information. Oftel Publishes Consumer Research Findings  The Internet report conducted for Oftel by Mori in February show that the use of unmetered access is continuing to grow with over a third of Internet homes currently claiming to use fully or partially unmetered packages.Average weekly household time spent on-line remained stable at about 7 hours. While this figure was inflated by a small number of heavy users, customers with unmetered packages spending on average 10 hours per week online, compared to around 5 hours per week for customers on a standard free 0845 connection. 15% of UK homes thought they would be likely to connect to the Internet within the next 12 months. A similar proportion identified significant barriers that would prevent them from connecting in the short term, and said that cheaper call, subscription, and equipment costs, along with better provision of information detailing the potential uses and benefits of the Internet, and advice on how to connect, would encourage them to get access sooner. A significant proportion of UK homes however (36%) said they didn’t want or need the Internet at home. The Internet report covers many interesting findings and can be found here. Affinity Launches Unmetered Package For Families  The new package is part of an entire range which has been devised specifically based on customer's lifestyle needs. Affinity Internet identified the need for an alternative to the majority of unmetered evening and weekend ISP packages that offer access from 6pm.Surf@Home has been specifically targeted at families with school children and offers unlimited access from 4pm to 8am weekdays and any time at weekends, for a recommended retail price of £9.99 a month. The new package makes use of the FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) infrastructure which was introduced earlier this year. Danny Sullivan, Director of Affinity Internet commented, "We're always looking at the packages we offer to our VISP clients to make sure they're giving their customers what they want. One of the advantages of being able to monitor the usage patterns of so many people accessing the Web is that we're able identify and respond to customer demands quicker and tailor the ISP offerings for each client." Tiny Online, the ISP, Portal and e-tailing arm of Tiny Computers, has already decided to launch this new un-metered service from Affinity. In the UK alone over 1.2 million people have accessed the Web through one of the 150 branded VISPs - including Tiny Computers, Arsenal and Egg - that use Affinity's service. The company combined data regarding patterns of use among consumer and business users with feedback from its clients to design its new packages using Affinity's convergent billing platform. Tiscali To Launch UK Mobile Phone Service The founder and executive chairman of Tiscali, Renato Soru, said that they will be launching a Tiscali-branded mobile phone service later this year under a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) deal with one of Britain’s four existing mobile network operators. As reported in The Times today, the company also plans to re-brand LineOne under the Tiscali name after purchasing the ISP last month for £62 million. World Online, an earlier purchase by Tiscali for £2.4 billion, is also expected to be re-branded. BT To Enter Broadcasting Market The Daily Telegraph today reported a BT spokesman as saying, “I think we are all aware that broadcasting and telecommunications are converging, and with the rollout of DSL we are effectively able to offer television in the home." Since its privatisation in 1984, BT has been banned from broadcasting but this order expired in January. The former BBC chairman, Sir Christopher Bland, now wants to make BT into a broadcaster in its own right. BT may even strike up a joint venture with BSkyB, Ondigital or Granada Media to secure programme content which will be available to every home with a telephone line. BigBlueSky Unmetered Update  In an email from the Marketing Manager and Information Officer, the reasons behind the cut-off period and a general update on their service is given:Let me answer your questions on session time-outs.Anyone who has visited their website will appreciate the fact that this ISP has a sense of humour. Nice to see a company that obviously looks like it is ran by humans. It was inevitable that sooner or later the ISP had to introduce a cut-off period, especially when some users were staying online for days at a time. But some users clearly need to get a life if they are staying connected continuously for up to 3 weeks at a time. The price rise is disappointing but also inevitable. We have said all along that such a service cannot be maintained for just £25 per year without some serious financial backing. But the ISP is willing to listen to their customers which is promising. Just drop them an email to hms2000@bigbluesky.uk.net. Unmetered Provider Explains Recent Action Against Abusers 08002go said in a statement that 67% of the users concerned had been in contact saying that there was a misunderstanding and are now back online. They agreed that the service should not be used on more than one line at any one time. Although additional accounts may be purchased if multiple lines are to be used. A further 27% had other people using the same password in error when account details were accidentally given to friends or relatives unaware that it was against the terms and conditions. These accounts have since been restored. However a further 3% had no intention of paying for more than one line and were subsequently permanently disconnected from the service. Just 2% were suspended in error and 08002go apologised for the mistake. The users affected have since had their accounts reinstated. But there are still 1% of users who have never contacted the ISP who either agree with the decision or are unaware of what has happened to their account. If you are one of these users affected, then 08002go can be contacted on 0161 707 8474 during office hours. New Unmetered Service From UK Fantastic 0800Dial caters for both home and business users with two access accounts providing unmetered access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through an 0800 number. Home users will receive 24/7 access with a 2-hour cut-off period for £12.99 per month. Business users are charged £17.99 plus VAT per month but has no cut-off period during office hours. A 4-hour cut-off period applies at other times. For users who do not hold a credit card there is good news for you, 0800Dial also accept payments by direct debit. 0800Dial is ran by UK Fantastic whose user base has expanded to 35,000 in the past three years since its outset in 1998. UK Fantastic has chosen the Virtual Internet Provider (VIP) service from Affinity Internet to supply its unmetered package. For more information check out the 0800Dial website. Net4Nowt Featured in Internet Access Made Easy Nextra UK elected to the Council of ISPA The UK Government, the EC and regulatory bodies, such as OFTEL, liaise directly with the ISPA Council on all issues regarding impending statutory and regulatory changes. As a Council member Nextra will be required to help formulate the ISPA's positioning on all UK Internet issues and develop codes of practice, white papers and communications for members. Graham Davies, business unit director of Nextra Net, said: "During the next two to three years the Internet sector will be subject to a raft of legal and regulatory changes as government and regulatory bodies try to impart some order and legal restraints on this largely unregulated industry. The ISPA will become increasingly important as it is called upon to act as a consulting body. As a Council member we will be in a great position to help define the way the industry moves forward and shape related Government policy in the UK." Net4Nowt, who are currently running a campaign for an ISP Ombudsman recognise the efforts of ISPA. However ISPA state on their website "ISPA has no influence over ISPs who are not members of the Association. If you have a problem with an ISP which is not an ISPA member, we recommend that you contact your local Trading Standards office." Net4Nowt believe that future regulation should cover all ISPs through compulsory membership. Net4Nowt does not believe an industry body established to serve the needs of ISP's is best placed to resolve consumer problems. For further information on Net4Nowts campaign for an ISP Ombudsman see http://www.net4nowt.com/ispo NTL Signs IT Contract With IBM  The agreement signed today, covers the provision of Information Technology (IT) services for NTL across the UK and Ireland.Under the proposed agreement, IBM will provide IT services for all of NTL’s operations in the UK and Ireland until 2012. However, NTL retains control of its IT activities which are fundamental to its competitive advantage. Stephen Carter, Managing Director, NTL UK and Ireland, said, "This significant agreement is more good news for NTL stakeholders. It frees us from the day-to-day IT demands so that we can focus on delivering great service and innovative communications solutions for our customers, while remaining confident that our non-core IT requirements are in the hands of experts." Tony Cronin, Vice President, IBM Strategic Outsourcing, said, "This is an exciting alliance which will help NTL accelerate the integration of the companies it has acquired over the last 18 months. We will provide NTL with robust and reliable IT systems to support its fast growing business.” Affinity Announces New Operating Structure The three main business divisions are: Affinity Internet, Affinity Telecom and Affinity Commerce.Affinity Internet includes the UK's largest provider of Virtual Internet Service Provision (VISP). It offers a full range of Internet Service Provider packages, including metered and unmetered (FRIACO), narrowband and broadband (ADSL) options. There are currently over 150 branded ISPs running on Affinity Internet's infrastructure, including Tiny Computers, Egg and Powergen. Affinity Telecom provides fully managed brandable fixed and wireless telephony services to companies wishing to take advantage of the deregulated telecommunications market. Affinity Telecom also offers a ground-breaking convergent billing platform to facilitate multi-utility billing based on the industry-leading Geneva technology. Affinity Commerce provides unique content management and portal solutions, including advanced customer relationship management (CRM) and commerce services for brands across all platforms. Each of the three business divisions is being overseen by a group director with the addition of a new UK CEO to spearhead operations. June May has been appointed the new CEO of UK Operations to enable Wayne Lochner to take a more strategic role as Global CEO and focus on the International expansion of Affinity. Danny Sullivan joins Affinity from BT Ignite Internet Services Division as the Affinity Internet Group Director. He was instrumental in the formation of BT's Internet Service Provider (ISP) Group in 1999 as well as being involved in the creation of BT's ISP Strategy and became Vice President Channel and Specialist Sales BT Ignite. Affinity Telecom will be overseen by Gary Sheppard as Group Director. He has been responsible for the very successful growth of Advanced Telecom for the last 15 years before it became part of Affinity Internet Holdings in January 2001. Peter Cosgrove has been appointed Group Director of Affinity Commerce, the portals and content management division, following his in-depth involvement with Affinity's eCRM platform as joint venture business manager. Prior to his new role, Peter was the COO of Affinity Internet Holdings. Wayne Lochner, Global CEO, commented, "Affinity's operating structure has evolved to reflect the market demand for integrated solutions. With the introduction of the three main business divisions it was essential that we have high-calibre senior management to encourage growth and profitability throughout the business." Tiny Launches New Unmetered Deal  T:Surf Value will allow working families, students and school children the chance to surf the Internet without having to pay for a full 24/7 package.The new FRIACO based account offers unmetered access between 4pm and 8am everyday and all weekend for £8.99 per month. Commenting on the scheme, Colin Greene, Managing Director of Tiny Online , said, “This is great news for all of our subscribers. At Tiny Online we continually monitor the needs of our users and are constantly looking at new ways of improving our service offerings." Tiny also provide a 24/7 package for more regular users of the Internet priced at £14.99 per month. Low Income Users Are Largest Online Group The report shows that over a quarter of all Internet users earn less than £600 per month. Those who earn £4000 or more per month make up 8.3% of all Internet users. “The Internet is not reserved for a rich elite”, NetValue’s Alki Manias said. “These figures show that the web is being welcomed by low income earners. Online businesses have to recognise that the Internet market is every bit as diverse as the high street market, and not limited to big earners”. In April there were 800,000 new home Internet users taking the national total to more than 13.5 million. So far there have been more than 2.3 million new home users. The total number of people who accessed the Internet anywhere in the UK in April was just under 18 million. Of these, over 45% were connected from home and around 18% connected from both home and the office. Just 12.6% connected only from work with nearly 60% of all users being male. AOL Raising Rate for Internet Access in the US The Internet provider has announced plans to hike its monthly rate from $21.95 to $23.90 for unlimited use - approximately from £15.47 to £16.85 per month based on current exchange rates. AOL claim the extra funds will be invested in the release later this year of AOL 7.0, a software upgrade, and the continued roll-out of AOL on portable devices, such as cell phones and hand-held computers. Analysts estimate the price hike will add about $50 million to the service provider's revenue this year and $230 million in 2002. Investors have been pressuring the company to increase its rates to help offset the slowdown in advertising revenue. We will wait to see if similar increases are made this side of the Atlantic. Source: Los Angeles Times Research Shows ISPs Are Losing Out In Unbundling Delays One hundred ISPs were interviewed in the survey commissioned by the telco Bulldog who are one of the remaining players left in the local loop unbundling process. Because of the continuing problems and frustrations, a quarter of those surveyed have lost faith in the process altogether and do not believe that broadband will be a reality for several years. The ISPs estimate that they are missing out on 50% revenue increases. Bulldog is being placed in direct competition against BT as they are the only telco in the unbundling process who propose to offer wholesale services to ISPs and other telcos. Some operators have blamed the current slump in the telecoms market for withdrawing from the unbundling process. So in order to obtain the investment it needs to put its equipment in BT's exchanges, Bulldog has developed a new financial plan. Rather than asking investors to stump up cash in a sector it currently has little faith in, Bulldog is turning to the telcos and ISPs which it will offer services to. Chief executive officer of Bulldog, Richard Greco, explained his view of broadband Britain. "The market demand and potential of DSL is huge and ISPs are clearly desperate to access the technology. It is clear more still needs to be done. Bulldog will continue to aggressively pursue the accelerated unbundling of the local loop. We are determined to unleash broadband Britain as soon as possible but need the necessary support in order to do so." Source: ZDNet BT’s Connect Lite Account To Finish Users will have until the end of October before the BT SurfTime based account will cease to exist. Here is the email being sent out to customers: I am writing to inform you about changes to your BT Connect Lite account. Currently BT Connect Lite has a subscription of £4 per month. This subscription charge is to be removed, and from 31st July 2001 you will no longer be invoiced the monthly subscription.No doubt it will be replaced with a new FRIACO type account. BT’s Connect accounts are rarely mentioned here. That could mean either one or two things; customers are happy with the service or there are very few BT Connect users here. Is there anyone who would like to comment on the quality of the service? It would be nice to hear some positive comments on an ISP for a change as we usually only hear from you when things start to go pear-shaped. Net4Nowt Launch ISP Ombudsman Petition "Internet usage in the UK is essential for businesses and consumers and as yet we have no coherent approach for dealing with the many problems that are being encountered in a volatile ISP market place. We estimate there at least 13,000 queries a year that could be better resolved through an ombudsman scheme instead of being lost in a current pool of uncertainty." said Net4Nowt's Peter Harris. "If users have problems with their ISP that can not be resolved they simply do not know where to turn. There are many bodies who would like to offer help but we are seeking one official body that will provide free, independent and speedy resolution of complaints about Internet access services - something that we do not have. It is important that we have one central point that can effectively resolve issues, monitor the state of the market, the problems being encountered and most importantly take preventative action. The OFTEL approach of encouraging a competitive marketplace is not enough." Net4Nowt is campaigning for an ombudsman service that will act as an office of last resort for Access Problems, Billing Complaints, Faults, Service Contacts, Provision of Services and Privacy issues. Paul Hillbeck who receives and replies to many such complaints at Net4Nowt said "Many people think that a poor ISP results in a loss of £10 to £20 as a user or small business changes provider. This is not the case, particularly as the more expensive broadband services are coming online. In addition, a forced change of ISP can prove expensive in terms of lost business through poor connectivity in what is becoming an essentially wired world." The idea for an Internet specific ombudsman is not new with schemes already implemented overseas. Australia has had a successful ombudsman scheme in place covering ISPs since 1997. Net4Nowt are also keen to point out that this is not about regulation of the Internet itself, just the somewhat volatile industry providing access to it. Full information of the proposed scheme, and the opportunity to subscribe to the petition may be found at http://www.net4nowt.com/ispo . A specific forum to debate this issue is also established in the Net4Nowt forums. Freeserve In Big Brother Deal With Channel 4  The popular Channel 4 programme last summer struggled with the demand and UK online viewers were disappointed when the website crashed several times. Although the Big Brother house can be seen on Channel 4, viewers can watch a live feed any time of the day or night by logging into the Freeserve website.The Big Brother house is fitted with over 30 hidden cameras and visitors to the site can select between them all to make sure they catch all the action. The managing director of portals at Freeserve, Jon Gisby said, "Unlike the TV programme, the Big Brother webcast is always on. Freeserve will be Big Brother’s eyes and ears on the Internet community, offering our 4.1 million unique visitors an opportunity to participate in online voting, competitions, chat, auctions and other events which make up the Big Brother experience." Last month Freeserve held an exclusive webcast showing in-depth coverage from the Lennox Lewis training camp prior to the build up to his World Title fight in South Africa. ‘Internet Grooming’ Becomes Election Issue After Government U-Turn Only a couple of months ago the government blocked a proposal from the Liberal Democrats to make it illegal for paedophiles to entice children in this manner. Now, in what can only be described as a major u-turn, the government’s Home Office has recently announced that if Labour is re-elected they will push ahead with further legal controls on the Internet. They also unveiled measures aimed at counteracting paedophilia. Jack Straw announced special ‘paedophile protection orders’ which would give police the power to stop sex offenders approaching children online, and child safety software would be pre-installed in special computers targeted to the family market. He also announced a ratings system to help parents choose "family friendly" ISPs. The government would award "family friendly" kitemarks to approved Internet service providers that had in place stringent checks against paedophiles. Kingston Announces £10.5 Million Losses The chief executive of Kingston Communications, Steve Maine, said, “Our goal is to become a UK-wide communications company. Our strategy is built upon delivering broadband services and solutions in tier two/three cities with a focus on small, medium and large enterprises whilst continuing to exploit our expanding East Yorkshire franchise. “Our long distance network has now gone live, linking our metropolitan area networks in 25 major towns and cities across the UK. This more than doubles the number of urban areas served compared to a year ago and considerably increases our capacity. “Today, we are announcing a further enhancement to our capabilities by providing an IP overlay on our network to ensure it supports our customers' future needs. Two new data centres will be opened to provide complex hosting solutions in the north and south of England. We are also launching a suite of business DSL services, initially in three of our metropolitan areas, to open up a new addressable market.” AOL Customers Victim Of Credit Card Scam  This is what it said:AOL Billing ErrorYes, I dare say they do need your information now. But with your credit card details, they could run up a huge bill on your credit card while you sleep. AOL will NEVER ask you for your password of credit card details. If you are in the slightest doubt, contact them immediately. The site that attempted to obtain the credit card details has since been closed down. This advice should also be noted by customers of other ISPs – it can happen all too easily. Vispa Competes Against Quip! Telephone Service VispaCall provides a small box which BT and cable customers plug in between their phone and wall socket. It automatically diverts calls across their network, saving you money every time you make a call. Local calls start as low as 2.8p daytime and just 1.9p at weekends, both lower than BT standard rates. VispaCall can also save you up to a 82% on international calls, along with over 50% savings to mobiles, additionally you can save a massive 40% when calling 192 Directory Enquiries, even from a mobile. Quip! only offers two rates for its UK national and mobile calls - peak and weekend - with no UK local rates. While VispaCall offers its customers three rates: STD, ECN and WKD, as well as UK local calls up to 25% cheaper than BT. VispaCall's mobile weekend rates are all cheaper than those of Quip!'s. Additionally up to 75% of VispaCall's post paid local and national rates are cheaper than Quip!'s. Quip!'s prepaid service is only 5% below post paid. VispaCall's prepaid is in average 20% below post paid. VispaCall offers free access from Orange & One2One mobiles. Quip! has an 0845-access number from mobiles, where the customer can end up paying a regular rate or more to their mobile operator. VispaCall’s international residential rates apply for both landlines and mobiles, whereas Quip! split their international mobile rates and charge upto 69p per minute extra for international calls to mobiles. VispaCall are cheaper than Quip! on over 50% of their international mobile rates. There are many other discounted telephone services around on the Internet. Who do you use and are they cheaper than the prices quoted above? CORRECTION: It appears that we were given incorrect pricing information. The correct pricing is shown below along with comparisons to BT’s pricing. Additional savings can also be made with BT’s Friends and Family service which is FREE to residential customers and saves you 10% on up to 10 numbers of your choice. VispaCall ic24 Free 0800 Offer Extended The Trinity Mirror Group owned ISP have yet again extended their free offer by another week until Sunday 27th May when the company will once again decide on its future. Completely free 0800 access is available between 8pm and midnight, 7 days a week. Calls at other times are charged at the local rate. ISPA Maintains Opposition To Governments ‘Publisher’ Bill  Last week the ISPA managed to defeat Government attempts to label ISPs as publishers. The Government had been trying to make the bill law before parliament was dissolved prior to the General Election.NMA has today reported that ISPs have been concerned if the bill had become law and classified as publishers. This would then make them liable for a whole range of content, such as indecent or illegal material. The ISPA secretary general Nicholas Lansman was quoted by NMA as saying, "We were very concerned that ISPs would be defined as publishers. It would have made us liable for all sorts of content which we had no prior knowledge of. I hope the new Bill won't refer to us as publishers, but if it does then we'll take our message to the appropriate ministers and look for support again from the Lords," he added. "We don't want this to set a dangerous precedent." BT Under Attack From Freeserve Over Broadband Pricing In a statement today and reported at Netimperative.com, Freeserve declared a vote of “no confidence” in BT’s ADSL pricing, rollout and service strategy, and dubbed the BT Ignite wholesale package as “a debacle”.The statement from Freeserve read: “From June, Freeserve is raising the price of its consumer ADSL offer to £49.99 per month plus £170 for installation. This has been forced upon Freeserve because we have no confidence in BT or the regulator driving down the wholesale price to a level which will facilitate large-scale take-up of broadband in the UK. “Nor does Freeserve have any confidence in BT's allocation process for ADSL capacity, which has made it virtually impossible to plan an effective marketing strategy to create consumer demand. Since sidelining consumers from its own ADSL offer several weeks ago, BT says it has done away with the allocation process. However, Freeserve is not prepared to rescue BT from its ADSL debacle and can have no confidence in the process until the wholesale price is reduced to levels seen in France and elsewhere in Europe.” However it appears that Freeserve may be all alone in its damning attack on BT The ISPs Claranet and Iomart have suggested that Freeserve was foolish to set its ADSL price so low in the first place. Job Shock For New BigBlueSky Employees According to their local newspaper, the Lanark Gazette in Scotland, the two women who are both in their twenties had both recently given up their positions with a Livingston computer company to join the unmetered ISP BigBlueSky.After an interview with the ISP last month, they served their notices with their existing employer. But shortly after turning up for their training at BigBlueSky, they were out of a job. They have now believed to have contacted the local Jobcentre and Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss their employment rights, if any, over the matter. Both women told the newspaper that they were under the impression that they had new jobs waiting for them and decided to give up their current jobs. But when they turned up for their first day at work with BigBlueSky, they soon got the feeling from the staff there that they had not been expected. The boss who interviewed them was "abroad on business". After four hours of training, both were told that their services were not required. A spokesman for BigBlueSky told the newspaper that neither of the women had been offered nor signed employment contracts with the company. The matter had arisen out of "unforeseen circumstances". Luckily the women’s previous employer had taken the pair back on. Over £13,500 taken in error from Buzzline applicants Here at Net4Nowt we are amazed by the scale of the problem and can not help but wonder how many people have been affected in total given 30 Net4Nowt users have already come forward. Again, we urge anyone who applied for Buzzline to check their statements carefully for transactions that may have been applied to their account in error. If you discover similar transactions you do not recognise you are encouraged to contact your credit/debit card company and let us know by e-mail. We would like to express our thanks to everyone who has notified Net4Nowt already. Tiscali Due To Announce UK Job Cuts The Italian owned telco are believed to be cutting back on any part of the company that isn’t profitable by the fourth quarter of 2001. So far this year, there have already been redundancies within World Online and LibertySurf with around 90 job losses. Obviously morale is low within the workforce according to The Register. One insider was quoted as saying, "It sounds silly but for a communications company no one actually talks with each other. Within the company the mood is that every company is still completely separate. There's no real mixing between any of the old companies." Another said, "No one will make any decisions. None of the directors wants to stick their neck out and spend any money. As a result nothing is getting done and most people seem to be getting more and more fed up with the situation." The job cuts are due to announced by June 1st. Freedom2Surf - First UK ISP To Offer New Domain Names  The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved a list of new top-level domain names in order to address a global shortage of Internet addresses. .biz and .info will be the first of these new domain names to be made available. Demand for the .biz domain name is expected to be particularly intense, as 80% of all domains currently registered are businesses. Freedom2Surf will be offering its client base a pre-registration service for the domain name, before it becomes generally available on 1st October. Freedom2Surf will be offering pre-registration of the .biz domain name in two distinct phases. The first phase will be an IP Claim Service designed to help businesses and individuals protect their trademarks. From Monday until 9th July, trademark and service mark holders will be able to file a claim to a domain name with the .biz registry. Filing a claim will not automatically guarantee the claimant their domain name, but will help to deter cyber-squatters and those who may be unknowingly infringing on the intellectual property of other businesses. This period has also been designed to give claimants time to take any legal action, before .biz addresses go live. The next phase will be a 'Landrush Period' in which all companies will have the opportunity to pre-register their domain name requests. Allocation of domain names during this period will not be on a first-come first-served basis, but the names of all registrants will be combined and a 'lottery system' will be used to select the final domain name holders. If there are no multiple registrations, the registrant will be awarded the domain. Freedom2Surf will then be offering its users the opportunity to register domain names in real time, when the .biz registry goes live on 1st October. "The introduction of the .biz and .info domain names will give many businesses the opportunity to set up relevantly named websites and make navigation of the web easier for Internet users as a whole. This initiative will be particularly important for businesses in the UK as it will finally put them on an equal footing with companies in the US, who took the lead in registering .com addresses" explained Chris Panayis, Managing Director of Freedom2Surf. Freedom2Surf will be taking pre-registrations for the .info domain name in a similar way with a 'Sunrise Period' for trademark holders between 11th June and 10th July. This will be followed by a 'Landrush Period' between 26th July and 16th August. Freedom2Surf, launched in 1997, currently hosts over 200,000-hosted websites and a global subscriber base growing at a rate of 1,000 per day. Telewest Announces Playstation Deal With Sony The alliance is the latest in a string of tie-ups this week by Sony as it tries to transform the game console into a home entertainment hub with capacity to handle Internet access, telecoms, broadcasts, movies, music and games. The alliance will enable consumers potentially to sample a broad range of services, from games and playable level downloads, to applications such as lifestyle and gaming editorial content. All forms of on-line game activity will be explored including pay per play and high quality multi-player on-line gaming. The managing director for Telewest’s broadband content, David Docherty, commented, 'We are impressed with Playstation's top quality content and technical capability. Interactive gaming is an important area under development for Telewest, and working with Sony demonstrates our commitment to maximising the revenue potential of our broadband network. Both sides bring cutting edge expertise to the project, and this will provide an excellent platform for us to develop it further.' The deal is one of the first European link-ups between a broadband network and computer entertainment. BTopenworld In Possible Broadband Price Hike  Although changes are not imminent, internal discussions are believed to have started in the last few weeks.The paper quoted Chief Executive Andy Green as saying, "We are looking very seriously at the appropriate prices and products for different segments of the market. It is an urgent issue I am expecting to decide on in the next eight weeks or so." Only yesterday Freeserve announced that they were to increase the pricing of their ADSL product by £10 per month. The company said in a statement that the increase had been forced upon them because they have no confidence in BT or Oftel driving down the wholesale price to a level which will facilitate large-scale take-up of broadband in the UK. The move by BT would strike a further blow to the roll-out of broadband access to home users. The UK is already lagging behind other European countries. NTL Launches Broadband Service For Businesses NTL Business, the company’s B2B arm, will be offering UK businesses access packages of 512Kbps and 1Mbps with a 2Mbps service due later in the year.NTL said the broadband product worked at speeds up to 20 times faster than current dial-up connections, offering enough capacity to download video and audio files "in seconds". Available from 1st June, the high-speed service will have an installation fee of £220 with monthly payments of £90 for the 512Kbps package and £125 for the 1Mbps package. The company also plans to reach the 800,000 small businesses outside cable by providing a wholesale fixed-line high-speed ADSL connection from BT or NTL's 10 gigahertz wireless license, bought several years ago. Stephen Rowles, managing director of NTL Business said, "Not only can we offer broadband modems through our local loop assets, we also have a 10GHz wireless license that can be used to deliver broadband access beyond our networks". Telnet To End Its Telephone Service This will also mean the end of GreatXscape’s off-peak unmetered service which provided customers with 20 hours per month completely free access. Customers are instead being offered a normal free 0845 service where users will have to pay the price of a local rate call. Existing telephone customers are being advised to contact another provider now to prevent disruption to their telephone service as the Telnet service will cease on 25th June. Freeserve Hikes Up Its Broadband Pricing The £120 annual rise will take the broadband service to nearly £50 per month.Without stating its source, the paper said that Freeserve believes BT’s pricing must drop to around £15 per month before the service becomes truly mass-market. Only a few weeks ago BTopenworld announced that they had stopped targeting the domestic user in favour of the more profitable business market. They have also just started a major multi-million pound advertising campaign which is aimed exclusively towards smaller businesses. Less than a fortnight ago, the cable operator Telewest announced that they had cut the price for its broadband Internet service Blueyonder. The 24% price cut brought the cost of their high-speed cable service down to £25 per month. Freechariot Cuts Price Of Unmetered Access From Monday next week the following accounts will be on offer from Freechariot: FCHome Lite - £5.75 per monthThe ISP resurfaced last month with their new unmetered service. Your comments on their performance are appreciated. Berners-Lee Awarded Royal Society Fellowship Professor Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1990 while working at CERN, the European laboratory for Particle Physics. He also designed the universal resource locator, or URL, which gives each web page a unique address, and HTML, the basic language that allows web pages to be created. The distinguished scientific body, the Royal Society which was founded in 1660, also awarded the astronomer Sir Patrick Moore the title of Honorary Fellow in recognition of his BBC programme ‘The sky at night’ and his immense output of around 100 books which, together with other broadcasts, articles and lectures, have inspired generations of young and old alike with an enthusiasm for science. BT’s 3G Mobile Launch Delayed The Daily Telegraph today reported that BT’s Manx Telecom subsidiary was due to start the service at the end of the month. This has now been postponed because of a software problem in phones supplied by NEC. The service on the Isle of Man would have been the world's first after Japan's NTT DoCoMo delayed its Tokyo launch until October. A BT spokesman said the NEC handsets lose their connection when the caller moves into a new mobile cell. A software problem in the phone prevents the network seamlessly passing the call to the radio mast in the new cell. The launch is now expected to go ahead at the end of summer or early autumn. Coronation Street In Chatroom Danger Plot According to ZDNet today, Coronation Street scriptwriters are being briefed on the dangers by Home Office officials in preparation for a controversial plot scheduled for broadcast next month. The government have been consulted by the makers of the popular soap to present the sensitive issue of Internet chatrooms and “grooming”, where victims are befriended by paedophiles prior to a face to face meeting. The special episode, due to be shown next month, will see Sarah Louise Platt begin a chatroom relationship with a man whom she believes to be a young boy. The 15-year old girl will end up being held against her will in a special episode to be shown after the 9pm watershed. Last week the government made it a criminal offence for paedophiles to “groom” children in Internet chatrooms. Orange To Provide Mobile Services To NTL Customers The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that establishes the principle of how they will work together. The contract is due to be signed by the end of May 2001. The deal will provide Orange with access to a significant new customer base, whilst enabling NTL to supplement its current package of television, telephone and Internet products with mobile services. Under the proposed agreement, NTL will launch a tailor-made mobile service to its customers in the second half of 2001. NTL will market and promote the new service as a core part of its bundled package. Orange and NTL will work together to explore the opportunities of creating future value added services, as well as offering integrated solution for both voice and data communications. John Allwood, Vice President, Orange UK said, "This is an exciting opportunity for Orange and will allow us to build on our strong position within the UK market. The agreement represents a win-win situation for both Orange and NTL, enabling NTL to offer mobile services under its own brand and providing Orange with access to NTL’s sizeable customer base." Stephen Carter, Managing Director of NTL, UK and Ireland said, "NTL and Orange is a great example of 1+1=3. Working with Orange as our mobile partner means that we will be able to offer our customers a very convenient one-stop shop solution for all their communications needs. We will also work with Orange to explore and develop ways of enhancing mobile products and services, which will in turn, generate increased revenues for both companies and result in new services which will delight our customers." Ex-Connect25 Customers Offered New Unmetered Package The appointed liquidators, Elwell Watchorn and Saxton, have been in negotiations with a number of companies in an attempt to raise funds towards the company’s debts and provide its customers with Internet access. The new 24/7 unmetered service being offered costs £14.95 per month, but ex-Connect25 customers will get the first 3 months completely free. This is however subject to a 12 month contract, which is now becoming common practice with new providers. If all 5,500 Connect25 subscribers sign-up to the new service, the liquidators will receive over £230,000 which will help to pay off the company’s creditors. BT’s Bonfield In £3 Million Pay Package For shareholders in the company though will not be so happy. They will already miss out on their dividends and asked to subscribe to a £6 billion rights issue. News of the payout to the chief executive is revealed today in the rights issues prospectus for the company. It will outrage investors who have already called for his resignation. Many are disappointed in the drop in BT’s share price from £15 last year to just over £5 last week after the company released its financial results. To qualify for the payment, Sir Peter has to stay with the company until the end of 2002 and also meet various performance-related targets relating to the group’s restructuring. Unmetered Provider Takes Action Against Abusers 08002go claim that several users are clearly abusing the Internet service by handing out their details, including their password, to their friends who are too tight to fork out for the access which costs less than £10 per month. Many ISDN users are using it to obtain a 128K connection. Although some users claim that their account has been terminated by mistake and several have had their accounts activated again by ringing the helpdesk on 0161 707 8474. Although all of this could of been avoided if Calling Line Identification (CLID) had been enabled. This would allow them to know the number of the person trying to connect and would of stopped the service being used by non-members. 08002go has been running for less than 3 weeks and already they are struggling to cope with the demand. Many users are complaining that they are finding it difficult to connect due to constant engaged tones. According to a statement on their site, they are adding “an unprecedented amount of lines” on Tuesday evening to deal with the problem. Iomart Sells Off Madasafish ISP  The news of the sale came in the company’s final results for the year ending December 2000. iomart reported a loss of £5.1 million on a turnover of £3.6 million.Nick Kuenssberg, chairman of Iomart commented, 'We have seen some fundamental changes in our marketplace, particularly for consumer related activities. We are now focussing on business services and creating a world class messaging business, building on our Thinkmail product for outsourced e-mail management.” “We have just concluded the sale of our Madasafish ISP business, reinforcing this focus and strengthening our cash position; added to our experienced and talented management team, we are well positioned to exploit the available opportunities.” Applied for Buzzline? Please Check Your Statements We urge anyone who applied for Buzzline to check their statements carefully for transactions that may have been applied to their account in error. If you discover similar transactions you do not recognise you are encouraged to contact your credit/debit card company and let us know by e-mail. NTL Announces Cable Modem Figures The company also stated that pre-tax losses widened significantly, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the three months ending March were £86 million, up from £43 million a year ago. Revenues were also up, from £306 million last year to £622 million.Commenting on the results, Barclay Knapp, President and Chief Executive of NTL said, “We are very pleased with our strong performance this quarter and believe that we have made an excellent start to achieve our goals for the year. We are improving customer service and choice, enhancing revenue, cutting costs and increasing liquidity faster than anticipated.” The rollout of their cable products will continue. The digital cable television currently has over 757,000 customers. While the cable modem service has over 26,800 customers so far. Net4Nowt Readers Victim Of Credit Card Fraud All three victims had their accounts debited in the past few weeks for similar amounts in the region of £500. According to their card statements, a company trading as 'Share Manager' based in Cowbridge took the money but the colleagues have no recollection of doing business with the company. After various checks, including one with Companies House, they have not been able to trace the company. If there is anyone else who believes they have been a victim of credit card fraud by a company called ‘Share Manager’, we would like to hear from you. The credit card fraud departments are now investigating the transactions. British Telecom In Major Re-Organisation Part of the company’s transformation is the decision to demerge its BT Wireless division and create a separate company called Future BT, which will concentrate on the telco’s European network and retail business. BT has also confirmed plans for a £5.9 billion rights issue which will enable them to implement these structural changes. Also shareholders will miss out as BT has halted the year-end dividend as well as the interim payment next year. This move will save the company £1.4 billion. Speaking on the widely expected shake-up, Sir Christopher Bland, Chairman of BT, said, "It will require determined and rapid action by management to achieve the transformation of BT; we have made a good start, the culture is changing, and I am confident that we can complete the process in the best interests of our shareholders, customers and staff." Sir Peter Bonfield, Chief Executive of BT, concluded, "These actions will provide shareholders with ownership of two strong, tightly focused, independent businesses, one high growth and the other well established and cash generative. We have tightened our geographic focus to the UK and Western European growth markets and our disposal programme is going well and according to plan.” "BT Wireless's demerger represents an opportunity for BT's shareholders to participate directly in the growth of mobile telecoms. The business is based on 100% ownership positions in four markets which together make up 40% of Western European GDP…plus the real differentiator of Genie. BT Wireless will start life as an independent company from an exciting position.” "In Future BT, which has a customer base of 22 million, we shall build on our leadership position and develop our presence through four strong operating businesses. Our key goal is to bring new partnerships and services to a larger customer base.” At midday the company’s shares dropped on today’s news by 31.5p (5.54%) to 536p. BigBlueSky – They’re Back Earlier this morning the service re-appeared with all systems running.BigBlueSky have said the downtime was unavoidable as it had to upgrade its servers to cope with the demand imposed by its popularity. It affected all of their dial-up numbers. Only £25 per year gets customers 24/7 unmetered access without any cut-offs. How they manage to keep going is probably one of the greatest mysteries known to man. Although it is a different story for some. Many are finding it annoying having to wait around a week after their credit cards have been debited before they receive their dial-up details. There has also been no mention of the recent downtime on their site leaving customers in the dark and allowing rumours of their demise to flood the newsgroups and discussion boards. ‘Homepage’ Virus Warning Experts today warned that the effects of the worm could be worse than that of the LoveBug with thousands of PCs around the country infected today alone. It comes with the message, “Hi! You've got to see this page! It's really cool ;O)” and includes the attachment “Homepage.HTML.vbs”. When opened the victim is taken to one of four randomly selected pornographic Web pages. At the same time it goes through the infected user’s Microsoft Outlook address book sending out the same email to everyone listed. To remove the worm, delete any files detected as VBS.VBSWG2.X@mm New Unmetered Access All In A Nutshell  Originally the unmetered access came with a new PC with finance packages starting at £29.99 per month over 3 years. Now for an introductory offer until June, anyone can sign-up to the 24/7 service for £9.99 for the first 3 months.Payable in advance for the first 3 months, the service offers 5 email addresses and 5MB of Webspace. After the special offer expires, the service is charged at £12.99 per month. “This is a great deal for those who wish to use the Internet anytime of the day with no restrictions and at an affordable price” says Nutshell director Jonathan Watts-Lay. “Nutshell offers high quality Internet connection designed to keep all customers online.” For further details check out ISPreview or the Nutshell site. Telewest Announces New Telephone Package The news revealed by ISPreview recently, comes after a recent announcement by Telewest which enables customers to combine hi-speed Internet with either digital TV or a phone line, to pay a discounted price of £25 a month for blueyonder, the company’s broadband product. The Talk Unlimited package provides residential customers with a worry-free phone service, as customers pay a flat rate of £25 a month. Customers can call all local and national rate phone numbers at any time of the day for as long as they wish for one monthly charge of £25, which includes the line rental plus a subscription to digital television. The only additional call charges are for international calls, calls to mobile phones, premium rate numbers or Internet calls all at competitive rates. Commenting on the announcement, Philip Jansen, managing director of Telewest's cable division, said, "Telewest is leading the way in increasing access to broadband services in Britain. Our Talk Unlimited package, launched today, offers our customers greater freedom using the phone. Combining this with our broadband blueyonder service is a great example of the power that cable has to bundle products across telephone, television and Internet at unbeatable prices.” 1.5 Million Children Now Online In The UK The number of under 17s online in the UK has grown by 44% over the last six months, from more than one million users in October to almost 1.5 million in March. Under 11s account for 249,000 users in the UK, with 1,236,000 users aged between 11 and 16. More than a quarter of all UK youngsters visited gambling sites, remaining for an average of 11.3 minutes and one in five (290,000) visited pornography websites, remaining for an average of 28 minutes. Half of all under 17 users visited music and literature websites in March and 40% visited games sites. The UK has more Internet users under 17 than any other European country included in the study. The average British under 17 Internet user logged on 2.2 times per day in March, and spent 5 hours and 48 minutes online per month. Audio and video content is popular, with 35.8% of kids downloading music and watching video clips, and 33.8% use instant messaging. Online games were enjoyed by 5.2% of under 17s, each player playing on 12.4 days in the month on average. Of the countries included in the survey, Norway has the highest proportion of users (18.9% of Internet population) under 17. The UK has the second largest, ahead of the US and other major European countries (Denmark, France, Germany and Spain). German youngsters spent almost 11 hours online in March, more than twice the average for the rest of Europe. They also connect most often, logging on to the Internet for an average of 2.8 sessions per day. US kids are in second place, connecting for an average of 2.3 times per day with Danish youngsters connecting the least, for an average of 1.7 sessions per day. American and British kids spent just under 6 hours online. Update: BigBlueSky Connection Problems We have managed to contact BigBlueSky who told us they are having problems which will be fixed soon.A spokeswoman said, “We are very sorry and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. We hope to get the service up and running as soon as possible.” When we asked about the rumours of the company closing down, she confirmed that it was untrue, “We are just experiencing technical difficulties”. We hope this will help to keep the rumours to a minimum. Obviously a company providing such a service for just £25 a year must sooner or later run into financial difficulties unless they have some kind of financial backing. Their 24/7 unmetered service went live at the end of January. UPDATE: According to ISPreview, it appears that BigBlueSky will be down for a few days while it upgrades its servers to cope with demand. BigBlueSky In Major Downtime Because the BigBlueSky only charges its customers a yearly fee of just £25, rumours are abound this evening saying that the inevitable has happened and they have gone out of business.However after contacting BT’s Internet Service Status Line, we found that they are experiencing problems with their AnyTime dial-up access platform and hope to have the problems sorted as soon as possible. As of 9.15pm this evening, the service is still down. Connect25 Publishes Report From Creditors Meeting  Around 5,500 subscribers are now classed as unsecured creditors of the company and as such will not be receiving any money from the company’s assets. Elwell Watchorn & Saxton in Sileby, Leicestershire are dealing with the voluntary liquidation of the company.Connect25 was formed back in July 2000 to provide a freefone Internet access service to residential customers as a low and affordable rate. Its second aim was to provide an Internet advertising system where all customers would view an advertisement bar while they are online and would be sponsored for doing so. Which in turn would provide a powerful marketing tool with the aim to reach UK Internet customers. The first form of subscriber advertising was a complete success with many subscribers joining between July and September. Finally, the service became active towards the end of October last year after many technical problems being experienced with BT engineers. This delay started many rumours on the Internet claiming that Connect25 were a complete hoax. This prompted hundreds of customers to cancel their account and request the refund of their £25 annual subscription. The company then moved premises to a more central city location. With the next hurdle to overcome being the user to ports ratio. They were advised by BT that it would be sufficient for ten subscribers to use one modem port, but did not clearly that that only one port could be used at any one time by only one customer. This meant that the customers experienced engaged tomes during busy periods and annoyed customers. During December Connect25 upgraded its systems which was a complete success and sales started to grow from word of mouth. WorldPay also agreed to accept credit card and the yearly subscription then went up to £49. A webguide was also produced to help new subscribers browse the Internet. But due to a Customs and Excise ruling that the webguide was VAT rated and not zero rated, the company was facing a major cashflow setback. Then in March Connect25 launched its advertisement software which was dogged with problems right from the beginning. Customers then cancelled their accounts and contacted WorldPay for a refund who in turn froze Connect25’s account and refused to release funds. The software was then cancelled and the yearly fee was changed to £8.95 per month. The final straw that broke the camels back was when there was a slump in sales during April. Also the freefone Internet minutes arrived from BT which was way over the budgeted cost. WorldPay were still refusing to release funds which left the company with no further option but to close down to prevent further costs from incurring. The company is now in debt owing over £735,000 to its creditors. Zen Internet On ADSL Delays "We've never had a queue", says Rod Fielding about the broadband provision at Zen Internet, one of the first ISPs to implement ADSL in the UK. "It's frustrating to hear about people lining up to wait for weeks or months because BT don't mention that there are other specialist suppliers of ADSL where there's no delay". "ADSL provision is supposed to be operating on a level playing field, with a variety of ISPs meeting the demand. It shouldn't be allowed to build up in one place". At BT, you may be told that their waiting list for high speed Internet service has now been reduced to two queues with only 500 customers in each. One with a 5-6 week wait is still very popular, apparently, but there are places left in the queue that has only a 3 week waiting time. Applicants who accept the invitation to stand in line might not be taking their places so willingly if they were told up front that the provision of ADSL is not exclusive to BT's own broadband ISP - Openworld - but is meant to operate with a 'level playing field' of ISPs tackling the demand for service on equal terms, and that potential consumers who try another provider, like Zen Internet, won't have to queue at all. Answering questions for an online report by Internet writer Jane Wakefield, BT volunteered that their two "shorter delay" alternatives should come as welcome news to consumers, some of whom had waited up to six months to have their ADSL connection installed. According to head of broadband at BT Chris Gibbs, there are currently around 1,000 customers waiting for an ADSL line, with 500 customers who have been waiting for 20 days and 500 who have been waiting for 40. "I don't believe we have a waiting problem any more," he said. From June, consumers outside the 3.5 kilometre radius of their broadband enabled exchange will be able to take advantage of a new RADSL service from Zen Internet. It will be available for any premises within 5.5 kilometres, at no extra charge, and in the meantime there's a free 'while you wait' account for anyone with a network of machines that's stuck on the wrong side of their local digital divide. Correction: Silvermead Unmetered Internet Access Only the consumer packages have a 2 hour cut-off period. Although both packages are subject to a 6 month contract. Yahoo! Messenger Introduces International PC-to-Phone Service  Additionally, the latest version of Yahoo! Messenger now offers people enhanced Yahoo! Address Book integration and text-message archiving.Adding to its existing low-rate domestic PC-to-Phone calling functionality, Yahoo! Messenger's new affordable international PC-to-Phone calling capability further extends Yahoo!'s powerful suite of existing voice services, and responds to increased demand for new features to meet the essential, day-to-day communications needs of consumers. People can also take advantage of Yahoo! Messenger's existing PC-to-PC voice chat feature, which allows them to talk to other Yahoo! Messenger users, free of charge. "Yahoo! Messenger was one of the first instant messaging tools to offer deep integration with other powerful Web-based services and content and has become an increasingly essential way for millions of people to communicate on a daily basis," said Lisa Pollock, director, Yahoo! Messaging Products. She continued, "Integrating international PC-to-Phone calling capabilities at extremely low rates is the next logical step in offering our millions of users new voice services in addition to those that are already integrated and available on our network. We've introduced an even more powerful suite of communications services, and continue to innovate and develop new ways for people to connect with each other." Free DVD Giveaway To New ADSL Customers  The deal, being pitched at businesses and organisations requiring reliable and unmetered digital Internet connections, is to run until the end of July.Phil Worms, iomart director of broadband services, commented, "There is just no contest when you put ADSL up against ISDN or dial up connections. On price and speed ADSL is the clear winner on both counts. With iomart's DVD player deal on offer, there hasn't been a better time for businesses to get themselves onto the fast lane of the information superhighway." He added, "We estimate that for business customers whose total Internet usage ranges from 60 to 120 hours per month, the annual saving by switching from ISDN 2e to ADSL will amount to between GBP1200 and GBP2700. In today's competitive business climate these are bottom line savings that cannot be ignored." iomart are bundling in the free DVD player plus a top ten DVD title when customer sign up for their CopperBurst 500, 1000 and 2000 packages. ‘Safe’ Internet Access Promised From Today V21 has claimed that there is a huge demand from families who want to ensure the safety of their children online. They say their software will prevent young children from logging into unsuitable sites. There are already software programs available which help parents to monitor children's use of the Internet. However, V21 claims its service will provide a completely safe environment. For £12.99 per month, V21 supplies customers with 24/7 unmetered access for | ||
