May 29, 2000 - June 3, 2000

News - June 3,2000

VisualDepth Update, again

By:mark @ 6:58:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Richard did some hunting and we learned that VD's web space strangely seems to come from EzeSurf as well. We are in the process of contacting 'Plant Online' to find out just what kind of a bug this is, if any.

It's a strange bug that allows VD users to have EzeSurf logins, web space and the same dialup number. I'd get that fixed if I were you lads =)

Libertysurf apologise with free month

By:Ross14 @ 11:39:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Libertysurf subscribers should have received an email from the company telling them that in recognition of all the recent problems, they shall receive a free months subscription.

This means 13 months of off-peak access for just £20!

It's a welcome gesture we're sure to many of their customers. Just let's hope that their problems are fixed soon.

Final VisualDepth Update, or is it?

By:mark @ 10:09:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Well to be honest we don't really know what to tell you, we have a fair comment from EzeSurfs end, yet VD's replies have been somewhat vague. As such we'll try to explain what we can and leave the rest to your imagination =).

The first reply we had was from Keri @ EzeSurf (American lady), who stated:

"There _is_ no relationship between Visual Depth and Ezesurf other than it _appears_ they use SurfSaver to buy shares for their customers.

I was premature in even comparing them to Calenet as they appear not to have a contract with us to re-sell the SurfSaver package."

To those less aware, Calenet is an EzeSurf reseller. We are inclined to believe Keri on this because at the very least, EzeSurf don't seem to know what's going on with VisualDepth. However the question raised was interesting, could VD simply be buying up and reselling EzeSurf accounts?

Sadly we are not allowed to quote from Steve's (VD) mail and so we'll do our best to re-write it in our own words. The problem with the phone numbers being the same is simply that they use the same backbone (Planet On-Line) and we think that's a fair statement. As for the login details and VD users having EzeSurf logins etc., that has been put down to a 'security issue'.

The best we can guess is that 'Planet Online ISPs' are all intertwined, but there is a bug in the system which seems to kill off individuality. So technically because of this bug, anyone from Ezesurf can login to VD and vica versa for all Plant supported ISPs.

This still doesn't completely explain why people who use VD are given EzeSurf logins. Sure, if you had a different login and could still access EzeSurf with a VD account or vica versa, that'd be understandable. However such a security breach doesn't explain why everybody gets EZESURF logins.

VD is keen to stress that they never lied to us about having NO INVOLVEMENT with EzeSurf. Yet giving VD users EzeSurf logins would seem to be an involvement one way or another, they MUST have known about it.

There are still some questions that need to be answered, however we won't know more until the VD managers allow Steve the ability to speak for himself. Lets not forget that despite all this VD is a top unmetered ISP, EzeSurf are also top, but their support is still one of the worst.

BTInternet Update

By:mark @ 9:39:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

http://www.btinternet.com have sent out their usual monthly updates, this one introduces a NEW TARIFF and gives some more concise 'Surftime' details:

"New - BT Internet calls in the day just got cheaper!!!

BT Internet has just introduced a new low rate call dialler which will give you access to the Internet at a cost of just 2p during the daytime (8am - 6pm) Monday - Friday* (a 5p minimum charge applies). This new dialler number will also be eligible for Friends and Family, F&F Best Friend and other BT discounts, so you can save even more on your Internet calls.

So, to start saving money on all your daytime internet calls you must replace your existing local rate dialler now. To do this simply click here, follow the instructions and start saving immediately! http://www.btinternet.com/html/new_0800.shtml

PLEASE NOTE - this new dialler number does not allow connection at 128kbps. If you want to connect at 128kbps you should keep your local rate call dialler and use as normal.

Remember to continue to use your 'Free Call' dialler during the free call periods from 6pm - midnight Monday to Thursday and 6pm Friday to Midnight Sunday or you will incur call charges. If you do not have the 'Free Call' dialler on your desktop yet, you can download it now using the link above.

BT Internet with SurfTime

By the end of June BT Internet will be able to offer you the chance to change your account to a new payment option - BT Internet with SurfTime. If your telephone service is supplied by BT this new option will give you the opportunity to pay your BT Internet monthly subscription through your BT bill.

You will also benefit from extended free surfing hours, 6pm - 8am weekdays and all weekend until 8am Monday morning, giving you up to 504 surfing hours a month for just £9.99.

We will e-mail you when the facility to change your account is available. In the meantime BT SurfTime is subject to availability, so to find out when it will be available in your area or to get further information on BT Internet with SurfTime visit the BT Internet Home page, click here http://www.btinternet.com/surftime"

The new 'daytime tariff' is hardly anything startling in terms of cost, but it always helps.

News - June 2,2000

SupaNet send out cheques

By:Ross14 @ 5:36:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Trialists of the SupaFree trial held during the last 2 months by SupaNet are finally starting to receive their £10 for taking part in the trial, as promised.

At least SupaNet haven't gone back on their word like some people were suggesting.

Altavista ISP Details

By:zeon @ 4:24:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Register has more details on Altavista's ISP:

"The webco is to publish details about the service on Monday, breaking the veil of secrecy and silence that followed in the wake of the service's high-profile announcement in March. The new service will go live on June 30.

It will be based on FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) - the new unmetered wholesale product that has effectively ended BT's monopoly as "Internet gatekeeper" in Britain - as long as BT makes it available by then.

The service will be free although punters will be asked to cough up a one-off charge of £51 plus VAT."

It's a bit late but hopefully this should spread customers over more ISPs. More details on Monday..

Source: The Register

New Mailing List

By:mark @ 2:23:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've installed the new mailing list and due to the problems with the old one, this has a 'Confirmation System'. Now people have to confirm that address before they can be properly added to the list, this also stops missuse. The system also allows you to remove yourself via E-Mail and supports HTML formatting.

We WILL be using HTML formatting, however those with text should still be able to receive the mails with minimum problems. Our HTML will be confined to smaller tags and nothing drastic, only basic font styles.

However you will be required to signup for the new system EVEN if you were on the old, there was no way around this, to many people submitted none working E-Mails with the old.

The new list is on roughly the bottom left of this page, in one of the tables.

More BTSurftime Woes

By:mark @ 10:17:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You've already heard about some of the other BTSurftime problems mentioned yesterday, well here are some more we have picked up on:

1) A delay in hardware supplied by 'Marconi' has caused global delays for almost all BTSurftime supporting ISPs (same as Plus.Net).
2) 15% of the UK still have to wait until October before BTSurftime is active in their area.
3) The Postcode system used by ISPs to sign you up for BTS and their services at the same time has been causing problems. A large group of postcodes are not being accepted as 'existent'. This is a Royal Mail problem.

Hopefully that'll be the last of the big problems, but we'll wait and see since most BTSurftime ISPs have yet to get working at all. Please stop asking us questions about BTSurftime, we know as much and as little as you do so can't help.

Liberty and the Daily Mirror

By:mark @ 10:07:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Net4Nowt have got hold of a piece from the DailyMirror (Newspaper) about their contact with LibertySurf:

"When questioned on the service being over-crowded Myers replied that there are no capacity issues. Yet, when the newspaper contacted the LibertySurf helpline they were told:

"We recommend that you do not buy the LibertySurf CD at the moment as the servers are'nt running properly,due to the number of people coming onto it, give it a few weeks"

Myers also said that CDs can be returned if you are not happy, yet once again the helpline contradicted him by saying, "No returns if the case is opened"."

This is insane, it's yet another ISP that follows the miss-information trend set by BTInternet's support staff and help desk. We'll go with what N4N said, that if you are UNHAPPY with a service then you are legally entitled to a refund!

ISPs can put clauses saying 'No Refund' but that in itself is false because they are NOT allowed to take away your legal rights. We continually question the legal ethics and validity from some of these T&C clauses.

*Update*
Vnunet.com have reported that LibertySurf has stoped selling the CD's for its service.

"LibertySurf has stopped selling its unmetered internet access service after network congestion and a jammed helpline left customers frustrated."

Read the full story HERE

VisualDepth Update

By:mark @ 10:01:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Sorry to keep everybody waiting on that 'IMPORTANT' update, but it takes time to get the detailed replies we need in order to clear things up. So far all the replies have been far too vague to publish, we have to get details, which can easily be explained to the readership.

Waiting..

BT Takes Legal Action Against Oftel

By:zeon @ 8:14:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Yahoo News! is reporting that BT is to take legal action over Oftel's ruling that BT have to pay half of the cost for auto-diallers which route calls to different networks, this enables companies such as Callnet and Quip to claim money off BT.

Read the full story HERE

News - June 1,2000

Surftime only supports Four ISPs!

By:mark @ 7:13:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Register seem to be on the ball today, this time they have exposed yet another leak which we had noticed only moments ago as well:

"Check out it's Web page and it claims to have more than 20 ISPs signed up to the unmetered service.

But a closer look reveals that 19 of these are different branded ISPs backed by London-based ISP, Affinity Internet.

So in reality, BT has just four takers... Affinity, BT, Freeserve and PlusNet.

Oh, and one more thing. Anyone signing up to the service is committed for three months. By then, of course, there should be a number of rival services available which should be considerably cheaper than the BT option."

Some interesting stuff, we're pretty sure the embarrassment levels at BT and associated BTInternet must be incarnating themselves quite well about now. Just remember that BTSurftime doesn't stop you from using other freecall ISPs, only competing Telco packages such as FRIACO.

BTInternet Keep BTSurftime Waiting

By:mark @ 7:08:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Register is reporting that older http://www.btinternet.com customers are being forced to wait until August before they can switch to the new BTSurftime package. Well that was until the 'Technical Support / Help Desk' got it wrong, YES AGAIN! =):

"BT Internet users are being forced to wait at least one month longer than new customers to sign up for BT Surftime.

Existing users were angry after being told today by the BT Internet customer helpdesk that they could not register for BT's unmetered Surftime package until August... unlike new customers, who can sign up for the shiny new service from today.

BT confirmed there would be a delay for existing BT Internet customers, citing difficulties in switching users between the two different payment systems. BT Internet is charged monthly via credit card, whereas Surftime charges are to be added to quarterly phone bills.

But a BT representative said the company expected to have the problem fixed at the end of June, and that the customer helpdesk had "got it wrong". BT was working round the clock to get an automated system in place that could transfer customer details between the two schemes, he said."

So lets see, they don't know what ISDN access they provide and they don't seem to know the dates from their calendar are either. What was it people were saying about 'ass from there elbows' ? Hehehehe yep indeed.

Freeserve Off-Peak for £4.99

By:zeon @ 4:32:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Freeserve are offering the off-peak Surftime for £4.99. That’s the £5.99 on your BT phone bill - £1 freeserve give you back. This is off their website:

"With Off Peak Freeserve Time you pay a monthly charge of £5.99 to BT on your normal BT bill and you get free Internet calls in the evenings (from 6pm to 8am) and all weekend (from 6pm on Friday to 8am on Monday).

Freeserve will pay you £1 every month that you are an active Freeserve member if you use Off Peak Freeserve Time. So with this rebate from Freeserve it will cost you just £4.99 for the equivalent of over 500 hours Off Peak Internet calls a month."

Hard to see how this is financially viable for Freeserve.

New Stuff @ ISPreview

By:mark @ 11:49:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've just thrown up a new article, this time about the status of unmetered access in the UK and labelled it an, 'Initial Unmetered Report'. The final report will come out at the end of this year, when we should all know how the uptake of freecall ISPs has gone:

"Back in June'99 an ISP known as 'Screaming.Net' broke headlines by introducing a free off-peak calling option, it meant you had to change Telco, but that didn't seem to bother the thousands that moved. Within a matter of weeks the service became swamped and dipped into a lengthy period of connection problems and service issues, some of which have yet to be completely fixed."

You can read the rest HERE:
http://ispreview.co.uk/articles/unmetered/

Go 'ILOVEYOU' and get NICKED!

By:mark @ 10:32:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You'll all be glad to hear that a German man has been arrested for spreading the 'ILOVEYOU' virus, Yahoo News reports:

"German police have arrested an Austrian man suspected of spreading variants of the "I love you" virus which has damaged computer systems world-wide through e- mails in recent weeks.

Germany's national police agency based in Wiesbaden said the man, 28, confessed to altering codes in the "I love you" virus which first hit computer systems world-wide on May 4. He signed his e-mail as Antivirus GmbH.

The virus came attached to an e mail and then damaged other computer files. German officials say they have found 50 variants of the "I Love You" virus this month."

Well that's on less destructive force out of the way, although it makes you wonder. Who was most at fault? The man that created and spread the virus, or the people that created the E-Mail programs which were dumb enough to accept it.

AllAdvantage Increase Hours

By:mark @ 10:23:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You may remember that we revealed that AllAdvantage, the people who pay YOU to surf the net, had plans to increase their hours to 40. Well they have changed their policy slightly and today put out their official line:

"Beginning in June, we will be taking the next step: balancing the global flow of value that an infomediary makes possible. We will begin tailoring our payment rates and hours on a country-by-country basis, based on member participation and sponsor support worldwide. In the month of June, for example, hourly payment rates in some countries will increase (including the US and Sweden), while rates will decrease in others (including Switzerland and Denmark). Maximum hours will increase in some countries (including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom), while hours will decrease in others (including the US and Norway). Going forward, these hourly rates and hours may vary month-to-month in some countries as we continue to grow our business."

Closer inspection reveals that the UK hours will increase to around 35 from their current 25. This is likely to vary from month to month under the new system, however our internal source tells us that the UK should ALWAYS be better off than today's 25hours.

We only use and advertise AllAdvantage (click to signup under us) because they are the only ones to ever have paid money out our way. A good way to pay off those monthly net bills =), now all you need to worry about is the electricity =(.

*UPDATE*
Sorry, forgot to point out that Junes hours have been set to 27 from 25, however we could go up to 35 in the coming months, but we could also go down. Remember, the new system will fluctuate the hours.

BT Surftime Info Line

By:zeon @ 9:04:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

To get a list of the ISP that are offering BT Surftime phone:
0800 169 1040

Or to speak to someone about BT Surftime from a BT line phone:
150 then 1 then 2

PlusNet Delay Surftime

By:zeon @ 7:53:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

PlusNet have had to delay surftime because of BT:

"BT Surftime Update

To further clarify the cause of the BT delay in SurfTime: this has been caused by a delay in the supply of a Marconi SDH termination card to BT. This card connects the BT Surftime ports to the Wide Area link into the PlusNet network. BT are expecting this to be supplied and fitted by the 9th June.

Dated: 31-05-2000 @ 10:23 AM"

Is anyone going to be on Surftime with another ISP today? The answer is probably no. If your on Surftime with an ISP other than BT Internet we'd like to hear from you.

News - May 31,2000

BT Internet Mail!

By:zeon @ 8:31:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

More problems on BTI. This time with mail. The status report says:

"16:00 31/05/00

We are currently conducting emergency planned work on the mail server which has resulted in intermittent service problems throughout the afternoon. Please bear with us as we endeavour to resolve this problem as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile we apologise for any inconvenience."

How can you plan emergency work? They seem unable to even make a good excuse. BBC Online has said that the problem will be fixed on Thursday at the latest.

BTInternet 128Kbps ISDN Update

By:mark @ 8:02:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You may remember that one of our readers (Andy) recently told us that 128Kbps ISDN would be supported by http://www.btinternet.com 's new Surftime based package. Well you may also remember that we urged some caution in that the information had come from BTI support, people that say one thing and then say another the next day:

"Being the cynic that I am, I phoned BT Internet again about channel bonded ISDN.

Suprisingly, they are giving out a different story today. Apparently, BT Internet aren't going to be doing channel bonded ISDN on Surftime. They also stated that if an ISP were to offer channel bonded ISDN, then they would have to charge you twice for Surftime access.

I don't think that BT know there a*se from there elbow at the moment."

Hmm we thought, having had enough, we phoned them ourselves and they told us BTI would support 128Kbps ISDN on the Surftime package and we were very specific! After around two minutes of solid laughter with an undertone of sarcasm, we finally pulled ourselves out of the laughing frenzy to explain.

The support guy didn't reply and suddenly the line went dead, a moment later we were talking with a supervisor who FINALLY explained that they WOULDN'T support 128Kbps on the BTSurftime based package. Well there you have it, BTInternets support technicians are as well informed as a German army on D-Day =)

Planet online, EzeSurf and VisualDepth Conspiracy's

By:mark @ 7:51:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Over the past few weeks we've heard from various people who suggested that they had accounts with two different ISPs, yet were able to use the same logon details with both and gain access. Two such ISPs were VisualDepth and EzeSurf, their connection being the fact they both use the POL network for their services.

Nothing to astounding there, lets face it, tens of ISPs use the BTNet backbone, but you still can't use the same login details for one with them all. Such a thing could potentially allow for abuse and if customers knew about they might not be too happy, especially if they had accounts on both ISPs.

Over the last few days bits and pieces of the confusion have finally come together, one anonymous reader pointed this out:

Ezesurf 0808 number: 0808 14***99
VD 0808 number: 0808 14***99

This was found out by using some clever software that we won't reveal, now fair is fair, if both use the POL network then you'd let that go (one number, one network). That was until the same reader helped us put the final piece to the puzzle:

My VD username (found out using naughty program): ???.ezesurf.co.uk

Hmm we pondered, this suddenly made that whole statement by VD and EzeSurf about 'HAVING NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER' around a month ago, suspect. We had a friend check this out, she has an account with both and used the same system the reader had, low and behold the results were the same.

Better still is that EzeSurf login and password details work on VisualDepth and through a bit of clever tinkering, 128Kbps ISDN is now possible without the need for a second EzeSurf account! You may notice we have stared '*' out some details here and there, this is for legal and security reasons.

Our guess is that a clever system of re-directing combined with the 'VD Software' helps disguise all this. We can't say that this brings us much joy because it actually makes us feel a little cheated. When we asked VD before, they simply stated it was down to incorrectly spelling 'EzeSurf' and yadder yadder etc.

The chances of anybody contacting us from EzeSurf are limited since they can't afford to pay support staff, so have next to none. However we would like to hear from VisualDepth on this issue and ask that they finally be HONEST with us and stop this cloak and dagger chatter. It might be wise for readers to avoid posting any comments until we post a second news item on the subject.

BT Click Unmetered

By:Daniel @ 7:31:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We have been sent this email about another ISP using BT Surftime:

"BT Click for Business will be offering unmetered internet access from SurfTime and new reduced pay as you go '2p/1p' tariffs from June 12:

Lower pay as you go rates of 2p per min daytime and 1p per min evenings and weekends with no geographical restrictions (2p & 1p)

Unmetered internet access during evenings and weekends for £5.99 per month and 1p per minute during the day (BT SurfTime)"

Well another ISP on the Surftime bandwagon. Lets hope they are prepared!.

Source: Bigfoot

Freeservce Time Launches Tomorrow

By:mark @ 4:23:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Along with a host of other unmetered ISPs that are adopting BTSurftime, you may also remember that Freeserve are using it as well and plan to launch their unmetered package, or so 'The Register' reports, tomorrow:

"Monster ISP Freeserve is to offer unmetered off-peak Net access from tomorrow.

The not-so-pithily-named service, Off Peak Freeserve Time, is based on BT's Surftime unmetered package.

The new service will be launched amid a blaze of publicity and hype with ads plastered over the national press.

The unmetered off-peak Net access package was due to be priced at £6.99 a month, although a spokesman for the ISP said today that the company now had second thoughts.

It appears the price is to be "revised competitively".

Freeserve didn't rule out that it might jump into bed with another telco following a ruling by Oftel that BT must offer its competitors unmetered access to its network."

Looks like Freeserve have begun to realise that their already full pockets need a bit of extra cash, just so they can no longer move for the wait of silver we don't doubt.

Hopefully this time ISPreview readers will actually listen and avoid Freeserve for another month or two until it has had time to settle down. Any ISP that launches a huge advertising campaign and offers unmetered access almost always goes the way of the dogs.

Not to mention that we still get reports of service problems with Freeserve even today, BEFORE the unmetered system has gone live. Makes you wonder doesn't it.

ISPreview Monthly Updates

By:mark @ 10:56:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As another month passes and we get ready to move into June; a month, which will see BTsurftime launch, ISPreview has once again updated the usual sections. Both our 'Top10' and 'Worst ISP' pages have been updated; we also gave them a new more slinky look.

Our ISP of the month is 'Internet For Business', to see why you just have to read our review (left). We also updated the 'Complaints' page as an added extra, tons of BTInternet complaints have stormed our box along with more LibertySurf ones.

We can also announce that a new 'Readers Top 50' is in the works, it's clear that a 'Top 20' doesn't represent enough ISPs; the problem is we are physically limited to 20 on the system. As such a commercial system has been purchased and we are currently in the middle of giving it a typical ISPreview layout.

That's about it for now as there doesn't seem to be much in the way of news today, just remember that BTSurftime launches tomorrow.

News - May 30,2000

THEMAIL Announce Unmetered Package

By:mark @ 7:09:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to one of our more regular readers (Stuart.J) for letting us know that http://www.themail.co.uk has announced details of its own unmetered Internet package:

"themail is putting together a service package for its customers to compete with BT Surftime where you pay one price for unlimited Internet dialup access. The costs are expected to be based upon how you pay your bill. The less administration the lower the cost. In order to participate in this offer capacity needs to be reserved by ourselves on the BT access system. We would therefore like to be able to place orders based upon our users estimated requirements. In order to do this and run our service in its usual efficient manner would you please complete the following form, detailing which type of option for billing you would prefer, if you would like to take a service at the prices offered:

Due to probable demand, availability of this service is likely to be limited. Priority will be given to existing themail customers based firstly upon those who pay annually, then quarterly, then monthly if capacity exists."

They go on to the list the advantages of their package, something that resembles just about every other unmetered package before problems arise. There's something very strange about this ISP, we can't quite place it but it seems familiar:

"-Save a fortune on your Internet phone calls.
-No telephone charges for your Internet access.
-Just one bill from themail.
-Connect as many times as you like in any month any time of the day or night.
-Exactly the same as BT Surftime but up to 25% cheaper.
-No special deal with a telecom gives you freedom to buy your normal telephone calls from the best on offer.
-Same reliable quality of service as always provided by themail.
-Only available to BT telephone line users."

You can get yourself a standard 0845 account in preparation for the unmetered package by signing up HERE. It couldn't hurt to signup just in case they do offer something compelling.

Although as we have seen, even the best packages can suddenly get a 2hour cut off period or limited services AFTER people have signed up. Oh and lets not forget the GOLDEN one, no refunds clause =), hopefully no such thing will befall this ISP.

BTInternet Surftime package to work @ 128Kbps

By:mark @ 6:58:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to 'Andy for letting us know that BTInternets new Surftime package WILL support 128Kbps ISDN, unlike previously stated:

"I have just spoken to BTInternet about the new Surftime offering.

They claim that channel bonded ISDN will be supported as part of Surftime (different number to normal ISDN) - let's wait and see."

Of course it's worth bearing in mind that this is the same support staff that continually claim there are, and have never been, any problems with BTInternet, background laughter grows =).

Still we know it's possible that Surftime itself can integrate 128Kbps ISDN, however we have only seen it on the more expensive BTS packages and not the lower ones such as BTI are offering from the 1st June. Another case of wait and see..

Supafree Trial Ends Friday

By:zeon @ 12:44:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Supafree has sent out a reminder to everyone who was on the trial:

"Thank you for taking part in the first Supafree trial of unmetered access to the Internet. The Supafree trial will cease on Friday 2nd June."

The Supafree trial has had its problems particularly with engaged tones but speeds were ok and it only took 3 to 4 attempts to get on. Not forgetting the £10 =)

More Oftel & BTSurftime Ruling

By:mark @ 12:15:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Yahoo News has been at it again and is reporting more on how BT has been forced by Oftel to open up unmetered access to other competitors:

"British Telecommunications, due to offer retail customers unmetered Internet access from June 1, has been told to make provisions so that competitors could compete on an equal footing.

Specifically, industry regulator Oftel has said BT must offer a wholesale unmetered Internet access service by June 1 to WorldCom and other firms who request it.

The move followed BT's refusal to offer such a service -- it was only prepared to offer a metered service, Oftel said.

"The direction requires BT to provide a wholesale service in which it has a dominant position to operators in the retail market who require that service in order to compete with BT's retail products," Oftel said.

As a result, BT must "provide the necessary services to enable other operators to supply unmetered Internet access over BT's local network," the regulator said.

BT is due to launch Surftime, a retail product which offers a range of tariffs including low cost pay- as-you go Internet access and unmetered packages, on June 1. It is this service which BT's rivals want to counter."

This is all good news for you and I, the consumers; competition means lower prices and hopefully better products. CUTs recently announced FRIACO system is not the only unmetered package after BTSurftime, more will be introduced by various Telco's over the coming weeks/months.

We are currently testing several BTSurftime ISPs out, we'll publish our findings as soon as we find them =).

News - May 29,2000

New VisualDepth Payment Plans

By:mark @ 9:15:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to http://www.visualdepth.com for letting us know that with the recent re-opening of new registrations, they have also introduced new payment plans:

"I thought you may be interested to know that Visual Depth is now offering monthly and quarterly payment plans for Credit Card Customers. The monthly fee is only £9.99 which we believe is one of the lowest or the lowest monthly fee for any 24/7 unmetered ISP in the UK.

Details can be found at https://www.secured-space.com/Inpay/"

We're slightly inclined to point out that £9.99 per month is actually quite a long way down the list against the likes of SurfSaver, RHA etc. However the key difference is that VD actually work =), you can even get through to their support services, miracle in itself when compared to others.

ClaraNet To Announce 24/7 Package

By:mark @ 5:15:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Sneaky monkys sent deep into the heart of ClaraNet have been reporting back today with some interesting nibbles of information. Let us be the first to state (speculate) that two seniors at Clara are hoping to announce a 24/7 unmetered package next week.

The package is in direct relation to Oftels recent 'freeing up of unmetered' announcement made mid last week. The same system that C.U.T devised (FRIACO) is expected to be the backing for the ISP, although actual details are not yet known. We wouldn't be surprised if they announced it the same day BTSurftime goes live, as some kind of deadly defiance.

So finally we'll find out if Clara can recover from their last Mistake (GamerZone) to make a shining come back, lets hope so. Amongst all the confusion of unmetered Internet access, one thing remains clear, free Internet is finally here.

ISPreview Updates

By:mark @ 11:37:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This is NOT the usual monthly updates (that's 1st or 2nd June), just a note to tell you we have made some slight page changes. Firstly the previous survey (poll) has been given a page of its own as requested by some readers, it can be viewed HERE. Also the current poll has a separate results page that will show more details than the one on the main page, it can be viewed HERE.

As well as a ton of general updates, we have also fixed a few errors in the unmetered ISP listings:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/list.shtml

Lastly we did the obligatory 'Complaints Page' page update, new into the list is BTInternet:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/new/complain/complain.shtml

We have been getting a whole load of complaints about LibertySurf, BTInternet and 4UNet (most complaints on that one), so it'd be wise to steer clear of those ISPs for a while =). Also complaints about EzeSurfs support grew and the usual 'engaged tones' on RedHotAnt problems increased somewhat.

One final note, we have a system that clears out people who complain about the same ISP more than once. You can only complain once about a single ISP, this stops the system being unfair. We'd also ask that if you have complained about a problem before and that problem has suddenly been solved, please let us know.

C.U.T On New Unmetered Package 'FRIACO'

By:mark @ 9:29:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

C.U.T (Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications), the people that 'have questions about quality' whipped up an extremely interesting article regarding an oposing package to BTSurftime.

The new package was recently approved by OFTEL and could soon be involved in helping to offer unmetered net access the UK over:

"We have followed the saga of BT SurfTime, which promised true unmetered Internet access at a cost, over the past eight months. A counter-proposal to BT SurfTime, which we kicked off and which will considerably undercut BT SurfTime, has been approved by OFTEL. Its rather ugly name, FRIACO, should not put you off, and we offer a FAQ to explain what it's about.

What is FRIACO?

It is Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination; a complete solution for unmetered Internet access.

It will be available at all telephone exchanges capable of supporting BT SurfTime on 1 June 2000.

It has three parts. Simplifying somewhat:

To give your Internet Service Provider access to you BT leases a port, which will typically accommodate six to twelve dialup users, for just over £400pa.
To give your ISP access to the wider Internet it buys into a number of competing bandwidth operators offering wholesale access through FRIACO.
Your ISP ties these together.

Our rough calculations are that FRIACO will cost your ISP 60 to 80 per cent less than BT SurfTime, with £60pa being a reasonable estimate of how much it will cost an ISP to support a user; it may well be possible to have economically viable Internet access at zero cost (supported by advertising).

Never forget that, before BT SurfTime or FRIACO, the access to you was metered and your ISP had to try to disguise that metering ... somehow."

You can read the rest HERE and we suggest you do because as usual, CUT have put a lot of work into their article and it's ideally suited to anybody that reads ISPreview. Of course all we want to know is, does it mean no more cut off periods and will it support 128Kbps ISDN at the same time =)?

Bank Holiday Folks

By:mark @ 9:16:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Don't forget that today is a 'Bank Holiday' (how could you?); our advice is to carry on with the Sangria from yesterday and possibly have a typical British BBQ. We're all off down to the local public for a nice 'none working' and highly 'unprofessional' day in the Sun =)

AOL Gets Unmetered in Germany

By:mark @ 9:09:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

There seems to be a lot about Germany in the Internet news today and AOL seem to be pressing for Unmetered access over there as well. Why post this you ask? Because it's BT related:

"T-Online's announcement of a flat rate deal on Friday came on the same day as Oftel opened the way for all Internet service providers to offer flat rate deals to customers in Britain.

The UK regulator ordered former monopolist British Telecom to provide competitors unmetered Internet access via its network from June 1.

Oftel's directive obliges BT to offer its competitors a cost-based annual per circuit tariff called Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination (FRIACO) as opposed to the current per-minute rate. It set the new rate at 425.25 pounds per 64 kb of capacity.

The ruling followed a dispute between British Telecom and MCI WorldCom Inc after BT refused a request from the U.S. telephone company to supply it wholesale unmetered Internet access from customers' homes. British Telecom was prepared to offer only metered access to its rival.

BT is planning to launch its own flat rate dial-up service called Surftime on June 1.

The directive sets the UK apart from Germany, where operators are charged by the minute for access to Deutsche Telekom's network. This makes flat rate Internet access -- under which customers pay the same fee regardless of the amount of time they remain online -- potentially uneconomic if users remain online beyond a certain point."

We cut most of the German related content out so you just get the good bits =), you can read the rest HERE; Always nice to know that the UK is ahead of somebody these days.