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April 26, 2001 - May 1, 2001

News - May 1,2001

BT To Lift ADSL Supply Restrictions

By:mark.j @ 4:09:PM - Comments (7) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Good news for all those businesses and consumers peeved with BTs slow rollout of ADSL, the dominant Telco plans to lift restrictions on the supply of wholesale ADSL. Apparently the move comes after BT claims to have tripled capacity over the last few months:

Up until now ISPs reselling BT's ADSL service could only be guaranteed a percentage of their allocation, resulting in some ISPs criticising the roll-out of ADSL in Britain.

However, in a letter to ISPs seen by The Register the monster telco said it intends to lift all restrictions from June 4.

BT hopes this will give ISPs the confidence to ramp up their ADSL offering in the knowledge that any increased demand will be met.


Typically The Register is quick to point out that AOL and Freeserve are now stating supply to be only part of the problem. Apparently the two leading ISPs believe the whole process (Ordering to Installation) is very poorly administered.

According to BTs own statistics, half the hopes in the UK are now connected to an ADSL enabled exchange, which should rise to 60% by September this year. We find this hard to believe since BTs own 'March' coverage data seems to suggest just 30% of the UK is covered - hmmmmmmmm.

AOL Seeking NTL Broadband Update

By:mark.j @ 3:47:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Only a few days ago we reported on news of how AOL was actively seeking a potential partnership with NTL in order to offer broadband services. AOL has been exploring both ADSL and Cable Modem alternatives, although neither has been decided upon yet. Today another update to the situation:

But AOL is keen to play down the significance of any discussions. "We talk to everybody about everything all the time," said an AOL spokesman. This line is echoed by ntl, keen to emphasise that the talks are at an early stage.

"The chink in AOL's armour is the lack of a telco partner," pointed out Jupiter MMXI analyst Dan Stevenson. "AOL is looking ahead to broadband and is looking for a distribution channel. BT is not a suitable partner because it is rolling out ADSL very slowly whereas ntl and Telewest have been the surprise successes of broadband."

From ntl's point of view the deal would allow it to offer a whole range of new content to its customers. The more service it sells the better, because while it has not attracted the same publicity as BT, the firm is also weighed down by debt. Currently ntl has about 17,000 cable customers in the UK and, alongside Telewest, accounts for about 15 percent of the market. The partnership with AOL would mirror a content deal struck between Telewest and Flextech last year.


ZDNet is quick to re-iterate something we mentioned several days ago, that while Cable Modems may be a more viable solution in some respects, their coverage is limited just the same. We can't help but feel that C-Modem services might be good for a short while, but eventually ADSL and RADSL should expand beyond that.

It remains to be seen exactly what the ISP chooses to do, although they'd probably be better putting the whole thing off until the end of the year as neither is currently mass-market viable. Having said that we can't help but wonder how AOL would look under a broadband hood.

ISP Review Site Update - Top 50 Cheats

By:mark.j @ 10:29:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just a quick update to say that we've reset BTInternet in our Top50 to zero (0) since we found evidence of cheating, thanks to the associated readers for informing us. If it continues we will remove the ISP from the list, please try to vote honestly and do not influence others to vote in a specific way.

To those ISPs who’ve tried to up their rating in the same way, we’re keeping an eye on you and will name and shame such providers if this persists. Stronger security may be imposed in the near future, although this could potential restrict people from voting who haven’t already done so.

FreeChariot Services Update & PR

By:mark.j @ 10:14:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

FreeChariot have today sent us an unmetered press release with information and clarification on some of their new products. We've already revealed the unmetered packages last week, although there's a little more detail here:

Wave a W@ND (from The FreeChariot Network)

We will like to take the opportunity to inform you of massive changes to our business which might be of crucial interest to your readers.

MAJOR SERVICES
-W@ND
-IMPROVED UNMETERED INTERNET SERVICE
-PAYMENT SERVICE GATEWAY (and free credit checking system)
-MyFCN FREE Portal
-W@ND

In these days of constant changes, it is nice to have a solid universal tool for communications. We offer your readers our unique and exclusive product called W@ND. We give the user a number - which could be 07050 (includes mobiles) or 0870 (excludes mobiles).

The number specified on users' card, address and any marketing tool they may have will be:

w@nd - 07050 500313, this is a way of telling people that:

your WEB ADDRESS is www.07050500313.co.uk plotted to your webspace and website

your lifetime EMAIL ADDRESS is anyone@07050500313.co.uk/.com

your FAX NUMBER is 07050 500313, and can be directed to any fax machine at anytime

your lifetime MOBILE NUMBER is 07050 500313, usable with any mobile network

your only land TELEPHONE NUMBER is 07050 500313, to any land line you may choose.


This service costs £60/annum (£36/annum to resellers). 20mb Webspace, unlimited email address and domain hosting come as standard.

NEW UNMETERED INTERNET SERVICE.

We are pleased to inform you that we are starting 3 new unmetered packages in the first week of May. These packages are:

· FC Unlimited: Offering a - no monthly limit - unmetered internet residential service for just £14.49/month (inc. VAT)

· FC Business Unlimited: Offering unmetered internet use for small to medium businesses, 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday for just £12.99/month (exc. VAT)

· FC Home Lite: Offering unmetered Internet use for light home users from 12.00 to 5.00pm daily - every day of the week, for just £5.99/month (inc. VAT).

There is no limit on monthly usage. There is a 2-hour cut-off, but users can immediately log back on. 5 e-mail addresses (you can have real unlimited addressing if you use the combination of w@nd, myfcn portal and the Internet service. Newsgroup access. On-going support offered to those looking to develop a business online.

BT line required. All unmetered offers subject to availability.


PAYMENT SERVICE GATEWAY

Secure and quick online payment service with the most competitive charges on the net. The light payment service for small businesses could be set up within 2 hours of receipt of application and payment. Any Small merchant could then start taking online payments ASAP.

The Full merchant service could be set up within 3 working days (depending on status). The full service enable merchants to control the administration of their online payments.

A FREE credit check and fraudguard service is available for anyone seeking to trade safely online or offline.


MyFCN PORTAL

Our Free Portal offering:

a full functional configurable webmail service (mailbox of 10mb size)

a CHAT service for you to meet with known friends and new ones

Message box for any topic of your choice, and

Homepage builder and hosting service for up to 20mb space configurable from your browser.

For further information contact media@freechariot.co.uk

http://www.freechariot.co.uk


FreeChariot have yet to prove they're an improved service over the countless problems experienced during the end of last year and early this year. We'll be interested to see exactly how things progress.

Shop Online For Food With OnDigital

By:mark.j @ 10:04:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

OnDigital, the dominant and heavily priced Digital Terrestrial TV supplier has today introduced online shopping to its Internet access element of the service via Tesco.

Users of ONnet will be able to browse 40,000 grocery items, including packaged, frozen and fresh produce, ONdigital said in a statement, while CDs, DVDs, and electrical goods could eventually be sold as well.

ONdigital, owned by the main companies behind Britain's ITV network Granada Plc and Carlton Communications Plc , announced last week that it will rebrand as ITV Digital later this year.

This followed its plans to sell the ONnet box separate from the digital TV online service through online retailer lastminute.com. ONnet currently has around 70,000 subscribers.

If only one of these terrestrial Internet DTV options/extras would allow you to change dialup ISP or offer an unmetered product then they might actually be more popular.

Total Net Users Grow By 7Million!

By:mark.j @ 9:59:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You might be surprised to learn that the latest Internet access survey shows 7Million more surfers joined the online Internet world in March alone!:

This brought the total number of people logging onto the Net from home to 379 million during the month, with active Net usage growing four per cent from the previous month to 211 million surfers.

Not only that, but The Register also points out some interesting statistics for website pageviews:

The US was seventh in terms of monthly page views, with an average of 678, and 35 page views per session. But American surfers spent the longest on each page (54 seconds).

The UK came in 17th in terms of page views - 479, with 39 views per session and an average of 45 seconds spent on each page.


It's not clear exactly how many countries were surveyed, although we seem to be roughly in the middle of the scale.

Founders Quit Freeserve Despite Earlier Denial

By:mark.j @ 9:51:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Despite the claims made last week that one or more seniors @ UK ISP Freeserve would step down, a claim, which was harshly dismissed by the ISP; it now turns out the news was in fact correct.

Ajaz Ahmed and Rob Wilmot were two of the original four founders who set up the ISP, which transformed the industry by scrapping the monthly subscription fee. Mark Danby has already left the firm, leaving only chief executive John Pluthero, the outspoken chief executive, as an original founder.

Last week Freeserve eventually dismissed the idea of one or more of its executives leaving as "nonsense" despite earlier in the day not denying the speculation.

In December French ISP Wanadoo, creating Europe’s second biggest Internet firm, acquired Freeserve. In the UK Freeserve has moved from a per minute access model to a monthly subscription fee for unlimited access. At £12.99 the offer undercuts both BT and AOL, leaving Freeserve still the largest ISP in the UK.

It just goes to show that while some rumours can be false the majority of the time there's often an element of truth involved.

Silvermead Internet Launch Unmetered

By:mark.j @ 9:44:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The latest ISP to introduce an unmetered (freecall) option is Silvermead Internet, who were kind enough to send us the following information:

SILVERMEAD LAUNCHES WITH UNMETERED INTERNET ACCESS & EUROPEAN PROMISES

Silvermead today announces the launch of it's Internet Service Provider with a fresh approach: true service quality, value for money and ease of use.

One of Silvermead's key products is 'Silvermead Unlimited' which allows home users to access the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no internet call charges for a flat monthly subscription of just £13.99 inc vat.

Silvermead also support small business users with 'Silvermead Business Unlimited' an un-metered 'office hours' product at only £10.99 + VAT a month.

Currently working on projects in 13 countries across Europe, Silvermead's products are designed around quality, reliability and content. The aim being to create mass-market products that consumers can trust and rely on as sustainable, long-term services.

All Silvermead accounts come with access to a personalised online ‘desktop’ environment powered by Mailsurf.com. The desktop gives users access to powerfully unique online communication services - including the ability to send free text messages, free faxes and free letters worldwide. The desktop also provides an interface to customised news & lifestyle content along with an online calendar /diary with SMS notification, address book and account management interface. All Silvermead products are supported 24 hours a day by a technical support team that is accessible by telephone and e-mail.

What we’re offering is a high quality, reliable service that represents excellent value for money” says Stephen Craggs, Managing Director of Silvermead.

With plans to venture into mainland Europe and launch broadband Internet access this summer, Silvermead will be a dynamic, ever improving service that can offer customers real benefits whether at home, in the office or on the move.


This is a fairly new ISP from our perspective as we've heard of it before, although it's never really been in the limelight. Typically they're taking advantage of BTs SurfPort24 or one of the modern FRIACO variants.

We’ll keep an eye on them and will of course introduce another forum for specific Silvermead unmetered discussion ASAP.

Latest LogicSurf Unmetered Update

By:mark.j @ 9:34:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Removed at request of ISP pending official announcement.

News - April 30,2001

!EXCLUSIVE! AOL ADSL : AOL Plus

By:Ross14 @ 8:08:PM - Comments (10) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

AOL are preping a new ADSL service called AOL Plus which they are due to launch soon. Although there has been no official word from AOL, the service is available for preview and all details are available at At Keyword: AOL Plus Preview, or by calling the AOL Plus helpline on 0800 376 4406. Hours of operation are 9am - 7.30pm, Monday to Friday and 9am-5.30pm on weekends.

The service will cost £49.99 a month, including free tech support on an 0800 number, but the best thing is, the installation fee is waived and it will cost nothing to install AOL's ADSL Service'.

We will await a full press release from AOL soon.

Circumventing Government Privacy Invaders

By:mark.j @ 3:36:PM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Both Britain and America have recently been trying to sneak new security tools into ISPs that could potentially break consumer privacy. Now a group of American hackers known as 'Cult of the Dead Cow' (They must be British farmers?) have turned their attention away from destroying computers.

Instead they've chosen to focus on conserving individual privacy through a new piece of software that can circumvent such systems as R.I.P in the UK:

The tool -- to be called Peekabooty -- will be based on peer-to-peer network technology. This allows data to be distributed directly between computer systems and has attained fame through the emergence of music-sharing technologies such as Napster and Gnutella. Peekabooty hosts will cooperate in a similar way to Gnutella -- without a central server -- but in this case will share and distribute controversial Web pages.

According to the source, Peekabooty will enable those living in oppressive regimes to access prohibited material through fellow Peekabooty clients located in more liberal countries. The client grabs the requested content and sends it back to the original computer in a compacted and encrypted form that cannot be filtered out using conventional technology. Because there is no central authority, unlike Napster, it would be more problematic to control.

"[It's] completely distributed and impossible to shut down," said the source. "Users will be able to request proscribed web pages with a client through a distributed server cloud. An intelligent agent will be dispatched from the server to the web page, grab the content, zip it down, take it back to the server, then punt it back to the client."


The ZDNet item does a good job of covering the software in detail, although realistically you'd be well advised NOT to download such code from a group famed for gaining covert access to other peoples computers.

That said and the ability to send E-Mails, Web pages and files without the worry of government monitoring is likely to appeal to more than the computer underground.

08002Go Problems Update

By:mark.j @ 9:41:AM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

After a spate of engage tones and various other issues that following the launch of unmetered ISP 08002Go last week, things now seem to be getting better. While we're still getting some problem reports, the service does seem to be improving and the site now shows the following update:

Well Folks The Numbers Just Went Off The Scale.
We promised you all a Superior Service and that is exactly what you will get! Everyone knows, we are only a few days into our launch. We are making all the fine tuning and settings to our equipment to give you the most enviable connectivity. We knew the numbers of members would be huge "But" the numbers have exceeded all our expectations.

WHOOPS SORRY!
We are amending our systems to cope with all your demands, then, your Service will settle down for all to enjoy FOREVER. Thank You All!

PLEASE NOTE:
The Personal Web Pages for this service are still being tested. You will NOT be able to use the PWP until we have finished testing. This will be very soon!

Thank you for your patience.


Clearly 08002Go were somewhat unsure of just how many pre-subscriptions would actually turn into active customers, otherwise they wouldn't have been surprised by the numbers. Perhaps they should have launch first before proclaiming 50,000 extra subscription slots beforehand.

Still things do seem to be improving and our ISP Specific 08002Go forum seems quite active.

AOL Time Warner To Partner With NTL

By:mark.j @ 9:23:AM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

AOL may be one of the worlds biggest ISPs, but they've only got a simply dial-up network in the UK and Europe, something that could soon change. Today it has been revealed (Financial Times) that AOL is in talks with NTL, the biggest cable operator in the UK, about a partnership in Europe:

"The U.S. group, whose interests span cable, film, music, television and publishing, is thought to be interested in a broadband distribution deal and has approached NTL about forming an alliance, according to people close to the companies," it said.

The FT said an alliance would give AOL Time Warner access to NTL's networks, allowing it to share revenues from broadband customers in exchange for its content.

"It is believed the group first approached British Telecommunications but BT, the dominant UK network provider, could not provide the required broadband capabilities," it said.

While it sounds good, cable covers a small portion of the UK and ADSL will eventually outgrow such coverage. How AOL can use Cable Modems and still appeal to the mass market is one question that could remain unanswered for a while.

3G Industry vs The Government

By:mark.j @ 9:17:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Last Thursdays technology briefing at the European Commission saw Nortel put forward plans for Telco’s sharing the expensive work of building 3G networks. Today it has emerged that governments could end up opposing such a solution to 3G Debt:

Commissioner for the Information Society Erkki Likkanen is backing the move, but not all governments are behind it. Michael Ryan, telecoms lawyer with Arnold & Porter, believes the EC has its work cut out to persuade member states to go down the shared network route. "The EC convened a meeting about infrastructure but it has not taken off. I would be hard pressed to see how they could compel governments to permit facility sharing."

From the government's point of view network sharing is not something it would be keen to see. "It was an understanding of the licences being issued that there would be competition in the network," explained Ryan. "The more that share facilities the less diversity there is."

Network diversity is important, not least in the case of a network failure. If all operators are relying on the same network, they will all be affected by outages.


The ZDNet item highlights a very real problem where you can share networks, but competition will be minimal, yet debt costs would be cut. It'll be interesting to see how governments manage to resolve this, if they even choose to.

News - April 29,2001

Quick Staff News

By:Ross14 @ 6:20:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

I will be going on a hiatus from the site until mid-June due to the Standard Grade (GCSE) exams. I will be visiting the site around twice a week and will visit the forums @ the weekends - although i will only be admining in the General Discussion, Complaints/Probs and Freecall Unmetered ISPs Forums when i do visit.

If you need to contact me, then send me a Private Message from the Forums or email me (ross@ispreview.co.uk).

Thank you.

ISP Review Weekly Update

By:mark.j @ 10:22:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

If ever there was a busier week for ISP news then this would have been it, the closure of Connect25 and various unmetered ISP updates and broadband changes have kept things at a near constant flow. It's never easy to cover industry news when there's so much of it, although we do our best.

Thankfully this will be my second to last update as from 12th May to the 20th I'll be off Cyprus, where as well as taking a vacation I'll also be helping the local Telco understand unmetered access (work never truly ends). As usually ISP Review will be updated as usual during this period, but by the other staff.

On another note and the more frequent of visitors will probably have noticed yet more cosmetic changes here and there as we strive to implement some requested features to ISPr. We won't go into detail because our ideas have a habit of being stolen, so we'll keep our plans secret =).

What I can tell you is that we're looking at future site re-design's, different colour schemes and of course working on the new 'Reader ISP Reviews' script. Most importantly though we're working to implement the old forum into the new one, although this won't happen until later due to HUGE technical problems.

Overall the site will be going through changes as we respond to reader suggestions, so please forgive us if anything looks wrong or out of place during the next month as this will be the reason. Sometimes the only way to get things right is through Trial & Error, which is how we'll be doing it.

News - April 27,2001

4theNet Launch Unmetered Business Package

By:Ross14 @ 8:20:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

4theNet have launched an unmetered Business Package, and as usual, here is the full, uncut, press release:

PRESS RELEASE

UNMETERED –UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS
NOW AVAILIABLE FOR BUSINESSES


4theNET have now launched a new unmetered Internet service for businesses so that they too can surf the Internet and receive emails without worrying how much the on-line time is costing the company. Up until recently the new unmetered services were only available to the domestic user, but 4theNET Unlimited Business is aimed at small to medium sized businesses, and also has the added attraction that there is no disconnection time. Normally with unmetered services a user is cut off after a designated period on line, but the 4theNET Business Service promises no such surprise. And, of course, businesses will not be surprised with a large telephone bill.

The access package is only £15 + VAT per month and includes 10 mb of webspace and 15 email addresses. Unmetered access is between 6am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, with call charges outside of these hours of only 1.3p/min for evenings and 0.85p/min weekends. Support is only 50p/min by telephone and is free by email.

Kevin Peel, the Technical Director of 4theNET said, “Nobody seems to have tackled the Internet needs of the small and medium businesses in this country. All of the big ISPs have centred their low cost efforts on the domestic user. We hope to address this so that businesses can use the full power of the Internet without the worry of high telephone bills.”

4theNET are also able to offer an extremely competitive ADSL service for businesses. They also offer a variety of packages for home surfers including a 24/7 Unlimited Option for only £12.99 including VAT and a Daytime Option when surfers can access the Internet between 12 Noon and 5pm 7 days a week for only £4.99 including VAT.

For further details please go to http://www.4thenet.co.uk/unlimited

Ends


The offer definetely penetrates into the market, and we are sure that many small/medium sized businesses will be attracted to the offer.

IC24 Extend 0800 To 6th May 2001

By:mark.j @ 6:58:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to multiple sources the following update has now been made on IC24s (Free Off-Peak Unmetered) website:

Offer closes Sunday May 6 2001 - outside promotional hours calls will be charged at local rate.

In other words its been extended for just longer thank a week, which is somewhat less than before and also means the offer would end on an unusual day. It'll be interesting to see how long they keep this up; we fear it may not last until June.

Business DSL Delay Due To Funding Crisis

By:mark.j @ 3:41:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Businesses hoping to make use of modern xDSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology may have to wait a little longer. Problems with the world market and higher charges as telecom carriers cut back their plans to offer broadband services are set to delay things further:

Redstone Telecom, which offers DSL in regions including Nottingham, Cambridge and Portsmouth, has announced it will cut 85 jobs, or 11 percent of its workforce, and will not extend its geographical coverage until it obtains more funding.

The announcement highlights the pressures facing startup telecoms companies, which have borrowed heavily to fund their operations but have not yet been able to generate significant revenues to repay their investors.

Peter Judge, directing analyst at research firm Infonetics, believes Redstone could become the first of many UK telecoms casualties in the coming year. "Everybody that relies on rolling out DSL in Europe is going to have to cut back, especially the startups," said Judge. He added that larger and better established operators such as Colt Telecom are more likely to survive.


Typically news like this item from ZDNet is only set to continue until the market finds its feet again and picks up. While things are getting better, for many it's still taking too long and that's causing problems.

Latest StarSpeeder Press Release

By:mark.j @ 12:12:PM - Comments (5) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to UKInternetForums Gareth for letting us know that StarSpeeder has also issued an official press release that contains final launch details:

OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF STARSPEEDER INTERNET SERVICE MAY 1st

We are pleased to be able to report that the Starspeeder standard service is now fully operational. Whilst the service speed for standard subscriptions is capped at 400kbits, we have down loaded at speeds approaching 2Mbits during testing. The cost of the standard service is £15.00 plus VAT monthly (£52.88 quarterly in advance) and subscriptions are being taken now.

Hardware packages are available from Monday 30th April. Prices are:

Pentamedia Pent@net DVB board £109.00 including carriage.
DVB board with 60cm dish and 0.6db LNB Strictly limited offer at £129.00

Following the launch of the standard service will be the Gold Service. This will allow download speeds of 2 to 4Mbits at times of low demand, typically midnight to around seven A.M. Files can be pre-booked for downloading on this service. We expect the Gold service to be available from mid May. Standard Service users will be able to upgrade to Gold. We expect the cost of the Gold service to be around £28.00 plus VAT monthly. (£98.70 quarterly in advance)

More information and subscription details are available on our website http://www.starspeeder.co.uk

Starspeeder.co.uk are the licensed sales partner for the United Kingdom and Ireland and can only accept subscription for these areas. For information to subscribe in other areas go to http://www.cblcbe.lu

Firstnet Make SME Net Access Easy

By:mark.j @ 11:19:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Installing networks is always a task, although properly connecting them to systems such as the Internet usually provides for even more of a cost burden and technical challenge. However Firstnet have today issued us with a press release for a piece of technology some SME businesses might find useful:

FIRSTNET LAUNCHES ONE-BOX INTERNET SOLUTION


In response to growing demand from small and medium sized companies for simple multi-user Internet solutions, Leeds based ISP/ASP Firstnet Services has launched NetPilot an all-in-one plug and play Internet access solution that includes built-in ISDN or leased line router and firewalling.

Based on the Linux operating system, the NetPilot is a secure, sophisticated, yet easy-to-use Internet Server Appliance that gives access to every LAN-based PC user. It makes the Internet and email cost-effective, accessible and controllable and provides state-of-the-art firewalling facilities to guarantee network security and web 'boundary caching' for fast response and best utilisation of the Internet connection.

NetPilot also controls and monitors web browsing in a similar way to a call logging system on a PBX – encouraging employees to use the resource responsibly. The unit also incorporates built-in server features including web and email servers, as well as file, print, DHCP, DNS and FTP server functionality.

The NetPilot, manufactured by DICA Technologies, is being offered to SMEs as a one-box Internet solution or as part of the company’s bespoke ISP/ASP hosting solutions for SMEs.

Chief executive Dominic Marrocco explains, “with ADSL, leased lines and ISDN now widely used within the SME marketplace, we are increasingly being approached by companies for a simple ‘install and forget’ Internet and server solution.

NetPilot provides them with a sophisticated multi-user piece of hardware that can either run on its own as an all-in-one solution or that can be incorporated as part of a comprehensive ASP hosting solution. In tandem with our broadband services, NetPilot enables us to offer effective solutions regardless of budget or requirements.

As the UK’s No.1 business ISP (Guardian Newspaper survey), Firstnet Services Ltd. has established its reputation on the delivery of effective Internet solutions for today’s progressive businesses. These include ISP/ASP, server co-location, Internet connections, web design/e-commerce, secure servers, hardware/software, sales and support, consultancy or telecommunication solutions.


While it doesn't quite cover every aspect, the technology would certainly be useful for SME companies.

StarSpeeder / SkyStorm Satellite Update

By:mark.j @ 11:08:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Although not due for official launch until May 2001, the Europe*Star broadband Satellite system re-sold through StarSpeeder in the UK has seen yet more updates as it approaches the live date.

The most recent change is that of their website that’s been given a dramatic face lift, one a lot less tacky than the original. One of our readers (Mark [Happy Camper]) also claims to have tested the service like many other seem to be, he states:

Just wanted to let you see some of the results from the testing of Starspeeder. Rates are averaging around 1.5mbit/sec - 2.5mbit/sec for standard HTTP transfers using FlashGet and the speeds have reached 4mbit/sec. Downloading straight from IE5 is between 40-80kbyte/sec depending on the server but the service has allowed 5 different files to achieve this rate at one time.

Screenshots of tests I personally ran earlier are on http://www.centinal.com/starspeeder - obviously the rates will steady once everyone else has been activated (bearing in mind there is a user limit) but the service itself is very stable - been connected on it since around 9am this morning and averages so far have been 1Gb in 80 minutes.


We suggest you take this with a pinch of salt since while the Satellite 'COULD BE' technically capable of such individual speeds, this won't last for long. The service will likely have a stronger 400Kbps (good enough) restriction imposed and will ultimately become slower as more signup.

That said and 400Kbps is exactly what those of us outside Cable Modem and ADSL areas need, although having said that RADSL is only a few months away and would be simpler to install and use + more flexible.

TotalServe Unmetered Update

By:mark.j @ 10:44:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to Keith again for inform us that TotalServe have finalised the unmetered packages we first reported on HERE and also set a launch date of 10th May 2001. Note that the packages have ALL changed a little.

In order to save time we've done a very brief summary of the unmetered packages, note that there are some others, but they're not unmetered:

Package Name: Ultimate Surf Lite
Cost: £6.99 + vat
Hours / Coverage / Type: Off-Peak (6pm - 8am [Next Day])
Extra Details: 2Hour Cut-Off

Package Name: Ultimate Surf 24/7
Cost: £10.99 + vat
Hours / Coverage / Type: 24/7
Extra Details: 2Hour Cut-Off

Package Name: Ultimate Surf Day (single business user)
Cost: £24.99 + vat
Hours / Coverage / Type: Peak Hours (8am - 6pm [DAY])
Extra Details: 2Hour Cut-Off

Package Name: Ultimate Surf Day (multi business user)
Cost: £29.99 + vat
Hours / Coverage / Type: Peak Hours (8am - 6pm [DAY])
Extra Details: 2Hour Cut-Off / More than one user (Dual Channel ISDN?)


As can be seen a lot of the original packages (Mid-March Ones) have gone or been changed, not to mention there's also a 12Month minimum contract; something becoming ever more popular among ISPs due to the financial burden placed on them by BT for such systems.

It's also not clear exactly what the 'Multi Business User' package allows, since we believe a lot of our readers would be interested if it were to support dual channel ISDN.

Atlantic Telecom Loosing Customers

By:mark.j @ 10:28:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One of the better known Telecom, Network and ISP providers, Atlantic Telecom, has said its total number of customers declined on the quarter.

Supposedly as a result of the company's sale of its French interests, the total number of Atlantic's business lines declined to 88,641 in the quarter ending March 31 from 100,219 in the previous quarter.

However, the company stressed the disposal of the French interests would save money in the long run.

"This transaction (the disposal of French interests) relieved the group of significant capital expenditure going forwards, whilst still retaining the opportunity to benefit from the rollout of future services in France, through a carried interest," the company said in a statement.

Fixed Broadband Wireless Is Problem Ridden

By:mark.j @ 10:24:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Broadband Wireless (BBW) for mobile phones (3G) is one technology, but fixed broadband wireless for people’s personal computers, homes and businesses is very different. At present only Tele2 provides full 'out-of-trial' fixed residential compatible BBW technology, although the government had hoped to improve the situation.

The idea would have been to use it to fill the gaps where ADSL/RADSL or Cable Modems have yet to reach, sadly the idea seems to be beset with problems:

At a Broadband Fixed Wireless (BFW) conference in London, Oftel admitted that there might not be "an economic case" for the technology. Delegates seemed to agree, suggesting that rollout obligations meant it was nearly impossible for firms to make a business case for BFW when spectrum was auctioned last summer. The auction reflected this, with only 21 of the 42 licences being bid for.

With the government planning to resell the unsold licences this summer the issue of BFW is firmly back on the agenda. Companies are annoyed that the government is putting a reserve price on the spectrum and also angry that rollout obligations -- forcing firms to agree to deploy at least ten percent of the spectrum by June 2002 -- make it impossible to present a business plan for BFW.

Responding to an Oftel presentation on the issue, technical director of MLL Telecom Andrew Somerville asked why a reserve price is being put on the spectrum. "Setting a price means firms have to make a business plan. Those that value it the most are most likely to use it," explained Oftel's radio spectrum project manager Roberto Ercole. He went on to concede that "the market might be saying there isn't an economic case for it".


The ZDNet item goes into a lot more detail and anybody interested in receiving this technology might find it interest. Sadly the only 'cost effective' solutions we've seen to date come from Atlantic Telecom and Tele2, yet even these services have problems (see Tele2 review).

Freeserve - Resignation Rumours False

By:mark.j @ 10:14:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following yesterdays various claims that one or more Freeserve seniors were to resign, the ISP has today tried to squash any rumours by describing the suggestion as "nonsense".

Sources had previously suggested that one of its top executives was about to leave the company and earlier in the day the ISP had not denied these rumours. Last month its chief operating officer Frank Keeling quit following Freeserve's acquisition by French ISP Wanadoo.

Of course officials will never tell you the truth until the time comes to announce it, so there's always room for a resignation or two in the near future - anybody?

Easynet Sees Strong Growth & Finances

By:mark.j @ 10:07:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not long after Supanet announced its own good financial and growth news, today it's the turn of popular Network and ISP provider, Easynet.

Prooving that not all is bad in the ISP and Telecom sector, Easynet has already won the ISPA's 'Best European ISP' award for 2001 and now this. Shares in Easynet have soared after it announced a good start to the year, with better-than-expected business growth in all areas and a high level of recurring revenue from existing customers.

Shares in the small telecom company jumped 18.3% or 55p to 355p by 10.25am on Thursday, valuing the firm at around £98,000,000. The stock is still only a third of its price six-months ago, however, and a tenth of its value last March, at the height of the technology, media and telecom boom.

Chairman David Rowe told shareholders at Easynet's annual meeting the company had doubled the number of installed lines to 5,000 in the first quarter and was on track to enter selective BT exchanges in the UK and deliver end-to-end Easynet DSL (digital subscriber line) service in the second half of 2001.

He also said Easynet's new London datacentre had secured its first customers. "We are confident that the facility will be a significant asset to the company," he said on Thursday.

Reporting annual results in February the company said it expected revenues from the sale of DSL connections to more than double during 2001. The company said it had so far made two million pounds from this part of the business.

It reported a loss of £12,000,000 2000, due mainly to operational costs from expansion into Europe, on turnover up 50% at £42,000,000. The company is not expected to make profits until the end of 2002. Easynet is one of just a handful of companies left participating in an official trial of LLU xDSL, which converts telephone lines into Internet pipes running at 10 times the speed of dial-up connections.

Easynet has always been a strong competitor in the market through the use of a good business model and management, although they have yet to launch an unmetered ISP =).

Connect25 On Refunds & Potential Buyers

By:mark.j @ 9:59:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to our resident informant, Keith, for pointing out that the company (see previous C25 posts) in charge of the liquidation process for Connect25 (Ex-Unmetered ISP) has sent out an update. Firstly it explains the situation, much of which we already knew:

Connect25 Ltd finds itself in an insolvent position where it cannot meet its debts as they fall due and, as a consequence, ceased trading on 18 April 2001.

So far nothing new, although then they start to go into detail about creditors and refunds:

The status of any claim you may have in the liquidation is that of an unsecured creditor. In assisting the directors in preparing the statement of affairs for the creditors meeting, it has already become apparent that there will be no distribution to unsecured creditors in this case.

This appears to apply to anybody whom paid by cheque or whose credit card company washes its hands of responsibility, in general - you're unlikely to get a refund (this is a common risk with cheques).

On the other hand, those who used VISA credit cards etc. should be able to obtain a refund, but only if you're a recent subscriber (we'd guess). Full details should be available on http://www.ews-insolvency.co.uk around the 8th May 2001.

Perhaps the most interesting and somewhat exclusive of all is word that there might be hope for the ISP yet as they're seeking a potential buyer:

The nominated liquidator intends to enter negotiations to seek to find a buyer for the goodwill of Connect 25 Ltd on the basis that such buyer would provide internet access services to subscribers at a reduced rate or for free for a limited period of time.

This would be to your benefit since it would give you the opportunity to limit or make up for any losses that you may otherwise have suffered as a result of the company going into liquidation.

If we are unable to negotiate suitable terms with another company, we will send you direct their details and an explanation of any proposed deal that we have been able to negotiate for subscribers.


We should point out that the search for a buyer is not uncommon in such a situation, although Connect25's low profile isn't likely to help find one. We'll bring you more news and updates as it's released to us.

NTL To Get New Cable Modem Hardware

By:mark.j @ 9:36:AM - Comments (3) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to CableNews, NTL has approved yet another new Cable Modem for use on their networks. The TeraJet 210 Cable Modem from Terayon Communications will ultimately supersede Motorolas current SurfNoard 4100.

The TeraJet device is the latest in what is turning out to be a long line of "approved" ntl modems; firstly it was the 3Com CMX, then the HomeConnect "Tailfin", followed closely by the Motorola SurfBoard 3100 and most recently the 4100 model of that series.

You can see full specifications and features for the modem @ the Terayon Website.

News - April 26,2001

Freeserve To See Director(s) Resign

By:mark.j @ 5:06:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following on from Sir Iain Vallance's departure of BT, now Wanadoo owned Freeserve could well see one or more of its top brass resign by the end of the day:

According to sources, two top level executives are to leave the ISP today. John Pluthero is currently chief executive of Freeserve, with Sarah Carpenter and Jon Gisby managing directors of marketing and portals respectively. There is no indication which of its bosses is about to leave.

Freeserve is not denying the rumour. "I don't know what is going on but as soon as we hear anything we'll let you know," said a Freeserve spokeswoman.


The ZDNet item mentions that nothing is certain, although as far as rumours go this is probably one of the more believable. Quite who will go and exactly when is anybodies guess, although it's safe to assume at least one will be gone.

FreeChariot & New Unmetered Packages

By:mark.j @ 4:01:PM - Comments (12) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

FreeChariot were one of the first ISPs to launch a set of FRIACO (early system) based packages during late last year. As many will remember things didn't go as planned, billing problems, poor support and numerous service issues got them into a lot of trouble.

Now after nearly three months of silence the small ISP and Telco provider have contacted us in order to mention their new line of unmetered packages:

FC Unlimited - £14.49 (incl. VAT)
FC Lite - £5.99 (incl. VAT)
FC Business Unlimited - £12.99 (excl. VAT)


FC Unlimited

FC Unlimited at a competitive £14.49 a month (Inc VAT). This product provides an end user with completely Unmetered access to the Internet 24/7. User price £14.49 a month (inc. VAT), No Worries. Please note that BT Line is required. Starts end of April 2001


FC Home Lite

FC Home Lite - A home alone service for young students, housewives etc between Midday and 5pm, 7 days a week at a cost of £5.99/month. At all other times '0845' metered rates will be charged. Billed direct by FC and not by telephone provider. BT Line Required. Starts end of April 2001


FC Business Unlimited

FC Business Unlimited is a dedicated business service. A peak period quality unmetered service for SME's at a rate of £12.99/month (exc. VAT) Unmetered access available during hrs of 8am to 6pm, 5 days per week Mon-Fri). 0845 metered rates applies outside of the above periods. Billed direct by FC, not by telephone provider. BT Line Required - Starts end of April 2001


There's also a standard price ADSL offer, although none of these packages have much in the way of detail about what they offer underneath (cut-offs etc.).

We fear the ISP may have to do more in order to regain the confidence lost in them after their ill-fated first attempt. It’ll be interesting to see how they do a second time around and we wish them the best of luck.

AOL Time Warner & Internet Watches

By:mark.j @ 3:47:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In a strange twist, AOL Time Warner has today announced its intention to develop a new line of watches that enable Internet access in conjunction with the Swiss group, Swatch:

The media giant will also promote Zurich-based Swatch's brands across its assets such as its AOL flagship Web service and Time publications.

Favorite Web site addresses and AOL screen names would be able to be stored on new products using Swatch technologies, AOL Time Warner said.


We question their use of 'Internet Access' in conjunction with watches because unless you have superman style vision, browsing E-Mail and web pages would be impossible. Typically full details of just what kind of features AOL has planned for the watch remain to be seen, we'd guess web browsing isn't one of them =).

3G To Profit In The Long Run

By:mark.j @ 3:42:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Although we now know it'll be around 2005 before 3G breaks even, questions over when the technology will finally start being truly profitable still remain. At least that was until today when the UMTS Forum claimed 2010 is the year to watch:

Revenues from third generation mobile phone services could net over $300bn (£200bn) per year for telecom operators around the world by 2010, according to a report published by The UMTS Forum.

The report forecasts the average subscriber for third generation mobile services will spend around $30 per month on data services alone, with revenue from data outgunning revenue from voice calls by 2004.

"It's clear that 3G services have the potential to reverse downward trends on operators' voice revenues," said Bernd Eylert, the chairman of the Forum, which promotes the introduction and development of third generation services.


The ZDNet item does a good job of highlighting one of the reasons 3G licenses were so expensive in the first place. Although the cost may initially near bankrupt some providers, in the long run 3G should turn into a true moneymaker - IN THE LONG RUN.

ADSLGuide Chats With BT Ignite

By:mark.j @ 10:20:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Although we don't usually post this kind of news, ever-popular ADSLGuide has set-up a chat with BTIgnite for all to join and of course covering ADSL. The chat is scheduled for Thursday 3rd May 2001 @ 4pm.

You must register to attend HERE, expect us to be there as well =).

BT Claims ADSL Waiting List @ 1,000

By:mark.j @ 10:11:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BT Ignite has today claimed that there's no longer any significant waiting list for ADSL installations since the list is now down to just 1,000:

According to head of broadband at BT Ignite 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. Some of these though, he says, are system errors -- people who have registered twice for a service they have already received. "I don't believe we have a waiting problem any more," he concluded. "The backlog has dropped dramatically and the number of orders in the pipeline is very small."

The ZDNet item doesn't go into much detail, which is a pity because the Internet seems miss leading. What about those, including myself, who've been waiting for a full year? Exactly what does this waiting list cover? Those you can actually install ADSL to or?

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