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February 1, 2001 - February 7, 2001

News - February 7,2001

BT Denies Weekend Openworld Blackout

By:mark.j @ 3:20:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In its so far - rather short lifespan, there's one thing we've come to expect from BTs Internet wing, BTOpenworld, they never admit to anything even when it's obvious there's a problem.

In the latest set of problems to hit a large group of BTOpenworlds subscriber base, excessive demand related invalid IP address parsing is rumoured to have caused a massive outage over the weekend:

According to Cullen (BTO customer), BT's helpdesk had been inundated with calls. "The helpdesk told me that they'd been getting complaints all day and there was nothing they could do until the technical issues were sorted out. They even told me that an exchange had fallen over due to the demand."

BTopenworld, and its infrastructure supplier BT Ignite, denied that there had been any problems. However, a member of BTopenworld's helpdesk team admitted that there had been problems over the weekend but would not give any details.

Cullen also said that the helpdesk had admitted to service problems in the past. "The helpdesk seemed genuinely surprised that this was the first problem I'd had with the service," he said.


The penultimate reason for the outage, reported on by VNUNet, is believed to be that BTO were unable to cope with the increased rate of ADSL installation/demand on their service.

This wouldn't surprise us following the 'Congestion' E-Mail sent privately to ISPs, which we cunningly made public. The problems look set to continue and grow, fluctuating around various ISPs on and off, at least until the new infrastructure is implemented. Whether BTOpenworld themselves will suffer further set backs is not know.

It's worth noting that BT was quick to fix the issue for their own service, yet have taken nearly a week on others.

The Freaky Picture

By:mark.j @ 3:07:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's amazing what you find in the ISPreview forums these days and today is no exception, one of our members posted this freaky URL under General Discussion. We thought it might make a nice change/interlude between the usual ISP news:

http://uk.geocities.com/rheser/findblackdot.jpg

If you suffer from epilepsy then it's probably best avoided and if you can't see anything it's probably time to have your eyes checked. Kind of reminds you when those 'MagicEye' pictures used to reign high above life itself.

You know the ones, where people would stare endlessly at a page of fuzzy colours and then miraculously see a 3D image. Even if you did a fake one there'd always be some nut able to see a bunny rabbit or some such nonsense =). Kind of like modern art, which is supposed to have meaning, but clearly doesn't.

Nildram Launch Overpriced Unmetered Products

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

It looks as if the long standing Dialup and Broadband providing ISP, Nildram (GetSurftime), is about to hit a block in the road marked 'Stop or you'll be ripped off' with the introduction of their new BTSurftime based unmetered dialup options.

While almost every other intelligent new or existing Surftime ISP is trying to swap to Surfport24, FRIACO or even plan for FRIACO2, Nildram brings out a BTSurftime package, one even BTInternet themselves gave up on:

Nildram SurfTime

Included with all Nildram Standard Dial-Up Accounts.

5 min timeout on inactivity – 2 hour default timeout. Connection via Surftime number barred during ‘Peak’ times – customers must use std. 0845 number.

£10.00 + VAT (Nildram Fee)
£5.99 (BTSurftime Fee - OffPeak)

Nildram SurfTime Plus

Connection via SurfTime for up to 60 hours* per month peak (no Off-Peak limit), 5 min timeout on inactivity.

Dynamic IP

£20.00 + VAT (Nildram Fee)
£5.99 (BTSurftime Fee - OffPeak)

£20.00 + VAT (Nildram Fee)
£19.99 (BTSurftime Fee - 24/7 Option)

Nildram SurfTime Plus (static)

Connection via SurfTime for up to 60 hours* per month peak (no Off-Peak limit), 5 min timeout on inactivity.

Single Static IP

£30.00 + VAT (Nildram Fee)
£5.99 (BTSurftime Fee - OffPeak)

£30.00 + VAT (Nildram Fee)
£19.99 (BTSurftime Fee - 24/7)

Nildram SurfTime Gold

No connection limitations with regard to time online.

Single Static IP, or Dynamic IP

£80.00 + VAT (Nildram Fee)
£19.99 (BTSurftime Fee - OffPeak)


As is plain to see the packages are extremely expensive and have such a restrictive monthly hour limit that they compare closer with much cheaper ISPs like Connect25. We'd hate to be the market researcher behind this little bundle of fun.

Only the very last 'no-limits' package is likely to attract anyone, of course that would be the case if Demon Internet didn't already offer the same but for £20 less and with DUAL CHANNEL ISDN. These offers even make Games-World.Nets Surftime packages look cheap.

It might also be worth pointing out the last bit on Nildrams Surftime page:

*60 hour period is not a hard limit - customers will still be able to connect via the Surftime number once this level has been exceeded. This allowance has been set in order to give all Nildram Surftime Plus users a fair and equal share of port capacity during 'Peak' hours. Customers regularly exceeding this allowance, or exceeding it by a reasonable margin in one calendar month, will be required to upgrade to the Nildram Surftime Gold package, or reduce usage.

Connection may be via modem (up to 56kbps) and single channel ISDN (64kbps). Dual channel ISDN is NOT supported on this platform.

Services include all the usual advantages of a Nildram Dial-Up account, including a mailbox and global roaming.

European Web Usage Rises By 30%

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

We knew it wouldn't be too long before somebody brought out a new set of statistics; today it's the turn of Europe as a whole. A new report has found that nearly one in three Europeans use the Internet regularly. That's twice as many as a year earlier, but manic price competition has left Internet providers in poor health and offering weak services.

Internet penetration rose by 76% to 116 million people, 30% of the European population, by the end of 2000. Internet usage was just 17% one-year earlier, research group Analysys found. The growth outpaced 1999 when usage climbed by 71%.

However huge regional differences still exist, ranging from 6% penetration in Greece and 48% in Sweden. In absolute numerical terms, Germany and Britain are leading the way with a little over 22 million Internet users each. Italy and France are third and fourth with around 12 million users each.

By comparison, Greece, Ireland and Portugal each have less than one million Internet users within their borders. Meanwhile, European ISPs have put themselves in a tight spot by competing on price in a scramble to win market share, said analyst Rupert Wood.

"They have commoditised access, but also content. The content offered on their portals is largely undifferentiated. There's not much to distinguish them," he said.

Little mention in the report of the unmetered ISP impact since mid-1999 when it began.

Madasafish Advertising Goes Front Porch

By:mark.j @ 9:32:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Iomart-backed unmetered/broadband and dialup ISP, Madasafish, has gone into a deal with Front Porch that should see it better able to target banner advertising:

The Front Porch technology will not be used to identify individual Madasafish users, and also allows users to opt out if they wish. Duncan was keen to emphasise the importance of users’ privacy, expressing doubts about the privacy standards implemented by many ad network operators.

The software sits on a box between the ISP terminal server – the initial point of entry for subscribers, the authentication server – which administers passwords and permission-based activities, and the router – the main connection with the internet.

Forrest Duncan, Madasafish project manager explained the benefits Front Porch technology will bring: “We were looking for three things. First, it’s important for an ISP to know what subscribers are doing on the internet – for example, if 90% of users go to Rugby sites then we should do something that reflects this. Secondly, we wanted the ability to send service messages that are guaranteed to reach people. Third, we wanted to be able to target ads, depending on what kind of sites users have been visiting.


Quite how they'd implement the ad's is not yet clear, we'd certainly like to know whether this is simply for the Madasafish website, or more direct (when you logon). More @ netimperative.com.

News - February 6,2001

BTOpenworld Gets Instant Messaging

By:mark.j @ 5:05:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Another press release found its way into our mailbox this afternoon, this time from none other than BTOpenworld. Apparently they've just added an Instant Messaging service to their ever-expanding portal technology:

BTOPENWORLD LAUNCHES NEW REAL-TIME MESSENGING SERVICE

BTopenworld, BT's international mass market Internet business, today launched BTopenworld Messenger, providing its customers with some of the most advanced messaging features currently available on the Internet.

The service includes instant messaging, one-to-one-, group- and voice chat, note-posting on any web page, innovative search tools and full compatibility with other major instant messenger applications such as AOL's ICQ, AIM and Yahoo's Messenger.

BTopenworld has signed a licensing agreement with Odigo Messenger, a comprehensive real-time communication and commerce platform.

Peter Cavanagh, head of email and integrated messaging, BTopenworld, said:
"The agreement with Odigo gives us a versatile, instant messaging product that works well in both narrowband and broadband environments, and in future, with mobile technologies. This supports BTopenworld's commitment to making Internet access and online services available to everyone across multiple devices such as the PC, PDA, mobile phone or TV."

Genie New Low-Cost Fixed Internet Access Tariff

By:mark.j @ 1:16:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Only yesterday One2One became the first ever UK mobile operator to bring out a truly unmetered package. We mentioned then that similar competition would undoubtedly follow.

Today Genie (BTCellnets Mobile ISP arm) Internet have sent us the following Press Release:

Genie Launches New Low-Cost Fixed Internet Access Tariff www.genie.co.uk

Genie, one of the UK's major mobile internet businesses and internet service providers, today launches a new fixed access tariff of just 1p a minute any evening and all weekend and 2p a minute during weekdays. The tariff (dial-up number 08440 908937) offers substantial savings for certain users over unmetered internet access packages and other pay per-minute deals.

The new Genie tariff will offer savings of up to 50% on a £14.99 fixed cost unmetered service if time spent online totals 10 hours a month or less – the UK's average for internet use. Genie ISP users will be able to make significant cuts in their home phone bills as well as receiving a reliable internet access service. Access to Genie also gives a range of top quality news, sport, entertainment and messaging content.

Laurence Alexander, Managing Director of Genie UK, says: "With this new fixed-access tariff and with free text and WAP now offered on Genie mobile, Genie is proving itself to be a pioneer of low cost fixed and mobile internet access."

He added: "The new tariff represents the completion of the first part of Genie's ISP strategy to offer its customers a range of both metered and unmetered internet access packages."


It may not be unmetered and is still only applicable for those who actually use WAP any great deal, but it is undoubtedly a step in the right direct, only a step.

IC24 Marketing Director Leaves

By:mark.j @ 11:31:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following a major shift in the company’s direction that also makes the likely hood of an 0800 extension beyond 14th February unlikely, the Marketing Direct, Jill Playle, has chosen to leave:

Graham Mead, head of the IC Network websites, said it was mutually agreed that Playle step down from her position because her marketing plans did not match Trinity Mirror’s new strategy.

The company has decided to change its focus from driving sales to its ISP, ic24, to developing and marketing its content across its consumer portals. This includes sites such as icShowbiz, which launched in December, regional portals like icBirmingham and icCoventry, and the soon-to-launch icChoice, icSport and icTravel.

Mead said: “The IC Network has gone through a process of evolution. What we were doing last year was developing the technology platform and preparing to launch regional sites. Now we need to market that content. It is a shift in focus from selling the ISP to getting people to come to our sites.


The netimperative.com article also shows that IC24 are now one of the UKs largest ISPs with 790,000 subscribers. A number likely to diminish once the 0800 offer ends, although many are still expected to stay in hope of a future 0800 offering.

New Unmetered ISP! - Fast24

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

One of our readers (Mark) pointed out a new unmetered ISP by the name of Fast24. It's due to go live sometime during February 2001 and will cost £69Per Annum for Home users and £16.99Per Month for business ones.

Cut off times and more specific Terms and Conditions are not yet known, although the £69PA package seems rather bare as you might expect. The business (@WORK) one looks more promising with no blocked ports, a free domain, good price and ISDN support to 64Kbps (128Kbps Option for extra cash).

We'll try to contact them and get more details ASAP. One thing worth noting is that they look like a new start-up with no real backer that can be seen. As we know FRIACO2 has not yet been finalised (no explanation) and BTs new Surfport24 is only available to the bigger ISPs.

In other words their pricing seems a little iffy if not using the newer methods, but we’ll see.

DTI To Subsidise UK LLU

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

It's becoming clear that without external funding and the possibility of yet more operators pulling out, the LLU process will only get more expensive for the remaining ones. This would invariably end up turning into a vicious circle of Telco's leaving and costs rising.

Thankfully the Financial Times is claiming that the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) may well step in to help:

The Department of Trade and Industry is now considering whether public subsidies may be needed to rejuvenate the process aimed at encouraging these "broadband" services.

Oftel, the national telecoms regulator, is also understood to be preparing a climbdown over a key issue blamed for holding back new broadband operators from competing with British Telecommunications, the former state monopoly.

Ministers had made the provision of broadband access - through both upgraded copper phone lines and microwave radio links - a key part of their communications and e-commerce strategy. However, this has suffered a series of setbacks including the collapse of recent auctions to allocate suitable radio spectrum.


As WorldOnline pulled out yesterday, leaving 8 operators in the running, they also had the following thing to say:

"If the government was serious about local loop unbundling, the one-off infrastructure costs would be paid by the government."

Quite right too, it should be the government who picks up the tab; after all you can't expect BT as a business to act on behalf of their competition.

PlusNET Cull Canned Kids Charity

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

We guess this is what happens when an ISP boots customers and doesn't really take the time to investigate specific cases. One such example is Penny Rollo, who ended up being booted. At roughly the same time PlusNET removed her website, which also took out her Kids Charity - well done PlusNET, well done:

Penny Rollo, who runs Project HappyChild, is disappointed with the way she's been treated but is more concerned that Project HappyChild remains operational.

She's still waiting to hear back from PlusNet that it will overturn its decision to boot Project HappyChild from the 24/7 unmetered service.

But she's heard nothing from customer support even though they promised to look into the charity's case.


Project HappyChild is a Charity run on a shoestring budget and designed to supply free educational resources for children. Hopefully PlusNET will have the kindness to step up, reinstate the account and then make a donation. More @ The Register.

Freeserves 24/7 Anytime E-Mail Problem

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

people to believe they had been accepted onto the new Freeserve Anytime 24/7 packages, when they hadn't:

The grovelling email reads: "Sometime in the last couple of months you registered your interest in finding out more about our AnyTime £12.99 Internet access package. In the last few days, you may have received an email welcoming you to Freeserve AnyTime."

"This was sent in error by our subcontracted mailing house and was not an authorised Freeserve communication. Therefore, please disregard it."

"We confirm that you have not signed up to Freeserve AnyTime unless you have completed the online registration pages (including credit card details) in the last 10 days."


According to The Register, Freeserve now consider the matter closed and compared to the bugs they've had in the past, this is minor.

RedHotAnt Support Update

By:mark.j @ 9:57:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We received the following Ex-Customer update from RedHotAnt this morning, the DNS and E-Mail seem authentic bar one anomaly, nothing major – take with a pinch of salt anyway:

Network Status & Advanced Maintenance Outages

5th February 2001


To ALL users, please note that there may be a short interruption in the 0845 service number that is currently used for access to the Internet through our Network.

Please continue to monitor the RHA web site for details of an additional new 0845 number when it is issued in the next 2-3 days.

Until then all services will be fully accessible through any other 0845 based ISP, a couple of which we list below. Some of these require no registration and can just be used with the number, username and password shown here, while others require you to complete a short registration form to open your own account.

We apologise for the inconvenience caused and assure you of our continued efforts to resolve this and other problems currently at hand.

Name: Aardvaak Free Internet
URL: http://www.aardvaak.co.uk
Dial-up No: 0845 662 1009
User Name: FREE100
Password: monkey

Name: NetDirect Online
URL: http://www.instant.ndo.com
Dial-up No: 0845 079 8226
User Name: register
Password: register

Name: Online Direct
URL: http://www.online-direct.net
Dial-up No: 0845 609 1364
User Name: You need to register for this one

Regards

RedHotAnt Support


One interesting thing we've noticed about all this is that RedHotAnts new American venture seems to involve Verizon. Now aren't these the USA xDSL operators being sued by their customers for such a poor service?.

News - February 5,2001

One2One Goes Mobile Unmetered

By:mark.j @ 4:50:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

One 2 One is trying to persuade Britons to stop using landlines by launching the first unmetered mobile phone deal. Not to mention they'd like to score a few points with heavy business users. The mobile operator said today that its Precept Max tariff would offer unlimited, free calls at any time for 75 pounds a month.

It will benefit anyone using a pay-as-you-go phone for about 40 minutes a day, but One 2 One said it would also appeal to people looking for an alternative to landlines.

While BT's fixed-line revenues have been hurt by the boom in mobile telephony; the high price of wireless calls is one factor limiting the extent to which people use mobiles from their homes and offices.

The new deal, which covers calls to landlines and One 2 One phones, is the first step in the company's 2001 strategy to focus on profits rather than subscriber growth. That said and the price is extremely high, meaning such a package will only be workable for heavy business users.

That said and One 2 One could well be the first to start a price war in this field, we wouldn’t be surprised if another operator tried to match the offer within the next couple of months.

NetGamesUK Announces USA Offering

By:mark.j @ 4:45:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've just been sent the following press release from NetGamesUK:

(05/02/01)

NetgamesUK Ltd Announce Pay-Per-Play Plans for North American Launch


Following the success of the NetgamesUK's (www.nguk.net) beta test leading up to Xmas 2000, and the February 2nd 2001 launch of their new 0800 unmetered service, the Bournemouth-based online gaming ISP (gISP) has decided to roll out is new pay-per-play offering across North America within the next 8 weeks.

Andy Jones, NetgamesUK MD, said, "There is no comparable service to NGUK in the North American market, and with the gamers being more receptive to pay-per-play we feel our business model will be an resounding success."

The company will be opening a new office on the east coast (Washington, DC) shortly and expect to recruit around 25 new staff to manage and develop the on-line gaming community.

Adds Jones, "Customer facing activities will be managed by US staff but our proprietary architecture means we can continue to support the games and platform directly from our offices in the UK with minimum capital outlay."

For further information please contact:

NetgamesUK Ltd (Head Office)
Tel. 01202 411 002 (Bournemouth, UK)
www.nguk.net


This is certainly a first, a British multiplayer company offering a Pay-Per-Play service to the USA; it's usually the other way round. Another interesting thing that we hadn't realised before is that NGUK are based in Bournemouth, which just happens to be 4-5 minutes drive from here =).

Barrysworld Still Online - Just

By:mark.j @ 3:10:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Despite the front page of Barrysworld stating they would shut down today, a recent update from the top man - Ted, sheds some happier light on the subject:

Liquidation update
Saturday, February 3, 2001, 13:55


Sorry, but still no news. The fact that you can still actually view this must mean something, but I’m not sure what it is.

We won’t be turned off on the 5th Feb, we’re still talking to potential buyers and to the liquidator and still anything could happen.

Our commiserations to the 275 people at Gameplay that got the boot this week, we know how it feels, its a bummer. Whats happening to this bloody market?!?! If the laws of supply and demand had a say in it, this wouldnt be happening.

Anyway, more soon, I hope.


Last we heard there was a very real possibility of the more important Barrysworld elements being brought out for continued funding and operation. Meaning there could be some good news coming, ‘could’ being the operative word, a bit like MAYBE.

BTs Congestion Problem - Update

By:mark.j @ 3:04:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As many ISPs will be aware, specifically unmetered ones, BTs side of the networking for those that use it has been the cause of numerous problems since last December. Around that time they put into place a new plan of action and today have sent out a [Ed: cough..] private update on its progress, which suffice to say, is not looking good:

Brief for Other Licensed Operators relating to Congestion in BT’s Network

Along with many Operators BT has in recent weeks seen an unprecedented increase in switched traffic levels. Unfortunately, the result of this has been a significant increase in the levels of loading on the network, affecting BT customers and the availability of capacity for OLOs who switch traffic via BT’s network or whose customers use Indirect Access (IDA).

Against this background of an increased level of unsuccessful calls on BT’s switched network, an action plan is being put in place to address a numbers of key aspects that will improve network performance, including: -

Ø driving in additional capacity, particularly between the new Next Generation Switches (NGS) switches but also within the local network.
Ø implementing expedient routings to get around hotspots.


A plan was put in place before Christmas to augment the number of links between NGS switches as a means of reducing congestion within BT’s network. That action plan is now being revised based on our most recent traffic measurement figures to ensure its efficacy. Indications are that there have been dramatic increases (more than 40%) in calls to the Internet (measured by “concurrent ports in use”), compared with before Christmas - these volumes were not forecast or foreseen.

The result of this has been a significant increase in the number of congestion fault reports which have been received by BT. This increased workload has occurred at a time when we have been re-organising our Interconnect Fault management organisation and put considerable strain on the ability of our people to progress the problems reported and to provide feedback on progress. Our work queues are now at an unprecedented level and we are taking steps to bring them down to acceptable levels. Our aim is to bring the work queues down to normal levels within the next couple of weeks. We apologise for any problems you may have met to date but ask for your cooperation and forebearance whilst we address the issues. In particular it would be helpful if you would target escalations for urgent problems to the Interconnect repair team in Wolverhampton on the appropriate 0800 number rather than approaching account teams or Oswestry directly. We need to keep our activity focussed and have established a process for dealing with escalations which does not distract the people who are busy solving the problems.

Clearly where additional capacity is required we will need time to resolve the problems. We will attempt to give you dates as quickly as possible, and have put in place a process to streamline and speed up the transfer of information from our operations teams to the customer interface. We are also putting additional resource in place at key points to help address the problem areas.

To give a flavour of the scale of the bigger network challenge that we face, we expect to implement up to an additional 6000 2 Mbit/s systems to fully normalise levels of network loading. That in itself is a major task and will clearly take time to complete, priority being given to addressing our customer’s most serious problems. In addition we are reviewing the capacity management process so that we are better equipped to measure and react to growth in traffic to help avoid problems in the future.

1st February 2001


This may explain some of the problems many providers have been getting recently and why BT have been so slow to respond and fix issues arising with so many ISPs these last few days/weeks. Although no new timescale has been shown in this message, something that's likely to worry ISPs.

PlusNETs +Biz Package Still Dead

By:mark.j @ 2:55:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Business users signed up with PlusNETs +Biz package have been unable to connect since Friday due to a static IP bug in BTs servers:

03/02/2001 @ 12:24 Static IP problems
Customers have been experiencing no data transfer when connecting to surftime services with a static IP.

BT are unable to permanently resolve this problem until their core staff arrive on Monday. However a temporary solution has been implemented on one of BT's home gateways. This will mean that customers with static IP's will get a connection approximately every one in three times. If you are connecting, but getting no data transfer please try to connect again.


Further updates followed that one and eventually showed almost nobody could connect to the Static IP based package. Sadly the situation remains extremely serious as a very recent update highlights:

05/02/2001 @ 12:53 Surftime Connectivity Update
BT continue to investigate the problem of static IP addresses on Surftime. They are investigating changes on Friday, since this time no data transfer has been possible on static IPs. It appears that they have created a routing problem on their network which senior engineers are now investigating.


The problems look set to continue and leave thousands in the dark until such a time as they're fixed. Appalling for a business package.

WorldOnline Quits Local Loop Unbundling Trial

By:mark.j @ 12:19:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In a shock announcement the next BIG player in UK LLU (Local Loop Unbundling), WorldOnline, has chosen to quit BTs internal trials. The now Italian telecom company (Tiscali) owned WOL, claims it had quit trials of so-called LLU because of unreasonable behaviour by BT had more than doubled its costs!

The news comes barely a week after the likes of Thus Telecom and Kingston comms chose to quite or 'put-on-hold' any LLU projects. WOL had been given space in an exchange in Edinburgh alongside Thus, NTL Inc and Cable & Wireless Plc. The companies were sharing the costs of coverting a room in the exchange into a "hostel" for housing DSL equipment, which transforms copper telephone lines into fast Internet pipes.

World Online said that when NTL dropped out in November, BT tried to recover that company's share of the costs from the remaining operators. The increased liability made the trial unviable, Andy Frost, World Online UK's director of broadband claims Thus pulled out for the same reason:

"The cost of collocation space in the BT exchange was always high," Frost said. "However, since other operators have exited it has potentially more than doubled."

"We appreciate that BT wants to recover the costs of building this space but in our view it is not acceptable or reasonable to look to those operators who entered into the trial process on the understanding that their costs were fixed and who remain committed after others have retrenched."

He also said that unless this and other issues are resolved, World Online was likely to pull out of unbundling altogether in the UK and focus on offering DSL using BT's wholesale product. It has applied for space in "a small number" of the 360 exchanges BT is opening up following the start of the trials.

Operators have been dropping out of unbundling with increasing speed because they believe BT is not playing fair and regulator Oftel has failed to put pressure on the former monopoly. Of course with all those pulling out choosing to take up BT's wholesale product, at least we know one Telco is making a tidy profit, BT.

ClaraNET Delay AnyTime 24/7 Launch

By:mark.j @ 12:08:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

ClaraNET, currently one of the UKs top ISPs, have today cast doubt over them launching a 24/7 unmetered 'AnyTime' product during Q1-2001, as previously stated. It started when on the 31st January 2001, Steve, formally systems manager - now group CTO at ClaraNET, posted the following:

We also have no good news on the FT Anytime product. I am still trying to put this together but an early launch isn’t looking promising. This has to do with the deals we can cut with our Telco’s to deliver the dialup service.

Following that ClaraNET's support staff have recently been telling customers trying to find out more the following:

Plans to launch FreeTime AnyTime, our 24/7 unmetered Internet access package have been delayed. The launch of FreeTime AnyTime is dependent on the availability of FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) - a wholesale product from British Telecom.

Claranet is committed to providing a high quality, sustainable service for our customers. As a result, we are currently investigating alternative ways in which to offer an unmetered 24/7 product. Updated information will be posted on the website.


On the 1st February 2001 last week, Oftel or BT was supposed to announce the finalisation of the FRIACO (FRIACO2) system and make it available to the public. It can't be helping ClaraNETs options that no news has come out of either camp so far and with no explanation.

ClaraNET have been busy investigating FRIACO, FRIACO2 and BTs SurfPort24 for the last few months and had planned to bring out a £14.99 .inc VAT package to compete. It now looks increasingly likely that even if a product were to be announced, we wouldn't see it until the next Quarter (Q2-2001). This isn't the first delay.

Goodbye Barrysworld

By:mark.j @ 10:33:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Today is the day we all stand together in a hand joined celebration to wish the mighty Barrysworld goodbye. One of the first FREE (LCR) 0845 access pioneers and multiplayer supporting groups, they helped redefine the UK in more ways than one.

This morning the first paragraph on the site remains as it has done for the last few weeks, the only difference that today is the date in the paragraph:

BarrysWorld are to cease all operations from 5 February 2001, and have already gone into voluntary liquidation. Basically, we have run out of money and, with the current state of the market, have been unable to secure sufficient alternative funding/revenue.

We're hoping they'll make one final update and possibly enclose some good news later on today, we know for a fact that there's been a lot of interest buzzing around. Most of their gaming servers are still online even now. We wish all at Barrysworld a farewell and hope they might have good news later.

RHA & Trading Standards Problem - Refunds

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

There seems to be a mounting problem of communication between Kent Trading Standards and the RedHotAnt crew, most of which are now in the USA, over refunds. As Neil (a trusted source) explains:

I had a phone call earlier today from Leytonstone Advice Centre saying that they had just spoken to Kent Trading Standards. Apparently ALL the directors of RHA have fled the country (possibly to the USA). It seems that they are avoiding the Fraud Squad by any means now.

This coupled with the fact that for a short while all pings to the RHA servers went via California and Massachusetts make the outlook for any refunds at all look very bleak.


Ever the hunter, Neil chose to contact JAK Internet directly and got the following reply from Clive Allon, director of operations:

Dear Neil,

I have forwarded your email to Trading Standards to obtain further information regarding your enclosed questions as we are very sure we have dealt with our unfortunate situation in a legal manner.

I hope to obtain a reply but at present are not receiving any communication from them regarding the customers that are legible for refunds which is making the refund process far more difficult and slow.

Best regrds,

Clive Allon

Director Of Operations


We've highlighted the bit, which contradicts what Trading Standards have been telling him and many others. In other words Trading Standards are trying to contact them, but without any luck. On the other side we have RHA's JAK Internet saying they're not receiving any communication. Perhaps JAK should try communicating with Kent Trading Standards instead.

We'll keep everybody informed as the situation progresses.

News - February 4,2001

ISP Review Weekly Update

By:mark.j @ 11:43:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

With the exception of the PlusNET incident, last week was a little flat and more interestingly, what's happened to the February 1st 2001 FRIACO2 finalisation? Neither BT nor Oftel said a thing. That said and I've also been very ill since last Sunday, in fact today is the first day I've actually felt better.

Despite all this the team have been working away behind closed doors on various site changes, improvements and new sections. The broadband section is now almost done and we're just trying to do the installation guides for the various types.

The automated listings also got installed and quickly suffered bugs, we got those fixed and the second time around progress was made. At present there's a serious 'EDIT' bug that affects un-split lists, this is being fixed and after that we'll begin implementation. To start with it'll be added for the broadband section, mainly because that's easier to maintain and look for bugs with.

We've also decided to remove the Worst ISP page as it doesn't really fit into our evolving style. Instead we'll replace it with a Recommended ISP(s) page and boost the complaints page coverage to make up for the lost section.

Finally we're also going to change the header with a cleaner style that's more compatible with some browsers (Opera, Netscape etc.) and a few more changes alongside. This should help solve some forum issues and speed things up even more. It'll also make seeing the links easier.

On a final note I do apologise for the lack of monthly updates and new content the last couple of weeks, but we are working very hard on the new stuff right now. We're currently aiming for Mid-February, which is the date when it should all have been done/added by.

In addition, if anybody is on the wireless broadband Tele2 service and can aid in doing an install guide then please contact me ASAP.

News - February 3,2001

SPAM Cost Europe $10Billion

By:mark.j @ 6:02:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to new information out today, SPAM (Junk E-mail) is costing Europe a whopping $10Billion per year. This new information may be enough for a general ban to be agreed upon, until now there haven't been enough supporting the idea:

Commenting on the findings of an European study, Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said: "The exponential growth of junk e-mail in recent years is a fact of life."

"Current technology allows a single cyber-marketing company to send half a billion personalised ad mails via the World Wide Web every day."

"Consumer information gleaned from individual Web transactions/consultations can be sold for large sums of money, and yet many individual subscribers are unaware of the scale and implications of these developments."


Although the UK already has some of the toughest laws on SPAM, it would indeed be right to see an outright ban. We're sure many readers would agree, more @ The Register.

SkyStorm Satellite ISP Site Back Online

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

Just over a month ago the SkyStorm Satellite ISP Website vanished, we heard some rumours about the reasons for this, although nothing concrete. The good news is that SkyStorm, UK Reseller for StarSpeeder/Huth, has today returned with a new site design and the following update:

Skystorms initial involvement in the CBL Starspeeder project was with the German Sales Partner Huth. Huth at that time believed that they had a concession to pass on the Starspeeder service to resellers in the UK. They were impressed with our approach to the project and encouraged us to develop the business in the UK. Information appearing on our web site was generally based on information gleaned from Huth, but occasionally some detail was lost in the translation. Unknown to ourselves and Huth, the principle in Luxembourg, CBL was negotiating with two potential partners in the UK, initially, Strong and then Trac Communications. Trac’s long standing UK business specialising in satellite communications, embedded software and transmission systems made them an obvious choice and on Friday December 22nd, contracts were exchanged.

A week prior to this, Huth was informed by CBL that contractually they could not deal directly with us. Trac were then formally notified of our presence by CBL. Huth consequently left us to negotiate with Trac. Trac contacted us shortly before the Christmas break and suggested that we continue our sales effort, now on their behalf. However, they felt that a greater emphasis should be put on technical support, sourcing of hardware and generally ensuring that the roll out of the service be as hassle free as possible.

Clearly, Trac will not commit their entire sales effort to a single reseller, but they are happy for us to carry on from where we left off with Huth. The fact that they are a long established UK operation should satisfy the majority of potential customers out there. For our part, whilst we may not have the field entirely to ourselves, we can promise that our enthusiasm (and subscription rates) won’t be bettered.

Trac’s commercial partner in the venture is Newcastle upon Tyne based LRN Distribution. LRN will be responsible for the sourcing of equipment and should be able to offer a 60cm dish / LNB with DVB data card through us, as the Skystorm Multimedia Hardware Package, for around £185.00 including UK VAT. The joint venture business name will be Starspeeder.co.uk

Further technical information will be made available as it comes in.

Further information on Trac Communications / Starspeeder, CBL and Europe*Star can be found on the following websites:

http://www.traccomms.com
http://www.starspeeder.co.uk
http://www.cblcbe.lu
http://www.europestar.com


The Skystorm 'fast satellite internet service' will be available at £15 per month plus UK VAT and give surfing speeds of a clean 400Kbps downstream. The ISP hopes to go live by the end of February and seems quite reasonably fast, they are also one of only two or three UK satellite ISPs to use the newer digital methods.

Hosts & ISPs That Breach SLA Could Owe £30m

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

It looks as if web hosts and online/networking groups (Energis, Devil Net etc.) that don't meet their SLA (Service Level Agreement) of availability (uptime) could be fined for each time they're offline. Every group (those behind ISPs and some Telco's) needs an SLA and most web hosts will quote you an up-time value, example: 99.9%.

Before you start jumping for joy, this is not especially related to unmetered ISP access but could hold the main network backers for some of those ISPs in the same boat:

The company estimates that about 82 per cent of always-on business internet connections suffer enough downtime to breach a 99.99 per cent SLA in a month. This could add up to a total of over two million hours of downtime for the UK throughout 2001, or around 57,500 UK websites going down per day.

Iowatch said that on average, a UK company can expect about 97 minutes of downtime per month over 17 different periods. With over a third of internet connections suffering enough downtime in just seven days to breach a monthly service level agreement, Iowatch figures that ISPs could owe British businesses as much as £30m.

Maxine Holt, senior researcher at analyst the Butler Group, said that under the most common SLAs offering 99.99 per cent availability, more than 8.5 seconds per day downtime is considered unacceptable. "The reality is quite different to what is on paper," she said.


It's certainly good to see some action being taken against an area that most recognise as a false reading. However all most people ask for is a little honesty, which is why the fines will help enforce that.

Of course it should be recognised that the cause for server downtime isn't always the ISPs fault, but ultimately that doesn't matter so long as they're honest in the SLA, then they wouldn't be fined so much. It's always interesting to see what a competitive market will do to stay afloat, more @ VNUNet.

News - February 2,2001

Yet Another 08002go Update

By:Ross14 @ 4:42:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

There have been a few posts recently in our forums asking whether 08002go are going to launch, and if people have received usernames and passwords.

The official word from 08002go is that no one has yet got a username or password. They are going to be sending out usernames and passwords in blocks of 500 daily - starting within the next 17 days. This is going to be a random selection process.

Now, they told us that they have roughly 1,300,000 signups to the service. So, according to ISPr's calculations, it should take roughly 2600 days (7 years) for everyone who has signed up to get on the service...laughter...

Yes, it is quite ridiculous, but this is what 08002go told us, and we are only going by what they have said. So, it could be a long - and we mean very long wait yet until your actually on the service!

NetGamesUK 0800 Goes OFFICIALLY Live

By:mark.j @ 3:29:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Nothing special about this news item since almost everybody will already be aware, but the new unmetered gaming ISP, NetGamesUK, has today finally gone official. That is to say it's now officially out of beta and those pre-signed up will soon be online.

Improper or Offensive Material on the Internet

By:mark.j @ 3:19:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Not dissimilar to yesterdays story that saw the ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) come together for a meeting on how best to tackle the legal issues of offensive content posted by ISP subscribers. Today the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) takes a stab:

At a recent parliamentary event, members of the Internet Watch Foundation, representatives of UK ISPs, filtering experts and members of the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA), said that there was little that they could do to halt the placing of illegal material on the Internet.

Steven Balkham, executive director of the ICRA, called for the free provision of filtering systems as a partial solution. Steve Purdham, chief executive of filtering software manufacturer, SurfControl, agreed that this might help, but added that filters are no replacement for vigilant employers.

Home Office minister, Lord Bassam, has said ISPs had a responsibility to work with the police to tackle this problem. Martin Jauch, a chief superintendent in the Metropolitan Police, added to this that UK ISPs should not be held responsible for content, but, "should use their position to inform industry of what is out there".


Ultimately there is only so much that can be done without breaching the rights of all ISP subscribers. However we don't doubt that the majority of people would favour a cleaning Internet, although not at the cost of freedom. More @ ZDNet.

AOLs Password Pirate

By:mark.j @ 3:08:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

A rather nasty Virus has infected AOL bases (ISPs) situated around the globe as it attempts to steal more passwords - users beware:

According to antivirus software maker McAfee, the APStrojan.qu virus is the most active of a string of similar ones to affect AOL users over the last year. The company has rated it as medium risk.

The virus can be found in attachments within emails with a subject line that reads "hey you". The attachments are entitled "mine.zip", and the virus uses screen names found in infected users' AOL Buddy Lists. It only affects AOL version 4.0, however.

McAfee's chief executive Srivats Sampath said that APStrojan.qu installs itself on users' systems and tries to steal and forward account names and passwords. "What we're seeing now is an alarming increase in the number of infected computers as the virus replicates itself," he explained.


Thankfully most people are already on version 5 or above of the AOL software, however this does highlight yet another problem with AOLs systems, they seem to be plagued with security issues. More @ VNUNet.

Alladvantage.com Closes!

By:Ross14 @ 12:18:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This news is not to everyone's liking, but as alladvantage.com were so big, we thought we would post some news on their closure.

The official statement from alladvantage.com is as follows (taken from www.alladvantage.com):

In 1999, AllAdvantage.com sought to build the first Internet infomediary to create truly interactive, one-to-one relationships. We wish to thank every one of our members for their enthusiastic support in striving for this historic goal.

We are sad to report that the major changes in the marketplace that occurred during the last year now require that we close the AllAdvantage Viewbar and our pay-to-surf, sweepstakes and other incentive programs. For any of your questions, please see the FAQ below. We would like to extend our gratitude to all of our loyal members who have been with us on this great adventure.


Many people are asking the question "Will I ever get paid again?". This is AA's answer:

Q: What about the credits on my account page?

A: As specified in the Viewbar Agreement, credits accrue for surfing and become payable only upon reaching the payment threshold. Given the deactivation of the Viewbar and incentive programs, no further surfing credits will accrue. Sweepstakes winners and members who have reached the payment threshold will be paid. Pursuant to the Viewbar Agreement, however, no payments are due for credits beneath the payment threshold. This includes accounts that have been suspended, or placed “on hold,” resulting from breach of the terms of membership.


This may come as a shock to some other PAYS programmes.

Nortels ISP Customer Spying Game

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

It's bad enough some companies use 'Spyware' to investigate your personal details left un-locked/un-secure on your computer when you're using their site. The last thing anybody needs is ISPs doing it as well; do we even have privacy anymore?

The company this week launched its Personal Internet initiative, which includes software and hardware tools that enable ISPs to distribute content by monitoring customers' preferences and locations. But Jason Catlett, president of US advocacy group Junkbusters, said consumers would "resent this intrusion".

"ISPs and telcos should not be monitoring where their customers go [on the web] to build up a profile of them for targeted advertising. They are carriers, like the post office, and have no business looking inside the envelopes to decide where to send more junk," he said.

A spokesman for Nortel argued that ISPs would be unlikely to abuse the capabilities of the products for fear of a backlash. "People can use a knife to slice bread or to stab someone - [the products] are the same thing," he explained.


Apparently the system won't even allow you to opt-out, it's a compulsory measure. While this is not currently a UK based service, it does prove one thing, once you go down the rout of breaking online privacy (R.I.P [UK], Carnivore [USA] etc.) it's impossible to stop abusing it.

It would also seem that laws and governments stand for nothing, certainly in Britain, our arrogant leaders have been unable to see the obvious flaws with R.I.P. It seems they believe there's a big difference between E-Mail and Snail Mail (normal post), one so big that it allows them to break existing confidentiality and privacy laws.

If nobody can put a stop to this then within a few years time ISPs will know everything about our online activity, police will have full and un-regulated access to our lives and none of us will be free. Time to live in Iraq? Anywhere would be better. More @ VNUNet.

More Ex-C&W Customers NTLWorld Woes

By:mark.j @ 9:47:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Further doubt over Ex-Cable&Wireless customers gaining access to NTLWorlds unmetered service has today been cast by CableNews:

From March 1st new ntlworld accounts will only be available as part of the new triple digital starter pack, consisting of:

Digital Cable TV, 1 Telephone line and 1 64k Cable Modem For £16.99 or
Digital Cable TV, 2 Telephone lines and ntlworld for £16.99

One part of this information we are not clear on is whether the cable modem service mentioned will be available in all ntl regions, and how it will be delivered. Recent leaks suggested that ntl plan to release a cable modem service using cable modems embedded in set top boxes, starting in ex-CWC areas where the required DOCSIS-compatible boxes are already in place. This service is slated for launch in the Manchester franchise in April if the rollout goes according to plan, with one of the possible service plans being a 64k service priced at £5 per month. Unlike the higher speed options, the 64k service would be based on a private IP address, limiting the use of some Internet applications such as video conferencing.


Although none of this is official, it would still fit with the general rumour mill that suggests NTL is not going to offer NTLWorld on its own, even to Ex-C&W customers. In other words you'd have to put up with a larger package rather than a dial-up specific solution.

This would also fit with NTLs recently announced price and package reforms in order to improve the company's finance.

News - February 1,2001

WorldCom Merge With UUNet

By:mark.j @ 5:00:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

WorldCom, a formidable force in the Telco market, is to merge with its ISP end, UUNet, in order to form one company. This latest news heightens growing concern that WorldCom will soon engage in a forced layoff of nearly 12,000 staff:

The decision to integrate WorldCom and UUNet, a WorldCom company, was announced internally a week ago and should help focus the activities of both organisations.

As a result of the integration, the new organisation will have a single sales force eliminating what's described as "conflict in the sales arena".

A committee has been set up to oversee the integration which senior management hopes will not be too disruptive.


Quite what effect this will have is not yet known and more details are likely to emerge soon, read the rest @ The Register.

ISPs Question Unlawful Content

By:mark.j @ 3:14:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Question, assuming your an ISP and one of your subscribers posts an offensive item on his or her website, who is responsible? Or how about the same principal but applied to E-Mail, Newsgroups and other online communication mediums?

It's a question the ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) hope to have answered by the end of today:

Two proposals are on the table for discussion. The first, is that ISPs should receive "blanket immunity" when it comes to carrying or hosting defamatory or libellous comments.

The second, called "R4", was devised by Richard Clayton of Scottish telco Thus, and provides a process for ISPs to deal with complaints about offensive content.

If adopted, an ISP would remove offending material when asked to do so, but put it up again if asked by the author. It's hoped such an approach would free ISPs from having to decide whether material was unlawful or not and confirm that they are merely acting as a conduit.


This is of course related to recent cases against such ISPs as Demon Internet, where legal action was taken because offensive material had been posted by one of their subscribers.

ISPs intend to protect themselves from the often-uncontrolled nature of their subscribers. Yes we are a torrid bunch I'm sure, although you can't blame them for wanting to be safe =), more @ The Register.

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