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September 25, 2001 - September 30, 2001

News - September 30,2001

WonkyPig In The News

By:mark.j @ 10:04:AM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Paul (Net4Nowt) sent us an interesting scan that had been sent to them of WonkyPig's appearance in Fridays issue of the 'Andover Advertiser' Newspaper.

It's interesting because WonkyPig was supposed to have merged with Rout Unix, however the wording and people in the article suggest nothing more than a name change. No biggie, but interesting.

Please note that the following pictures were cut down and degraded to be viable for web posting.:


Vispa Internet - Service Announcement

By:mark.j @ 9:42:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following some problems with their 0845 (Local Call Rate) lines, Vispa Internet have today issued the following service announcement.:

This is a public service announcement from Vispa:

We would like to inform all Vispa users that due to an ongoing technical issue with our 0845 lines, we have now brought online a secondary supplier to resolve the situation and add additional required capacity to our popular PAYG service.

The new number is 0845 0500 166 (current usernames/passwords are the same).

The number of people joining Vispa's PAYG has also taken us by surprise. Currently accounting for 98% of new signups, it's clear that people understand that unless you use around 70 min a day, then there is no reason to use a Freecall service at the moment, even though a lot of ISP's will try and convince you otherwise.

From our current user base, 85% of customers spend less than 30min online a day, with an average of 21 minutes. Reports from experienced users place our lines amongst the fastest in the UK, mainly because we don't contend our 0845 lines, again a practice that some ISP's use to maximise bandwidth.

News - September 29,2001

BTWireless (o2) Prepares 3G Launch Date

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

Thanks to BTs cost-sharing deal with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile wireless arm, the debt laden Telco is now seeking to have 3G broadband wireless services online for the end of 2002.:

mmO2 expects capital expenditure savings of about £1.3bn over the next 10 years as a result of the deal.

UK resources will be shared between BT Cellnet and network rival One 2 One, owned by Deutsche Telekom. The German network will be run by Deutsche Telekom and mmO2's Viag Interkom.

The two companies are already working together to upgrade masts in the UK, and the first commercial 3G services should be available at the end of 2002.


The VNUNet item notes that it could still be 2007 before 3G services can fully cover the UK, kind of like the way BT deals with the rollout for R/ADSL services. Give every new technology a five-year gap; we'll be interested to see how other operators cope.

News - September 28,2001

PlusNET Launch Cheap Unmetered

By:mark.j @ 3:37:PM - Comments (9) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

PlusNET have kindly issued us with the full press release for the latest addition to their unmetered dialup ISP services, a 24/7 package for just £6.99 per month?

As usual all is not quite what it seems, but that doesn't mean to say it's a bad deal; note that some ‘chit-chat’ parts of the following press release have been cut due to size.:

Unmetered Internet for only £6.99 - surely some mistake?

PlusNet redefines the cost of quality Internet access.


(Friday 28th September. Sheffield, UK) In something of a surprising move, PlusNet, one of the UK's most popular Internet Service Providers, have streamlined their product range, today announcing what surely must be the best-value unmetered access package around. Connect Lite User offers access to the Internet, at whatever time of the day, for only £6.99 a month, with absolutely no call charges to pay!

"Complete with a free .co.uk domain name of your own, unlimited e-mail addresses, 250MB of web space and all the tools you need to get the most of the opportunities the Internet gives you, Connect Lite User makes an ideal starting point for the home user," stated Alistair Wyse, Product and Services Director for PlusNet. "Today's launch of Connect Lite User adds a budget option to our unmetered range that makes local-rate 0845 dialup look increasingly dated".

Indeed, for anyone with a BT telephone line, PlusNet's Connect range offers Internet access at prices far below that obtained by using more traditional, 'free' 0845 services. Using FRIACO, (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) the new generation of fixed-cost Internet access solutions for the UK, PlusNet's Connect range is based upon the technical concept of contention - the idea that the customer shares his or her modem port with a specified number of other subscribers.

"The idea of contention lies at the heart of our unmetered products," explained Wyse. "It means that we are able to offer a clear and fair package to our customers. From the moment you sign up with PlusNet, you know where you stand. For example, Connect Lite User offers a 20:1 modem ratio. We give you a fair usage of 80 hours a month unmetered access, for only £6.99. That works out at an astonishing 9p per hour. Compare that with even cheap rate 0845 access and you can see there's no comparison."

Doesn't this mean then that customers are cut off after they've used their quota?

"Not at all," stated Wyse, "Should a user use above their 'fair use' we simply inform them of the fact via e-mail. We make it easy for anyone to upgrade their Connect account if they find they are using more hours than they expected."

Get yourself Connected today, at http://www.plus.net


Practically speaking, there are very few ISPs offering ‘flexible hours’ 24/7 unmetered and PlusNET’s new option is certainly ideal for light usage.

However make no mistake, it’s ONLY good for light usage. Multiply by 2 and you get a more recognised pricing structure with less hours than some ISPs might allow for. It’s a good package for those it’s intended to be used by.

Global Broadband Satellite Network

By:mark.j @ 3:21:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The UK based technology firm/group, Logica, has managed to win a £6,000,000 contract to aid Immarsat in the development of a global broadband Satellite ISP service!:

Inmarsat, which already operates a satellite mobile phone network that covers most of the globe, plans to launch the high-speed service by 2004. It will be called the Broadband Global Area Network (B-GAN), and will support data speeds of up to 432 kbit/sec. The network will use two satellites, and Inmarsat is targeting companies who operate in areas without reliable high-speed Internet connections.

Logica has been hired to develop a "satellite interface" -- technology that will link the B-GAN to terrestrial networks. "This critical component supports the transfer of multimedia traffic streams between the satellites and the core network," said Logica in a statement.


The ZDNet item shows that very little is known about the network and that's not surprising since it's due to go live by 2004 and is still in physical development.

By 2004 even R/ADSL services should be pretty widespread and so it'll have to offer a price + service advantage or face failure, something most Satellite ISPs find difficult to do.

ISP Review Site Update - Downtime

By:mark.j @ 12:45:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Sorry for the downtime experienced during the last 4-6hours or so, for some reason one of the hosts 'Name Servers' was finding it hard to validate its own IP. Consequently our DNS information (required for the domain) vanished along with it.

Thankfully we're back online now and don't expect to see any further problems.

Ex-Demon Internet Subscriber Rebels

By:mark.j @ 12:41:PM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to Andrew.F for pointing us in the direction of an unhappy company, one which posted up its less than satisfactory experiences of Demon Internet (ISP).

Smoothwall is a secure operating system that converts a redundant PC / workstation / fileserver / rackmount device into a firewall and VPN gateway. However they're opinions on Demon Internet don't make the ISP look too good.:

A lot of the SmoothWall staff and development staff have subscribed for lines to Demon and have been unable to do anything. We have been talking to sometimes polite and on the whole what we would describe as "muppet technical staff" (Demon do have SOME good staff on the helpdesk, but the majority are not well trained and simply have no call escalation experience or basic rudimentary technical ability) day after day trying to get resolution.

Demon haven't returned our calls, and tonight's muppet on the phone put me on hold 3 times. I am now at a stage where this is having an effect on my work, and my staff's work, and I would recommend any business looking to rollout SmoothWall with ISDN and ADSL to look elsewhere.

Over 3m people read this website so I'd recommend you ALL to go elsewhere and avoid signing up with Demon. The service is simply not fit for business.

Maybe someone at Demon will read this and realise that some of us do get a fair degree of public attention, and with 13,500+ users in Britain alone SmoothWall reflects a fair degree of public opinion. It's NOT just dial up users - we've spoken to 5 Demon ADSL customers in 2 weeks who are "coping" with major downtime and lack of connectivity.


You can read the full article at the above link, although we'd like to hear from any other people having similar problems.

WonkyPig Unmetered Service Update

By:mark.j @ 12:18:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The WonkyPig unmetered dialup ISP sent us the following service update this morning.:

Service Updates

New Telephone Operation Hours

Many of our customers have asked for us to be available on the phone before 9am, so we have changed our telephone operation hours to: [ 8:30am to 7pm Monday to Friday ]

New Customer Services Number
Please make a note of our new number: 0870 758 0316 and our fax is: 0870 831 8385

Tiscali Slip-up Disconnects Customers

By:mark.j @ 12:05:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if a neglected bill payment on the part of Tiscali was the cause for many of their leased-line business customers being disconnected.:

One insider said the lines were down for at least six hours and that Tiscali was unaware of the problem until angry customers began phoning up to complain.

In a grovelling statement the ISP said: "Tiscali UK would like to sincerely apologise to the leased line customers for any disruption they may have experienced recently to their services.

"The integration of World Online, Liberty Surf and LineOne inevitably necessitates a transitional period for Tiscali UK. Whilst the company goes through intensive change, systems, processes and procedures have to be identified and rationalised across all acquisitions."


Check in with The Register for the rest, not such good news for an ISP that’s only just consolidated its UK brand.

Amstrad Introduce New e-m@iler

By:mark.j @ 12:04:PM - Comments (10) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Those familiar with Amstrad may recognise the ‘e-mailer’, a telephone / answering / e-mail / web surfing device that does just what you’d expect. Sadly the first version never took off despite being quite attractive and functional, much of this was put down to the hidden 12ppm (pence per minute) charges for the online services.

In an effort to reach their goal of 1,000,000 shipped units by next summer (2002), Amstrad are now set to launch an updated version of the device, which they hope will be more attractive.:

The product, an enhanced version of the device that hit the shops last year, will go on sale before June 2002. Amstrad announced the impending launch of the new product in its financial results for the year to 30 June 2001. Few details are available at this stage about the new e-m@iler, and Amstrad spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.

The original e-m@iler has a qwerty keyboard and small high-resolution screen, and allows users to send and receive emails, text messages, faxes and digital pictures. E-m@iler users are charged 12p every time they use the device to send or retrieve email. It was launched across the UK in September 2000 by Amserve -- a partnership between Amstrad and high street retailer Dixons.

According to a company statement the product will be "cosmetically enhanced, and will include many new features."


The ZDNet item points out that another likely reason for the previous failure to sell enough units was because most people already have a PC. This somewhat tallies with what we’ve said about the 12p charge, it’d be nice to have an E-Mailer, but why bother when you can use unmetered on your PC.

To be honest we’d be more than happy to own one should the ridiculous 12ppm charge be removed (0845 please!) or hacked out, imagine being able to use your unmetered ISP with it =). The new device is expected to cost the same as the existing one, £79.99.

Ireland Sees xDSL Rollout Delays

By:mark.j @ 12:03:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Broadband ADSL services have only just reached the shores of Ireland and already the Irish regulator (Etain Doyle) is forcing delays into the mechanics, but apparently with good reason.

The regulator wishes to make sure that Eircom’s (Irish Telco / BT) wholesale pricing is competitive, something that had previously been questioned.:

Yesterday, Telecoms Regulator Etain Doyle asked incumbent telco eircom to submit revised wholesale pricing proposals and to provide evidence that their pricing proposals did not breach competition laws.

Despite earlier negotiations between the Office of the Director of the Telecommunications Regulator (ODTR) and eircom, the regulator wants to see proof that the proposed wholesale prices are offered on a "cost oriented and non-discriminatory basis".

The result is that eircom's i-stream ADSL service - which was due to be launched in the next couple of days - is likely to be delayed for at least three weeks since.


As you’d expect The Register reports that various campaign groups haven’t been best pleased, claiming that it’s consumers who loose out. Of course should their be a reduction in wholesale prices then they might have to eat those words, hopefully the regulator knows what it’s doing.

News - September 27,2001

blueyonder broadband

By:Dan @ 4:00:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Heres the full press release for the launch of the new blueyonder broadband site:

Telewest announced today the launch of http://broadband.blueyonder.co.uk - a new generation of web site delivering dedicated broadband content and services to its high-speed internet customers.

The site will enhance the existing blueyonder broadband service by combining broadband-specific content with high-speed internet access, for the first time.

Telewest has carried out extensive research with its blueyonder broadband customers and it is their feedback which has formed the basis of the site.

Telewest is with working with several major partners to provide customers with the best broadband content available, in one convenient place. This will significantly enhance the experience that broadband internet access offers. Combining Telewest’s broadband cable network with the editorial expertise of its content division, the site focuses on games, entertainment, music and local content and services (see attached fact sheet).

Relevant applications and tools will compliment these four areas of content, including a broadband-orientated search engine, news groups, chat, streaming radio and instant email.

Philip Jansen, managing director of Telewest’s consumer division, said: “High-speed, broadband internet access offers consumers many unique and exciting benefits that dial-up services cannot. Our continual dialogue with blueyonder broadband customers has ensured the site has been shaped by their specific needs and desires. Now our customers can enjoy the full benefits of the broadband world at the click of a mouse.

The broadband site will be supported by a dedicated editorial team, which will develop and commission its own content for the site. Exclusive, interactive features relevant to the content will include imbedded streaming video and be integrated with news groups and chat rooms. Customer feedback will be used to continuously influence the look and content of the site.

David Docherty, managing director of broadband content at Telewest, added: “The blueyonder site will give our customers easy access to the growing world of broadband content and services. It will also provide specialised applications, such as an advanced search engine to guide people to web sites offering the benefits of broadband."

We will generate a real community feel to the site that will make broadband internet approachable, exciting and part of people’s everyday life. Many consumers are becoming aware of the benefits of broadband but, until now, have not been able to enjoy its full potential. Telewest is leading the way by opening people’s eyes to the simple ways in which broadband can enrich their internet experience.

The launch of broadband.blueyonder.co.uk represents the next phase in Telewest’s broadband strategy. Telewest launched the UK’s first broadband internet service for consumers and the addition of broadband content strengthens the company’s position as the leading broadband provider.


If you cannot access it try http://mpgcms.blueyonder.co.uk. Also note the gaming part of it, run by a lot of the old wireplay staff, it's FREE for a month and then either £6.50 or £10.00 (although you can still access some servers for FREE).

BTInternet Kicks 200 Customers

By:mark.j @ 3:41:PM - Comments (6) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

According to news posted around the Internet and on our forums, an estimated 200 customers have now been booted from BTInternet's (BTOpenworld) unmetered AnyTime service.

As we mentioned barely a day ago this is related to those individuals using 'stay-alive' software to remain connected or simply hanging around in chat rooms etc. doing nothing while online.

We've questioned this as a possible cover for other reasons given BTO/BTI's current 'honesty' rating. We’ll soon be interviewing the group and will be sure to bring some of the recent criticisms to their attention.

Please note that if you have any questions for BTInternet (BTOpenworld) services then you can submit them to be added into our interview HERE.

Affinity Losses Blamed On Unmetered

By:mark.j @ 3:33:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Affinity, the popular VISP for several UK ISPs, has today managed to beat off competition and secure the rights to help re-launch WHSmiths ISP service. Sadly not all of today’s news has been good.

Despite a sharp increase in turnover, Affinity (popular unmetered VISP) has still managed to report widening losses, which it partly blames on a slower than expected unmetered take-up.:

In a statement, chairman Terry Plummer said: "Despite a challenging economic environment, the board are delighted to report demand for Affinity's services is continuing to grow at a higher than predicted rate."

Affinity had expected strong demand for unmetered packages following the launch of an unmetered (FRIACO) narrowband service. And the company invested heavily in rolling out the product. But so far, it has failed to see any sizeable take-up, and consequently, revenues for its Internet division were flat in the first half.

Affinity, a white-label ISP for customers including WHSmith Online and the Prudential, admitted that it failed to meet its Q1 forecast that 25 per cent of its customers would migrate to a FRIACO-based service but remains hopeful this will improve later this year. When it does, Affinity claims margins will improve for its Internet business.


The Register reminds us of the cash reserves the company has from a recent injection of cash by Powergen, so there's still some flexibility and room to manoeuvre.

Typically with the Internet continually growing in size now is a good time to have your hands in with several ISPs. Having said that we'd predict a slowdown and possible eventual saturation for the not so distant future. There are only so many customers you can have.

Clara.net Make Silly Upgrade Mistake

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

Customers on the popular Clara.net ISP being asked to upgrade their FT Anytime package(s), due to usage, have come across a small problem.

It would seem as if the ISP has neglected to design the 'Account Upgrade' system to work in areas where they've filled capacity.

In other words many of those already on CN's FTAT package and trying to upgrade to the business option are finding 'Availability' errors in their way, despite being part of the existing capacity for the same service (home FTAT).

Typically we'd suggested E-Mailing Clara.net directly should this be a problem, at least until they use some intelligence and design the system to SWITCH customers rather than treat them as new subscribers.

WonkyPig Unmetered Service Update

By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The unmetered dialup ISP, WonkyPig, has made yet another service update and also introduced its planned off-peak package and another special offer.:

Wonkypig WAN
Customers living within 10 miles of Wonkypig can experience 10mb per second wireless internet connection using the latest technology for £20 per month and a one off installation fee yet to be agreed. . This service is currently being beta tested and will be available in the SP10 Postcode From October 2001.

Just Dial UP
We have been asked to create a package just giving freephone dialup access without all the other wonkypig features, so we are now working on wonkypig just dial, available in a few days.

Special Offer
26th & 27th September Only


We are offering a massive £65 saving on monthly billing if you order your wonkypig account today:

Simply pay £55 by credit or debit card and we will create your account within 48 hours.


It's not made clear exactly what packages the special offer applies to, although we'd assume it's all of them since they don't state any different. Please be aware, we’d advise the use of sunglasses when visiting the WP site to avoid eyestrain with the bright pink =).

Clara.net Accused Of Software Piracy

By:mark.j @ 9:52:AM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In a strange twist, one of the UKs most popular ISPs has been accused of software piracy by the 'Business Software Alliance', whom is now opting to take legal action over the matter. Interestingly Clara.net isn't the only group involved, four others have also been named.:

The Alliance said it has settled similar claims against another five organisations for more than £125,000.

The BSA's remit is to stamp out unauthorised use of software, but the tactics that organisations like the BSA uses -- including the use of the term 'piracy' -- are unpopular in some quarters. Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, which developed the GNU Public Licence used by Linux and many other open source software products, has been highly critical of such organisations. "The term 'piracy' is for propaganda," Stallman told a conference on content ownership in Cambridge earlier this year. "They are trying to persuade people that copying software is the moral equivalent of attacking a ship."


The ZDNet item gives next to no detail on the reasons for the action and even shows Clara.net as claiming not to have been made aware of the impending legal action against it.

Toshiba Slows EU 3G Rollout

By:mark.j @ 9:46:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Toshiba isn't known for its mobile phone handsets, yet they do still make some good models. Sadly this also makes them a target when things go wrong in the market, as seems to be the case here.

Sadly the group has opted to slow the development of its future 3G broadband wireless technologies because of the economic crisis.

While it'll still work at full steam to help the Japanese market, EU consumers may have to wait until early 2003 before seeing extra options from Toshiba.

Orange Delays GPRS Service

By:mark.j @ 9:39:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The popular mobile phone operator, Orange, had planned to launch its consumer Internet/Data GPRS services around now, sadly it now looks to have been delayed.

A delay in handsets and the fact that Orange has been pleased with their own HSCSD (high-speed circuit switched data) service are two possible reasons for the delay.

Ultimately the service is now expected to surface in roughly three months time, just before Christmas. Whether or not Santa will be carrying any of their phones remains to be seen.

NTLs Community Education Service

By:mark.j @ 9:32:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if NTL has become the latest provider keen to step on the 'child-friendly' ISP bandwagon and offer a specially filtered service with education facilities. DigitalSpy had the following to say.:

The Community Intranet is a partnership between ntl and Local Education Authorities across the UK. According to the cable giant, it "allows pupils, teachers and parents to work together and share and exchange information in a virtual classroom – safe from the dangers of the public internet."

It connects schools, homes and other organisations on a secure private network, that is managed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by ntl. ntl has put forward applications for the intranet system, including:

- Pupils, teachers and parents sharing and exchanging information online
- Lessons via videoconferencing for pupils unable to attend class
- Parents being able to check on school work, reports and test results online
- Schools working on multimedia projects alongside local organisations (businesses, libraries, museums etc)


Of course most children might see the service as a problem =), it's bad enough facing education all day at school and now they come home to it as well. Certainly the words “Hurray more learning!!” aren’t likely to be among the ones they use after finding out their devious parents scheme.

News - September 26,2001

OneTel.Net Lowers Unmetered Charge

By:mark.j @ 4:09:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Several readers have noticed that OneTel.Net are to reduce the cost of their very recently introduced unmetered package to £12.99 per month.:

OneTel.Net is very pleased to announce that the Unlimited Internet Hours Plan is now even better!

From 1st September 2001, the £14.99 per month charge will be reduced to just £12.99.

Nothing else about the service will change. You will still be able to enjoy unlimited Internet access, 3 FREE e-mail addresses and 10MB of FREE personal web space with no connection fees.

3G Inhibits Data Traffic Through Cost

By:mark.j @ 3:58:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Operators look set to stifle the uptake of next generation 3G/UTMS broadband wireless mobile phones by inhibiting data transmissions (Internet) through high costs.:

The initial cost of data calls over third-generation (3G) networks will be kept high to inhibit traffic as operators try to protect their networks from capacity problems.

Former network designer Eirwen Nichols, now principal consultant at analyst Ovum, said the first phase of services would concentrate on voice to relieve the pressure on congested 2G networks. "They won't want many data users to begin with," she said.


More @ VNUNet.

Government Push For Cheaper R/ADSL

By:mark.j @ 3:53:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following on from yesterday’s comments by the government’s new eCommerce minister, Douglas Alexander, today he continued the pressure for cheaper broadband R/ADSL services and a faster rollout.

Not that it'll do much good, BT only recently cut prices for R/ADSL services and isn't likely to do it again anytime soon.:

BT Wholesale is the part of the company that sells broadband capacity to its retail arm, BTopenworld, as well as to rival ISPs. It has recently announced cuts in the monthly cost of ADSL, as well as a drop in the price of installation. But Alexander wants to see the telco go further.

Critics of BT have blamed the company for the fact that ADSL is too expensive, and only available in some parts of the UK. The company has recently announced technology that increases the distance over which an ADSL-enabled local exchange can offer broadband services -- which means that 60 percent of all households could now in theory receive broadband.


ZDNet reports that Mr.Alexander would also like to see the lowering of prices surrounding older technologies, such as ISDN, although that specific tech wasn't referred to.

None of this is likely to do much good, BT is famous for being one of the most stubborn Telco's in existence and they're not likely to waver through political pressure.

Madasafish Hit By Nimda Worm

By:mark.j @ 2:44:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if the popular Brightview owned unmetered ISP, Madasafish, has become the latest victim of the infamous Nimda Internet Worm (Virus).

Thankfully the ISP is now adamant that they've got things under control, although the website is still difficult to access.:

Important Service Announcement!

26th September 2001 9:00am - We are aware that some users may be experiencing e-mail difficulties. We are currently working to resolve this issue. A small number of users may also be experiencing some difficulties in accessing the Madasafish site today. This is due to the Nimda virus. If you have sent an e-mail to the Madasafish support team within the last 36 hours and are still awaiting a response, then please re-send the e-mail. This is necessary to protect our servers. We are now protected against this virus, and would like to thankyou for your patience.

We will notify you of any change regarding the service via this web page. If you have any comments for the Management Team please e-mail us at support@madasafish.com. Technical Support is available by dialling 08707 45 48 28.

The Madasafish Team.

Clara.net On Unmetered Suspensions

By:mark.j @ 10:16:AM - Comments (10) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Late last week we posted a news item regarding how Clara.net were warning some customers of their usage and asking them to either change, upgrade to the business offer or face being booted altogether.

After several days delay we've finally got a response from Nicci Chandler, Clara's Marketing Manager.:

The Freetime Anytime service is promoted as a 10:1 contended service. We have had a few people using the service for 24 hours a day for a whole month, which is obviously affecting the level of service for other customers.

In order to protect the level of service for the majority of our customers we have chosen to email the heaviest users, who are using the service on average more than 120 hours per month (which is significantly higher than a 10:1 user to modem ratio would normally suggest), and asked them to upgrade to a service more appropriate to their requirements.


It's important to note that Clara.net refers to 120 hours per month as an average and not a suggested limit. From our own experiences and that of people we know, generally Clara.net appear no less limited than the likes of Freeserve or even Vispa (11-10hours per day = good).

On the other hand Clara.net's lack of a cut off, even a higher one (5/6hourly etc.) makes it an ISP vulnerable to abuse. We'd have to agree that anybody staying connected nearly non-stop for a full month (possible on clara.net) is seriously abusing the offer.

We've yet to see a response from some of the customers concerned to see how this pans out with their experiences, we’ll keep an eye on the usual forum.

Xantic Broadband Satellite - Update

By:mark.j @ 9:58:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Last week we announced the launch of Xantic's new home/residential broadband Satellite offer to go along with their existing business package.

At the time we criticised their confusing pricing and asked whether they could clarify a few things, the following is the clarification we asked for.:

Here's an explaination of our Home Edition package. Basically, users can sign-up online for 40 euros/month or £25 and get 2000 Megabytes of Internet capacity. Bandwidth speeds will vary between 128kbps to 400 kbps, as service performance can be reduced by contention in usuage times.

After the initial launch of our Professional Edition, we received a lot of requests for similiar home version of this service. This is why we created the Home Edition of this service, allowing users to surf the net during off-peak hours. We feel that we have addressed two long neglected customer groups with our solutions.

I hope I have clarified our pricing policy of this service. The pricing of the Home Edition may seem steep at first glance, but considering that Xantic offers a high quality service, especially compared to what is available on the market today. Furthermore, customers can cancel at any time and are not tied to an annual contract.


Until the plug was pulled the likes of StarSpeeder / SkyStorm proved that such a service could be offered without limit for a fraction of the price.

Having said that Xantic is somewhat alone in the market, although all this is set to change come early 2002 with the introduction of Two-Way digital Satellite broadband ISPs from the likes of Tiscali among others (Est. £50 per month).

BTOpenworld Drops Content - Update

By:mark.j @ 9:49:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've already reported on BTOpenworld's plans to finish off their portal services and much of the content that goes with it, although some further comments from BTOpenworld have recently surface.:

Duncan Ingram, senior vice president at BT Openworld, said that the internet service provider (ISP) would reinvent itself as a "launchpad for the internet". He rejected the theory that owning the customer was as important as controlling the conduit.

"The only person who owns the customer is the customer," he said. "Our customers told us they don't like the walled content model. The walled garden has become a prison garden, and we've climbed out of it," said Ingram. "There are specialist providers out there for both businesses and consumers."

Graham Fisher, senior analyst at Bloor Research, said that BT Openworld was attempting to focus on its core competencies. "Maybe it leapt too far forward too soon. Concentrating on access protects their core business," he explained, adding that this was the time for BT Openworld to consolidate its ADSL business.


More @ VNUNet.

ASA - BTInternet NOT 'fast and reliable'

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

It's finally happened, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has dropped the hat on BTInternets advertising campaign, which was something brought further into question following the recent Watchdog findings.

Apparently the ASA is forcing BTI to drop its claim of being able to offer "a fast, reliable service", at least until they can prove otherwise and the technical problems are ironed out.:

The ASA upheld complaints against the BTinternet Anytime service that its claim of being a fast and reliable ISP was misleading because customers were not always able to immediately connect – or indeed connect at all.

The BTinternet anytime package, advertised on the company’s banner ads, attracted three complaints that its ads were misleading.

BT claimed problems occurred during busy periods due to insufficient routers. It said it was working with its BT Ignite division to resolve the problem and make more routers available. However, in light of the problems, BT has pulled the slogan from its banner ads indefinitely.


The netimperative.com item heralds another victory for consumers over corporate might and a number of other ISPs could soon find themselves being investigated for similar things.

BTInternet claims the ruling came at a time when the networking problems were out of their hands, no explanation for why this would be the case was given.

Fujitsu USB R/ADSL Modem Update

By:mark.j @ 9:35:AM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

ADSLGuide let us know of a small update to yesterdays item that looked at how BTWholesale would soon start distributing Fujitsu USB R/ADSL modems next to Alcatel ones.

In the update they highlight several possible models that could be used for the new distributions, as follows:

FDX305
FDX310

Oftels Mobile Phone Market Review

By:mark.j @ 9:23:AM - Comments (2) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As expected Oftel has today published the conclusions to its review of the mobile telecommunications market and its review of the need for controls on wholesale charges for calls to mobile phones.

Since this isn't directly related then we'll only post the small parts people might find interesting.:

The Oftel review of the mobile market found increasing competition. Since January 1999, the cost of mobile telephony has fallen by around 30 per cent. Consumer satisfaction with mobile services remains high at over 90 per cent.

The report goes on to criticise BT and Vodafone as being somewhat uncompetitive.:

On the other hand, our review found that Vodafone and BT Cellnet continue to price calls on average at levels higher than would be seen in a truly competitive marketplace.

This means I cannot yet conclude that the mobile market is effectively competitive. Therefore the designation under EC Directives of Vodafone and BT Cellnet as operators with significant market power will remain in place.


The report ends on a lighter note, although also covers issues such as global access charges (too high) and the locking of handsets making it more difficult for people to change networks.:

Consumers on all four networks should benefit from these reduced costs. I therefore propose to continue with a charge control of RPI – 12 per cent for the next four years that applies to all four mobile operators. There will be no initial step change.

Read the full shebang HERE and note that none of this is set to apply for 3G broadband wireless networks. It’s a pity Oftel didn’t come up with a clever way to make mobile data/Internet services more attractive.

News - September 25,2001

New ISP/Charity - CharityDAYS

By:mark.j @ 4:18:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

There aren't many charity ISPs in the UK and those that do exist have had a hard time of things following recent market changes.

The latest 'Donate as you surf' style provider to announce itself is CharityDAYS. Full press release follows.:

Charitydays.net, which stands for Donate As You Surf, launches 22nd October and aims to raise more than £1million for UK charities in its first year. The new ISP which guarantees to give 60% of its telephone and subscriptions revenues to charities is setting its stall out to be one of the largest ISP’s in the UK.

Phil Price, director of CharityDays said. "There have been several charity ISP’s come and go or simply just fail to actually give any decent sums of money away. CharityDays has been some twelve months in planning and we have been watching the market very carefully. We understood right from the offset that to actually get consumers to change to a charity ISP the service had to be at least as good, if not better than the other top ISP’s. Therefore, we have invested a great deal of time making sure we partnered with the right providers and also that the products we offer are second to none"

"CharityDays raises money for charities in several ways. First of all, any charity can register with the service and then promote it to their supporters. They are sent promotional packs and promotional materials to aid them with the process. Once their supporters sign up to the service, they start earning money straight away. Secondly, we will attract users to the service through advertisements and general articles such as this one. These users have the option of donating their money to either a list of charities who have already registered or to choose certain categories of charities such as children, animals, homeless etc which will then be split across some of the UK’s major charities."

Charitydays intends to offer a vast array of packages to both residential and business users, all with the added incentive of giving money to good causes at no expense to the user.

The portal at www.charitydays.net has been designed to allow ease of change and also to allow users the ability to pole e-mail from existing accounts in one go. The service has many added features in particular to the Internet savvy and webmasters out there for no extra cost, including access to numerous ASP products too.

Standard features include online diary and contact management tools, total user configuration and also web based e-mail. Unmetered and ADSL accounts will be available to charitydays users within the first few months.


Whether the ISP itself is any good or how the unmetered and broadband R/ADSL side of services will pan out remains to be seen. We should know more come 22nd October 2001.

BTOpenworld Send Out E-Mail Viruses

By:mark.j @ 4:00:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Ever keen to give something back to their customers, it looks as if BTOpenworld could've been unwittingly sending out E-Mail viruses to some customers.:

A number of readers contacted vnunet.com and started up a discussion thread on ADSLguide.org.uk, where it emerged that emails appearing to originate from BT Openworld's billing address were infected with the BadTrans Windows virus.

The virus appeared to be mailing itself to users who had sent emails to billing@btopenworld.com in the past few months. Emails intercepted by MessageLabs' antivirus scanning service confirmed that the email headers were from BTOpenworld.com.

BadTrans is a mass mailing virus and also drops a Trojan onto any machines it infects. It was discovered back in April and is protected against by most antivirus software.


The VNUNet item states that BTOpenworld will be looking into the issue, although it's apparently the first they've heard of it.

Some of the more recent reports we've seen show that BTO have now started apologising for the issue, not that it'll help those already infected.

USA To Label Hackers As Terrorists

By:mark.j @ 3:53:PM - Comments (4) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

In what's likely to cause shockwaves in the script kiddie camp, the USA could soon become the first country to make hacking a Terrorist offence.:

US Attorney General John Ashcroft went to Capitol Hill Monday afternoon to sell the Bush Administration's new slew of anti-terror laws to the House Judiciary Committee.

Among the many provisions to make the entire US populace an Enemy of the State and therefore subject to suspicion were two which nearly gave me a stroke: one positively Nazi innovation enabling the indefinite detention of suspicious aliens with a prohibition on judicial review so no judge can stop the insanity (which proves that they know it's unconstitutional); and one which would elevate hacking to the level of a terrorist act and invoke a mandatory life sentence.

The old Hamre/Clark dream of preemptively prosecuting the 'Electronic Pearl Harbor' is alive and well in the hands of Bush's advisors.


Only a small amount is known about the early draft and it has yet to pass through the usual channels, although it's important not to throw things out of proportion. Governments expect to see the upper and lower scale of all suggestions; it's fairly standard practice.

On the other hand a lot of people, especially those whom have seen their computer systems go down the drain because of such infections, would probably be only too willing to back the idea. Another case of what goes around comes around? There's more @ The Register.

UK Commit To Bridging Digital Divide

By:mark.j @ 3:43:PM - Comments (0) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Despite recent setbacks and problems the governments eCommerce Minister, Douglas Alexander, has finally set out his plans for bridging the UKs digital divide.:

For these reasons, our vision for a socially just and opportunity rich society means we have and will continue to act to bridge the digital divide. An even distribution of the social and economic opportunities provided by advancing technologies, unless addressed, would restrict opportunity and entrench existing inequalities.

That is why we are investing more that £200 million in a network of 6000 UK online centres in communities across the country where people can surf the Internet and get advice and training whilst doing it. We are connecting all public libraries as well - the biggest single investment in the UK libraries network since it was created in the middle of the 19th Century.

It is also why we are providing low-income families with low cost, recycled PCs and piloting initiatives to wire up all of the homes in some of the poorer communities in the country.


If the rest is of interest to you then pop along to read the full article @ VNUNet.

BTInternet Starts Kicking Customers

By:mark.j @ 10:12:AM - Comments (80) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's important not to get this confused with the other issues BTInternet have been under fire for recently. This one relates to being online and not actually doing anything 'active' with that time (hanging around on IRC channels / stay-alive software etc.).

As many may remember BTInternet have issued two warnings, one per month, on this subject. Sadly the time is finally up and a friend from NinjaMicros was kind enough to show us the E-Mail they received.:

Dear Customer

We refer to our previous emails regarding your BTinternet Anytime account.

Our records show that your account still continues to maintain an internet connection whilst the service is not being used.

As advised, it is a condition of BTinternet Anytime that customers are not permitted to use their accounts in this manner (please refer to paragraph 7.4 of the BTinternet terms and conditions).

It is with regret that we advise you that your account will be terminated with effect from 27th September 2001.

Yours sincerely

BTinternet Customer Services


Typically we'd side with BTI on this one issue because the use of stay-alive software or hanging around 'idle' in chat channels doing nothing is indeed unfair to other users. Unmetered Internet access simply isn't mature or robust enough to cope.

Despite this the user concerned, Karen, denies BTIs conclusions and has issued the following reply, casting doubt over BTIs reasons.:

That is absolute poppycock... I have been sat at my pc whenever my net connection was up since your last warning! And, furthermore, I have sent you two emails that you have not had the decency to reply to.

If you terminate my account on September 27th I shall have no alternative but to make legal application against you. I look forward to receiving replies to my email, and remain.

After having time to digest your rather "off the cuff" termination email I shall respond more fully in the next day or two.


Could BTInternet be using underhand means to dispose of unwanted customers for an as yet undetermined reason? It wouldn't surprise us given the information recently brought to light by BBCs Watchdog. Discussion on this matter is welcome in our BTInternet forum (unmetered ISP forum listings).

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