The latest reports claim that Tiscali is preparing to announce a £210m acquisition of Pipex's broadband and voice assets. That's some way shy of what chairman Peter Dubens had hoped to get for the ISP (£400m).

Pipex currently has 570,000 UK broadband customers, which encompasses users from several smaller acquisitions (Nildram, Bulldog, Toucan and Freedom2Surf etc.). Customers will now be extremely concerned about the fate of their service, with many not wanting to see Tiscali's own packages, poor support and service forced upon them.

It's expected that further details could be announced later today and most will be hoping that Tiscali intends to maintain the sanctity of existing services. Meanwhile the fate of Pipex's remaining hosting and WiMax ventures etc. remain unclear.