Another ISP bites the dust

It's been a bad time for unmetered internet access. Not only has AltaVista reneged on its promise, but one of the few companies to offer unlimited unmetered access, Ezesurf, has been placed in the hands of liquidators.

It's been a bad time for unmetered internet access. Not only has AltaVista reneged on its promise, but one of the few companies to offer unlimited unmetered access, Ezesurf, has been placed in the hands of liquidators.

Ezesurf first started offering unlimited and unmetered web access back in September 1999 under the name of 08004U, before launching the Ezesurf service in February this year. However, debts of around £2m have forced it to go into voluntary liquidation.

Meanwhile the Internet Service Provider's (ISP's) Association has criticised telecoms watchdog Oftel for its stance on unmetered access. Oftel is satisfied with the deal BT is offering ISPs under its Surftime initiative, which gives unmetered access to customers of any ISP for a fixed fee.

But under the scheme, ISPs will still be charged per minute for calls made by their users, even though the users can stay online for as long as they wish. The Association claims this makes unmetered access an unworkable business proposition for most ISPs.