Talk:Freeserve

Freeserve/Wanadoo
Was surprised to find that this page had been redirected to a page on Wanadoo when Freeserve existed as a recognised company and brand in the UK for six years. M0thr4 08:16, 30 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks for doing this. A separate article was requested long ago, but apparently nobody felt like writing it. --Zundark 09:43, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Freeserve anytime
Anyone remember when they first offered this? That 6pm-8am or 6pm-6am bollocks? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.45.139.85 (talk) 17:00, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Date disagreement
There is disagreement between this article and the Wanadoo article over the date on which Freeserve changed its name to Wanadoo. Maybe someone can find a reliable source to check which date is correct. --Zundark 09:43, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I think I can see why confusion has occured. There is a BBC article dated 21st April advising of the name change whilst Companies House  shows the name as changing to Wanadoo UK plc on 28/04/2004. The Companies House is the correct date and I have adjusted the articles accordingly. Alexj2002 12:00, 4 August 2006 (UTC)


 * The actual date rebranding is 28 April 2004. I know it was because I was on the project team!  —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)

BT Was Not an ISP
'By September 2000, Freeserve had more than 2 million active subscribers[3]. This was vastly more than the incumbent telephony provider BT, something that was unusual for a European ISP.'

This is not entirely surprising considering the state of the UK ISP market at the time. BT was a very late entrant into this market, since government regulation prevented them from creating an ISP business until recently.


 * Actually, BT was never prohibited from entering the internet access market by government or regulator (at the time the Office of Telecommunications, or Oftel). By July 2005, I was a customer of BT Internet.  The reason BT was not the first choice was because they were incredibly expensive (charging £15 per month plus the cost of the telephone call, which at the time was 'metered' rather than 'unmetered').  This was why BT had no incentive to introduce ADSL (it was one of the latest of all European incumbents to do so).

Freeserve wasn't the first "free" ISP
Freeserve wasn't the first ISP that offered internet connectivity without a monthly subscription. I believe there were 2 others who launched before Freeserve (afraid I don't know their names). However, Freeserve is certainly the most well-known of those who undertook this approach.


 * The concept was touted around the industry by Peter Wilkinson, before Dixons Stores Group (DSG) accepted it. Many other ISPs in hindsight claim to have thought of the idea independently before this.  History will judge who was correct...  —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)