The UK could soon see the launch of up to three-quarters of a million new internet service providers, under a deal between an ISP and a registered charity. Voss Net Plc and Charity Logistics will offer charities registered in the UK the chance to give donors subscription-free internet access, and make extra income from the dial-up call charges. A spokesperson for Charity Logistics told ComputerWire that the venture has registered 750,000 local-rate (0845-prefix) phone numbers for the use of participating charities. George Cook, CEO of Charity Logistics, said: Now every charity in the UK can have an ISP for its members.
Using the service, a registered charity is given custom-branded start-up CDs to distribute to donors, and an individual dial-up number. Donors who use these numbers for internet access pay only the local rate metered call charge. Using the model made popular by Dixons FreeServe, these revenues are then split between the userÆs telephone operator (usually BT) and the ISP/telco at the termination end, in this case Voss. Using this service, some revenues will also be handed to Charity Logistics, and the individual charity concerned.
Users will also get web space, five email addresses, and a help-line charged at the local rate. Voss will host the ISPs and related web sites, leaving the charities with the relatively simple task of maintaining their web sites and distributing start-up CDs. Users of the new ISPs will get a service with less general portal content than other offerings, but the satisfaction of helping their favorite charity at no cost to themselves.
Voss and Charity Logistics have also launched CharityVFree, a free ISP aimed at providing access to the charities themselves. Due to the number of parties requiring a cut of the dial-up revenues, Voss will hope to make its money through the sheer numbers of users likely to sign-up. There is also the likely prospect that, unlike consumer-target free ISPs, CharityVFree will be used during business hours, meaning call charges are up to four times more expensive. BT currently charges 4 pence per minute (approximately 6 cents) during weekday business hours, 1.5 pence after 6pm, and 1 pence at weekends.
The new services were launched in London on Monday by Margaret Moran MP, who sits on the Parliamentary IT Committee. She called the venture a quiet revolution and stated that the internet should be used for public services as well as commercial services. Voss Net’s share-price jumped 7% on the news.
