Despite a cynical press reception, and the hopes of rival internet service providers, CallNet0800, the first subscription-free toll-free net access service in the UK (and probably the world) appears to work. The ISP behind the service reckons its web site has received 12.5 million page impressions since the service launched on 1 November, making it the number four site in the UK after the BBC, Yahoo! and MSN – ahead of, notably, main rival Freeserve Plc.
The service, run by Canadian telco North American Gateway Ltd and UK ISP World CallNet Inc, hopes to subsidize its service by persuading users to use its long-distance voice telephony service, although there are no obligations to do so. The free-phone registration line has been clogged since launch, with people complaining bitterly that getting signed up is too difficult. Newspaper reports that the busy tones users were receiving were on the dialup number have proved erroneous, with many users reporting acceptable access and availability levels.
Suspicions of smoke and mirrors, naturally, are still rife. Few believe that the service can be subsidized by voice telephony revenues alone, with each minute of connectivity unlikely to cost the ISP much less than 1 pence. Credit card details must be parted with in order to sign up, as are details of usual voice telephony usage, which is making some users twitch. Spokespeople for the company are under the impression that billing for the voice telephony service is conducted in the usual manner via British Telecommunications Plc, although this is not the case. The service is still in its fetal stage, and it remains to be seen how it will cope with the expected deluge of users once the registration process is complete. Freeserve, it seems, will have its hands full.
