By Kevin Murphy
A virtual internet service provider calling itself 08004U has launched in the UK, three weeks early and seemingly unprepared to cope with demand. Its web site fell over shortly after its launch last Thursday, and was only restored to functionality yesterday afternoon. Dundee, Scotland-based 08004U, a sole trader that assures us it intends to shortly register as a limited liability company, went live at 9pm on 9/9/99, to take advantage of the marketing potential of the quirk of the calendar. It offers internet dialup via a toll-free 0800 number, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a fixed monthly subscription of 50 pounds ($80). It also has off-peak and weekend service variants.
This is the first attempt by a British ISP to offer unmetered internet access – users of all other ISPs must pay per-minute phone charges at all or some times. An 08004U spokesperson said the service was getting around 37,000 hits every time it came online, more or less simultaneously, and would promptly fall over again. The firm was reluctant to say which ISP is providing the facilities for 08004U but said that one provider is Telinco Plc, an ISP which offers its infrastructure to branding partners wishing to launch virtual ISP services.
The ISP spokesperson admitted the service was suffering performance problems, but said additional dedicated servers are currently being brought in to cope with demand. The firm said it has signed up around 2,000 users since the launch, less than 100 of which have started using the service. Around a third of registrants are signed up to the 24/7 service. It will begin advertising in national internet magazines on September 23.
