The Free ISP Collapse
Soon after AltaVista's announcement to set up a subscription-based ISP with unlimited access via an 0800 number, many small ISPs sprung up to offer the same service. AltaVista later realised that the business model wasn't really workable, so didn't bother. One by one the other ISPs have gone the same way, with subscription prices rising or free phone numbers disappearing altogether.
The Last Survivor
RedHotAnt was one of the last (if not the last) surviving independent ISPs offering a freephone access number to personal and business users. It had to raise it's prices and also had a 3 hour cut-off, but was still cheaper than ISPs using BT's SurfTime package. This was excellent, as it allowed me to hop on and off the Internet whenever I wanted to.
This is no longer possible now. Unfortunately, the telcoms provider who supports RedHotAnt (MCI Worldcom I think) has decided that it can no longer provide the free access number. In doing so they've effectively killed off RHA - we'll all have to switch to BT's SurfTime package.
BT SurfTime
The BT SurfTime package is BT's way of giving people unmetered Internet calls, while still pricing it high enough to discourage anyone new from getting Internet access. BT directly is responsible for Britain being so far behind the US in terms of Internet take-up - SurfTime goes some way to correct that, but no quite far enough.
Price Comparison
The trouble with BT SurfTime is that it doesn't cover the ISP costs as well. You have to pay an ISP additional money to get Internet access.
SurfTime Tariff
Pricing for the SurfTime Tariff is as follows:
| Free Access Time | Cost per Month | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Evenings & Weekends Only | £5.99 | £71.88 |
| 24/7 | £19.99 | £239.88 |
£71.88 a year for free evening and weekend Internet calls is quite reasonable - but that's only to let you make free calls. You then need to take into account ISP charges. The cheapest of these is an additional £4 per month (offered by BT). However, there is an extra bonus - during the daytime, calls to SurfTime numbers are only charged at 1p per minute.
Yes, We Know That's Expensive
Like most of the people who've seen the £239.88 cost of SurfTime 24/7. BT seem to agree - they are introducing BT Internet AnyTime from mid-January (ooh - that's about now...). This costs £14.99 per month for free, unlimited, anytime access. This gives quite a large saving - it's below the SurfTime cost even if you ignore the fact that with SurfTime you'd need to get an additional ISP.
Why are they so generous?
With unbundling of the local loop approaching, it seems that BT has suddenly realised it needs to take drastic action. Oftel may be spineless - BT's customers aren't. Especially when the monopoly is broken.BT should watch out - when the local loop is unbundled, it's customers will vote with their Internet connections. They're trying to undo the damage, but I think it's likely to be a case of too little, too late.
The faster we get cheaper Internet connections the better. The US is far ahead of the UK in terms of Internet use - something which must be corrected soon if the UK is to stand any chance of competing in the global economy in the future.
