Tiscali enters unmetered access arena

NEWS Tiscali UK is launching into the national ISP market with a deal for unmetered dial ports from BT Wholesale. Unmetered dial ports are a means of providing consumers with permanent access to the internet for either a fixed or a low price. This system is different from AOL's home modem monthly pricing, which is charged according to time used. Brett Wilde, COO at ISP exchange point XchangePoint, said: "The one danger Tiscali UK faces with offering a fixed or low price internet connection is if lots of people sign up for it. They may have a systems and support problem." He added: "I hope they intend to build their system's capability to support this influx of customers, as they seem to be making way for a scenario of taking significant market share fairly early on in their UK debut." Tiscali UK launched on 31 July this year after buying infrastructure through the acquisition of Liberty Surf, World Online and LineOne, followed by the recent purchase of Tiny Online. Wilde said: "This deal is clearly a very good way to get a grip on the UK consumer market, especially when BT and AOL are the main competitors." "AOL are pretty much the top players, especially in content, now they've hooked up with Time Warner, but Tiscali are good at bringing content to the net. This deal will enable them to drive a new level of service and content."