Freeserve
Encyclopedia
Freeserve was a British
Internet Service Provider
, founded in 1998. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
but merged into the Wanadoo
group in 2000, itself a subsidiary of France Telecom
. Its successor to this day is Orange Home UK, the ISP operation of Orange UK
.
and Leeds
-based hosting provider Planet Online
to provide free Internet
access to customers buying new home PCs
from Dixons
stores. Initially the concept was called Channel 6 and was between Packard Bell and Planet Online. Packard Bell pulled out and Dixons (who resold their PCs) stepped in as joint partner.
Freeserve was one of the first of the UK's ISPs to dispense with the usual monthly subscription fee for Internet
access, and instead to collect a proportion of the standard telephone line charges. (At the time virtually all Internet access in the UK was by dial-up access
via BT
lines.) Further revenue was obtained from advertisements on Freeserve's homepage
, which was set as the default page in the customers' web browsers upon installing the Freeserve connection software. BT sought to challenge Freeserve's business plan by arguing that under the regulatory model (known as Number Translation Services, or NTS), it should receive more money for each call, and in January 1999 Oftel
announced that they would carry out a review.
Freeserve floated on the stock market
in July 1999 (as Freeserve.com plc), at which point they had approximately 1.5 million subscribers and were valued at between £1.31bn and £1.51bn ($2.02bn and $2.34bn).
By September 2000, Freeserve had more than 2 million active subscribers. This was vastly more than the incumbent telephone provider BT, something that was unique for a European ISP.
Freeserve was bought by the France Télécom
-owned company Wanadoo
in 2000 for £1.65bn ($2.37bn).
They were also among the first UK ISPs to trial the emerging ADSL broadband service in early 2000. The original equipment supplied was a rack-type hard-wired modem and separate router. A year later, the supplied end-user equipment was just a small USB-based modem, the Thomson SpeedTouch 330. Later, as Orange, they supplied a proper wireless ADSL modem router, the Orange-badged Siemens SE572, with just one Ethernet port.
The Freeserve legacy is still visible in the name of Orange's free web-based email
service, fsmail.net, in which fs stands for FreeServe.
Originally Freeserve accounts would be deactivated after 90 days if the dial-up number was not accessed (hence not generating any revenue for Orange). Customers would then receive an error message when trying to access their Freeserve email via another connection, but could reactivate the account before it was deleted by simply visiting the Orange website.
Orange extended the deactivation period to 260 days in 2007 but under the new regime users' accounts and all email are deleted permanently from Orange's servers after a 30 day warning is issued.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Internet Service Provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
, founded in 1998. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
but merged into the Wanadoo
Wanadoo
Wanadoo is the former name of the ISP division of Orange SA, which is a subsidiary of France Télécom. It operated in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritius, Madagascar, Lebanon, and Jordan...
group in 2000, itself a subsidiary of France Telecom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
. Its successor to this day is Orange Home UK, the ISP operation of Orange UK
Orange UK
Orange is a mobile network operator and internet service provider in the United Kingdom, which launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was purchased by France Télécom in 2000, which then adopted the Orange brand for all its other mobile communications activities...
.
History
The company was founded in 1998 as project between Dixons Group plcDSG International (retailer)
Dixons Retail plc is a British company and one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe. The company operates Dixons.co.uk as well as Dixons Travel, Currys, Currys.digital, PC World and Electro World stores along with many other brands across Europe including: Pixmania, Equanet and...
and Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
-based hosting provider Planet Online
Planet Online
Planet Online was a UK business-to-business Internet Service Provider. Based in Leeds, it was started by local businessman and multi-millionaire Peter Wilkinson and Paul Sykes in July 1995....
to provide free Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access to customers buying new home PCs
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
from Dixons
Dixons
Dixons is an online retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is owned by Dixons Retail plc.With its origins in a photographic shop opened by Charles Kalms, the chain had a store in most towns and cities across the UK and Ireland...
stores. Initially the concept was called Channel 6 and was between Packard Bell and Planet Online. Packard Bell pulled out and Dixons (who resold their PCs) stepped in as joint partner.
Freeserve was one of the first of the UK's ISPs to dispense with the usual monthly subscription fee for Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access, and instead to collect a proportion of the standard telephone line charges. (At the time virtually all Internet access in the UK was by dial-up access
Dial-up access
Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network to establish a dialled connection to an Internet service provider via telephone lines...
via BT
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
lines.) Further revenue was obtained from advertisements on Freeserve's homepage
Homepage
A home page or homepage has various related meanings to do with web sites:* It most often refers to the initial or main web page of a web site, sometimes called the front page ....
, which was set as the default page in the customers' web browsers upon installing the Freeserve connection software. BT sought to challenge Freeserve's business plan by arguing that under the regulatory model (known as Number Translation Services, or NTS), it should receive more money for each call, and in January 1999 Oftel
Oftel
Oftel has been superseded as the British telecommunications regulator by Ofcom .----The Office of Telecommunications was a department in the United Kingdom government, under civil service control, charged with promoting competition and maintaining the interests of consumers in the UK...
announced that they would carry out a review.
Freeserve floated on the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
in July 1999 (as Freeserve.com plc), at which point they had approximately 1.5 million subscribers and were valued at between £1.31bn and £1.51bn ($2.02bn and $2.34bn).
By September 2000, Freeserve had more than 2 million active subscribers. This was vastly more than the incumbent telephone provider BT, something that was unique for a European ISP.
Freeserve was bought by the France Télécom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
-owned company Wanadoo
Wanadoo
Wanadoo is the former name of the ISP division of Orange SA, which is a subsidiary of France Télécom. It operated in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritius, Madagascar, Lebanon, and Jordan...
in 2000 for £1.65bn ($2.37bn).
They were also among the first UK ISPs to trial the emerging ADSL broadband service in early 2000. The original equipment supplied was a rack-type hard-wired modem and separate router. A year later, the supplied end-user equipment was just a small USB-based modem, the Thomson SpeedTouch 330. Later, as Orange, they supplied a proper wireless ADSL modem router, the Orange-badged Siemens SE572, with just one Ethernet port.
Successive rebrandings
After being bought by Wanadoo in 2000, Freeserve first had its name changed to Wanadoo UK plc on April 28, 2004. Following a new rebranding exercise in June 2006, Freeserve and Wanadoo UK now form part of the UK operation of Orange, and are known as Orange Home UK plc.The Freeserve legacy is still visible in the name of Orange's free web-based email
Web-based email
The term Webmail is used to describe two things. One use of the word is to describe a Webmail client: an email client implemented as a web application accessed via a web browser. This article focuses in this use of the term...
service, fsmail.net, in which fs stands for FreeServe.
Criticism
In August 2007, Orange started a process to purge unused Freeserve accounts from its system.Originally Freeserve accounts would be deactivated after 90 days if the dial-up number was not accessed (hence not generating any revenue for Orange). Customers would then receive an error message when trying to access their Freeserve email via another connection, but could reactivate the account before it was deleted by simply visiting the Orange website.
Orange extended the deactivation period to 260 days in 2007 but under the new regime users' accounts and all email are deleted permanently from Orange's servers after a 30 day warning is issued.