Take an irreverent stroll down BT's yellow brick road toward unmetered access as good fairy Jane Wakefield spells out the blunders along the way. While Internet access may prove to be a fairytale come true for consumers, BT looks like it may not be allowed to live happily ever after in Internet land.
Jane Wakefield: The day the net went free The unmetered Internet access game may remind us of the school playground, but BT has still remained king of the hill. Tue, 07 Mar 2000 Jane Wakefield: Say hello Yanks, wave goodbye BT Just as courtiers in the days of powerful kings tried to make the best of the death of their monarch, so BT is trying to raise Surftime from the ashes without admitting the original ever died. Mon, 06 Mar 2000 Jane Wakefield: BT caught in the offside trap What Manchester United is to football, so BT is to telecoms -- the company people love to hate. Mon, 21 Feb 2000 Jane Wakefield: Scrooge comes out of the cold As the Beach Boys might have sung if they wrote songs for large telcos -- "everybody is surfing, surfing on BT". Fri, 10 Dec 1999 Jane Wakefield: Take me back to the good old days of BT A tired speech by a beleaguered chairman and the egg that cracked. Fri, 03 Dec 1999 Jane Wakefield: Once upon a time there was the Net The sad tale of a brave ISP's offer of free Internet access. Like all good fairy tales, the story of CallNet was just too good to be true -- and sadly predictable. Mon, 08 Nov 1999 BT delays ADSL again, Freeserve says it's a 'disgrace' Just when you thought ADSL was around the corner, BT has delayed it again. Observers are not impressed. Fri, 03 Mar 2000 BT Internet joins the unmetered access party BT Internet is jumping on the unmetered bandwagon by offering customers evening and weekend surfing for a £9.99 monthly fee, it announced on Tuesday. Tue, 29 Feb 2000 Surftime is scrapped, Surftime II is born BT accuses ISPs of whinging, as it is forced to abandon its unmetered Internet package. Tue, 29 Feb 2000 Will BT voice calls go unmetered? Telco denies reports of 'Surftime'-like package for normal telephone users. Mon, 28 Feb 2000 BT expands ADSL rollout BT has increased its rollout of ADSL with the addition on another 100 exchanges. Wed, 23 Feb 2000 Guy Kewney thinks BT is simply making excuses. Go and read the news comment at AnchorDesk.
Tony Westbrook advises BT to 'Free the local loop' at AnchorDesk UK. Go and read the news comment there.
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Tomorrow we'll bring you the beginner's guide to unmetered access.
