Online Planets collide

The deal, which does not involve any money changing hands, will offer Planet Online customers a secondary connection to the US backbone plus improved management of data traffic across the US backbone. For BBN, the deal will offer European network services to its customers via Planet Online.

Planet Online, which provides the Internet access for dial-up users on the Prestel Online system plus business solutions for companies such as Channel Four and Cadbury, will also be offering an ISDN deal from late September. The deal will incorporate an Eikon PC Card terminal adapter, over 300Mb of software including Netscape Navigator, and is expected to cost around £90 initially with a following monthly charge of £20.

PCDN Comment: This is a pragmatic move to guarantee connectivity. Planet have developed into a first-rate connectivity provider for business, and with Cecil Parkinson and Yorkshire scrap man turned multi-millionaire Paul Sykes providing the image and the money, plus staff recruited from EUnet, JANET and Demon providing the expertise, the company should raise its profile in the coming months.