BT blamed for CallNet collapse

CallNet is blaming BT for its collapse Monday saying the telco cannot handle the volume of calls to its 0800 service.

A CallNet spokesman told ZDNet this afternoon that the problems were not related to its infrastructure but to BT's. According to CallNet, BT has been unable to support the levels of calls generated to its call centre due to the lack of capacity of the local BT exchange.

The company said thousands of users have successfully registered and are already accessing the Internet through its free service.

"The CallNet 0800 concept of totally free Internet access has been thoroughly vindicated with thousands of users registering within minutes of the service launching at 8:00 am today," said a CallNet spokesman. "Our network is providing an excellent level of service and quality. However, we do acknowledge that other would-be users have been unable to register as British Telecom has been unable to handle the volume of calls."

BT was unable to comment at press time.

Until BT is able to resolve the problem CallNet is inviting consumers to register for the service by sending their details by email.