AltaVista quizzed over net access mystery

When AltaVista's UK managing director Andy Mitchell returns from his holiday next week he faces a torrent of voicemail, email and faxes all asking the same question: "Does your unmetered internet service actually exist?"

Six months after making the headlines with its pioneering promise to scrap internet phone charges, AltaVista's £59 a year service is nowhere to be seen. So what is going on? Only Mitchell, holidaying somewhere in the US, has the answer, apparently.

On its website, AltaVista claims it is offering the service "to those people who have already expressed an interest". But a nationwide search first started by internet sites such as The Register and ISP Review, and joined today by the national press, has failed to find any users of the service.

Calls to the company's press office in the last two weeks by vnunet.com have proved fruitless. The company has been unable to provide any evidence of users on the unmetered service and has failed to confirm whether the service has actually started.

The only information AltaVista will provide is that Mitchell is the only person that can comment on the service. "We can't give any information or say how many people are using the system. Only Andy Mitchell can comment," an AltaVista spokeswoman told us repeatedly.

The mystery surrounding the service has prompted speculation that the company may have changed its plans following the problems faced by many unmetered ISPs that launched in response to AltaVista's initial announcement. LineOne scrapped its unmetered service last month, Breathe has cut off 'heavy' users and NTL has 150,000 customers stuck in a queue waiting to sign up.

Speculation that AltaVista is experiencing technical problems have been ruled out. Claranet, the ISP that provides the connectivity for AltaVista, said today there are no technical problems with the service. "We can categorically say that there are no technical issues and everything is working. We speak to AltaVista everyday and they are happy with the service," said Steve Rawlinson, systems manager at Claranet.

But Claranet declined to reveal any technical details or agreements it has with AltaVista. "We have signed an extremely stringent confidentiality contract with AltaVista and I am not allowed to provide any further information," said Rawlinson.

Following its announcement in March that the service would cost a one-off £30, AltaVista announced at the start of June that users would need to pay a start-up fee of £59 (including VAT) when the service supposedly launched on 30 June.

Freeserve chief executive John Pluthero said at a conference last month: "The only thing [AltaVista] has said so far is that the price would go up. Not bad for a product that hasn't hit the market yet."

Users who had expressed an interest in the service have since received an email from the company which reads: "To ensure the quality of this service, AltaVista has elected to rollout this service in a controlled manner. We will provide the service to as many customers as possible, as quickly as possible, whilst ensuring that your online experience is a good one."

AltaVista added that to keep up with the overwhelming demand for the AltaVista Unlimited Unmetered Access service, it is also offering users two additional metered access services - Altavista Net on Demand and Freetime 20, both in conjunction with Claranet.