ISP kicks off heavy users

Internet service provider (ISP) Totalise has kicked 900 users off of its unmetered internet package for misuse of the service.

The company said that almost a third of users will have their accounts for The Ultimate Surf product terminated due to the ongoing costs of the service.

The Ultimate Surf, which launched in August, costs users £235 for two years' internet access, with a 100 hour per month limit. Customers were also given the equivalent of £400 worth of shares in the ISP.

Chief executive Peter Gregory said: "Because of the state of the ISP industry it is not financially viable to carry on offering this service to some of the users and, as a business, we have had to make the unfortunate decision to cancel the service to them."

"The majority of our users will still be able to carry on using the service as they have been and we apologise to those affected users that we cannot continue to offer this service," he added.

Complaints from customers who have had their accounts terminated have flooded online discussion forums this morning. Users said they received letters informing them that the service had been withdrawn from them because they have been using it for business purposes.

One customer said: "A letter through the post 'regrets to inform me' that my usage patterns suggest that I am using it for business purposes, although it doesn't actually accuse me in so many words. What they really mean is that I am using it too much for their liking."

Totalise, which claimed that all affected customers have been notified by post about the termination, said that those due to be cut off on 27 January will be offered a refund on the subscription they paid.

Customers using the service for domestic purposes only will receive a pro rata refund (minus £9.79 for each month) from the activation month. For example, users who registered in August 2000 will receive a refund of £176.26.

Other ISPs that have kicked off customers for heavy use of their unmetered services include Freeserve and Breathe.

Yesterday, Totalise suspended its free online text messaging service in light of the announcement that the four UK mobile operators are introducing cross-network charges from next month.