Freeserve and Easynet land top ISP gongs

Freeserve walked off with the award for best national consumer Internet Service Provider in the 2004 ISP Association (ISPA) awards last week.

The judges said Freeserve was the most consumer-friendly company of all the nominees, which included Telewest Blueyonder and Tiscali.

Freeserve was also praised for creating "vibrant communities" for its subscribers.

In the business category, Easynet's continuing commitment to local loop unbundling helped it to win two awards, one for best national business ISP and one for best business broadband provider.

Other ISPs who won consumer prizes include Tiscali, praised as the best all-round provider of metered dial-up internet services for both businesses and residential customers.

The accolade for the best unmetered dial-up ISP went to Telewest Blueyonder, which was regarded by the judges as offering its customers an excellent package that was not subject, like many other similar packages, to timed cut-offs.

In the same category One.Tel was commended for the diversity of unmetered dial-up packages it offers and for being a "very user-friendly ISP".

Bulldog Communications was rated the ISP with the best consumer broadband.

A spokesman for ISPA said: "The judges highlighted Bulldog's aggressive promotion of an innovative range of packages" and the way it was seen as "pushing back the barriers in the consumer broadband market in a way that benefited its customers".