Editing Freeserve (section)

==History==
The company was founded in 1998 as a project between [[Dixons (retailer)|Dixons Group plc]] and [[Leeds]]-based hosting provider [[Planet Online]] to provide free Internet access to customers buying new home [[personal computer|PCs]] from [[Dixons Retail|Dixons]] stores.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/fspnisapi3b4c.html |title=Planet Online selects Cisco |access-date=13 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028005727/http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/fspnisapi3b4c.html |archive-date=28 October 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The concept was the brainchild of [[Ajaz Ahmed]] [[British_Empire_Medal|BEM]] who was an employee at Dixons at the time. He grew frustrated of not being able to get online without technical know-how and so sought about a better way for PC owners to get online.
Initially the concept was called Channel 6 and was between Packard Bell and Planet Online. Packard Bell pulled out and Dixons (who resold their PCs) stepped in as joint partner.

Freeserve was one of the first of the UK's ISPs to dispense with the usual monthly subscription fee for Internet access, and instead to collect a proportion of the standard telephone line charges. This made it more appealing and affordable to the masses and paved way for more people gaining internet access in the UK. (At the time virtually all Internet access in the UK was by [[dial-up access]] via [[BT Group|BT]] lines.) With Freeserve however each customer had 10 megabytes of webspace, and could split the email address into as many names as desired, using a simple extension of the normal email naming protocols (''user@freeserve.co.uk'' could subdivide into email for ''dad@user.freeserve.co.uk'' and ''mum@user.freeserve.co.uk'' etc.).

At the time, not having a standing charge for such a comprehensive service, especially the webspace, was a radical step. Further revenue was obtained from advertisements on Freeserve's [[homepage]], which was set as the default page in the customers' web browsers upon installing the Freeserve connection software. BT sought to challenge Freeserve's business plan by arguing that under the regulatory model (known as Number Translation Services, or NTS), it should receive more money for each call, and in January 1999 [[Oftel]] announced that it would carry out a review.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/255200.stm |title=Freeserve rocks UK net industry |access-date=30 June 2006 |archive-date=5 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205201118/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/255200.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Freeserve floated on the [[stock market]] in July 1999 (as Freeserve.com plc), at which point it had approximately 1.3 million subscribers and was valued at between £1.31 billion and £1.51 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/391480.stm |title=Freeserve gets a price tag |access-date=30 June 2006 |archive-date=13 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313165738/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/391480.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

By September 2000, Freeserve had more than two million active subscribers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/945842.stm |title=Freeserve losses double |access-date=30 June 2006 |archive-date=7 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207091741/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/945842.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> This was vastly more than the incumbent telephone provider BT, something that was unique for a European ISP.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

Freeserve was bought by the [[France Télécom]]-owned company [[Wanadoo]] in 2000 for £1.65 billion.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1057317.stm |title=French rival seals Freeserve deal |date=6 December 2000 |access-date=13 December 2008 |archive-date=6 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206090931/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1057317.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Freeserve began to trial the emerging ADSL broadband service in early 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/03/23/the_register_guide_to_adsl/|title=The Register Guide to ADSL in Britain|last=at 11:11|first=Tim Richardson 23 March 2000|website=www.theregister.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-04-14|archive-date=3 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003020407/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/03/23/the_register_guide_to_adsl/|url-status=live}}</ref> The original equipment supplied was a rack-type hard-wired modem and a separate router. A year later, the supplied end-user equipment was just a small USB-based modem, the Thomson [[SpeedTouch]] 330 (previously known as the Speedtouch USB).<ref>[https://www.ccsleeds.co.uk/kb/routers/st330.pdf SpeedTouch™330 Installation and Setup Guide] </ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Speedtouch 330 |url=https://wiki.debian.org/Speedtouch330 |website=wiki.debian.org - Debian Wiki |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref>  Later,{{When|date=May 2020}}<ref name="freeserve.com-2004-03-30">{{cite web |title=Today |url=https://www.freeserve.com/ |website=Freeserve |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040330082438/https://www.freeserve.com/ |archive-date=30 March 2004}}</ref> as Orange, they supplied a wireless ADSL modem router, the Orange-badged Siemens SE572, with one Ethernet port.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}