Editing Freeserve

{{Short description|Defunct British internet service provider}}
{{use British English|date=April 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Freeserve.com plc
| logo = [[File:FreeserveLogo.PNG|200px]]|
| type = Public company
| company_slogan = 
| fate = Acquired
| successor = [[EE (telecommunications)|EE]]<br>''previously''<br>[[Orange UK]]<br>[[Wanadoo]]
| foundation = 1998
| defunct = 2001
| location = [[Hemel Hempstead]], England, UK
| industry = Internet and [[Telecommunication|Communications]]
| products = Internet service
}}

'''Freeserve''' was a British [[Internet service provider]], which was founded in 1998. At its height, the company became a constituent of the [[FTSE 100 Index]], before merging into the [[Wanadoo]] group in 2001. It then became a subsidiary of [[France Telecom]], who owned a controlling interest in [[Wanadoo]]. Wanadoo rebranded over time and eventually became '''Orange Home UK.'''

Since the merger of [[Orange UK]] into [[EE (telecommunications)|EE]], Orange Home UK was integrated as a service within EE's range of services.

==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}}

==Successive rebrandings==
After being bought by Wanadoo in 2001, Freeserve first had its name changed to Wanadoo UK plc on 28 April 2004.<ref>[https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-prod/docs/G5E00JVbDo6YN2jWW10-iuHAVmOE4-4a5lSdlS4umKY/application-pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAILJR2SRA4YUKJCXQ&Expires=1522242031&Signature=2jJ%2BD%2B%2BnxwVycu%2FsQZv8F9wgLsk%3D&x-amz-security-token=FQoDYXdzEKP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaDMjdOiMjh1F3da7rMiK3A80nAUe%2FJzgHa8mH%2Blmx5YTgTi567j9RmfxPZxs1O%2BIukvQdTIurGjean5dgSTUZsUB1B8a%2BBy1KIk2b%2F4NmZU2wJhGsRh0%2FXYvMSebSChqgVn9rUbMtKwOfa6yVF7JM5dAUWW4Za1QEjkYL%2FcJxQ5x8SG%2BLijh5DNdXzQmeZg%2BYGhhxPwPx6AA0K46j8p7v4%2FGmaK9q%2F6HXTwFgjKiwI4Atwvs2W7Wo4wLOFUeFystm%2FB6y11JnmhdcdtrPiDqkMKY4v3V%2BPXlbUBhauFWPyAVW5w3pYxwEuKRZ%2B4YX3kKZO1I%2FfCyIjLDkei2Axcg8CRW0J8ln1KhugtkuO%2B%2BCD9biiMnZth4EGg6ow%2BbSOHqXd%2Fp0yuz8TWPpLhvVUl%2FtZjvn1xO6GXqLRkvOztv8fImbiS9eI4di9u5z0arn166YJlBxuTnC3dAoFaIyd%2F9t%2FpuvRn6bMBoiSDKIvQbHQuaF7Zc%2FVqmh1GBRYkRO6NXCiDgsGpHX26pdSUdDev0K7otWykzWSimGexZ80alVUHjbMGVicYGiHRqRwPPne9on4ZypjFiEpBT5T%2BdRCqfz5RJnMqBaQ%2B0o98vt1QU%3D Certificate of Incorporation on Change of Name]{{dead link|date=March 2019}}</ref> Following a new rebranding exercise in June 2006, Freeserve and Wanadoo UK then formed part of the UK operation of [[Orange SA#Orange|Orange]], and were known as Orange Home UK plc. In 2010 [[Orange (UK)|Orange UK]] and [[T-Mobile UK]] merged to form [[EE (telecommunications)|EE]] which was a joint venture between [[Deutsche Telekom]] and [[France Télécom]]. Orange's broadband service was then rebranded as EE Broadband on 30 October 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/ee/home-broadband/ |title=Corporate Website {{!}} Deutsche Telekom |access-date=2 January 2013 |archive-date=6 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406094813/http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/ee/home-broadband/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Deactivation==
In August 2007, Orange started a process to purge unused Freeserve accounts from its system.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/30/orange_freesever_purge/ |title=Orange mounts sneaky Freeserve accounts purge |website=[[The Register]] |access-date=10 August 2017 |archive-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809003515/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/30/orange_freesever_purge/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Originally Freeserve accounts would be deactivated after ninety days if the dial-up number was not accessed (hence not generating any revenue for Orange). Customers would then receive an error message when trying to access their Freeserve email via another connection, but could reactivate the account before it was deleted by visiting the Orange website.

Orange extended the deactivation period to 260 days in 2007 but under the new regime users' accounts and all email were deleted permanently from Orange's servers after a 30-day warning was issued.

The account deactivation process ceased on 28 February 2012.

In 2016 the service hosting the original Freeserve personal webspace was deactivated, ending the anomaly of orphaned pages that could not be edited, the dial-up service allowing editing having ceased some years before.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ee.co.uk/help/help-orphan-pages-/orange-personal-web-space-service |title=Orange personal web space service - Closure Notice |access-date=29 November 2016 |archive-date=30 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130035913/http://ee.co.uk/help/help-orphan-pages-/orange-personal-web-space-service |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In early 2017 all email users were advised that the email service was also withdrawn.
<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ee.co.uk/help/mobile-and-home-connections/broadband-gallery-mobile-broadband/email/email-closure?intcam=ON_EE_E_Orange_email_closure_infomremail_bottomlink-2017-01-11 |title=EE/Orange Email switch-off notice |access-date=26 February 2017 |archive-date=26 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226212724/http://ee.co.uk/help/mobile-and-home-connections/broadband-gallery-mobile-broadband/email/email-closure?intcam=ON_EE_E_Orange_email_closure_infomremail_bottomlink-2017-01-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/1999/may/20/onlinesupplement1 Getting on the net for nothing], 20 May 1999, Jim Mcclellan, ''The Guardian''

{{Authority control}}
{{Currys plc}}

[[Category:1998 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Companies based in Hemel Hempstead]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Currys plc]]
[[Category:Former internet service providers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies established in 1998]]