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The customers involved have been using the service too much, according to a letter sent to the relevant customers at the end of April 2001.
The Surf No Limits package offers "unlimited" off-peak Internet access for a flat-rate fee. It also includes free software, free unlimited e-mail addresses and ten free megabytes of Internet space. The off-peak hours in the package are six PM to eight AM weekdays, as well as the entire weekend.
Esat released a statement today regarding the decision that said, "It is against this background that Esat Fusion has regretfully had to discontinue the service for a small number of customers. The decision to discontinue the service for these customers has been taken to ensure the quality of service for the vast majority of our IOL No Limits customers."
Also in the statement, the company claimed it had been pressing Eircom and the ODTR to introduce a wholesale flat rate interconnect product, which has not yet been accomplished. Esat added, "...operators like Esat Fusion have to enter a protracted process with Eircom, its main competitor, which from experience we know will take many months of negotiation, almost certainly without success, and will likely be referred back to the ODTR."
According to a report in the Irish Times, customers affected by the present move are those who spend in excess of 75-100 hours a week on the Internet and although Esat will continue to monitor the Internet use of its remaining customers, it may yet cancel the service altogether.
"I am personally affected and my company is affected," said Fergal Byrne, director of information design at Adnet.ie, which is among the customers to have received a letter from Esat.
The letter from Esat explained that No Limits customers were using the service "excessively", explained Byrne. The letter also said that this usage "affects the quality of the overall service for all our No Limits customers" and that it "puts considerable pressure on resource capacity", added Byrne.
There would be no prospect of the package being restored to affected customers until Eircom lowers the rates it charges Esat for the use of its lines, said Byrne. Consequently, there was no point in complaining to Esat, he added.
Equally, since there was no alternative to the No Limits package, he did not intend to move to another Internet provider. However, he was optimistic about the future of flat-rate Internet access in Ireland.
However, Byrne believes that sometime over the next nine months, Eircom would be taken to court and forced to bring down its changes.
In March 2001, Esat withdrew the No Limits package for new customers, citing concerns over Eircom's per minute billing of Esat's use of Eircom's lines.
At that stage, Esat stated that its existing no Limits customers were unlikely to be affected.
As it is, the present move is a further setback for the government's hope of an Internet society here, with recent surveys showing that the cost of Internet access in Ireland is inhibiting the growth of Internet users and limiting the amount of time for which users can remain on-line.
Esat is at www.esat.ie
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