Dear Customer,

Over the last few weeks you, and a very small percentage of our 1.5 million customers, have downloaded a new dial-up access number for the BTopenworld Anytime service. Since then, some of you may have experienced congestion problems. I'm sorry if this has been the case for you and hope this email will explain what we've done and what the future options are.

**What we've done to provide a good and fair service**

Our Anytime service was launched in January 2001, in response to customer demand.

As our service grows we continually invest in increasing network capacity to improve the quality of the service and the value that it offers.

Whilst managing this network capacity across our customer base we've found a select number of customers contravening our Terms and Conditions through;

a) allowing several people to use their service at the same time whilst only paying one subscription

b) leaving their PC online, unattended, for long periods of time (we define this as over 16 hours or more in 24, to ensure that there is scope to fairly accommodate those customers who, exceptionally, need to make really long use of the internet)

Both of these actions seriously affect our other customers' ability to use of the service. In order to ensure a good level of service to our other customers, we have removed the customers who do this, typically after they have had at least one warning in the case of unattended use.


We've also recently asked a number of customers, including you, to use a new dial-up access number. We did this to improve the quality and effectiveness of our service across all our customers by dividing our network by type of use. Our aim was to give all customers a fairer chance to access and enjoy the service. For the great majority of customers this has had excellent results.

However, for customers on the new dial-up access number there have been high levels of failure in first time connection due to very high usage levels. This is even though the new number gives a very much better ratio of users to modem* - around 3 to 1. We believe that this ratio is easily the best available in the UK at anything like a comparable price and we had expected it to give appropriate capacity.

**What more can we do?**

We've checked the service on the new dial-up access number and again found a significant number of customers breaching our Terms & Conditions. We're taking action against them to protect the integrity of the service. This should improve availability on the new number but, with the level of use we're seeing, it's possible that the benefits will simply be 'swallowed up'.

Our experience of the past few weeks suggests that the real requirement of those on the new number is much closer to one user per modem - more than even the exceptional level around 3 to 1 we're already providing. Such a service would need to be charged at about £100 a month, a cost we don't believe we should pass onto all our customers - to whom we want to keep offering an economic service. This would make it much more expensive than our broadband internet service which uses a more appropriate technology and is designed as an uncontended, 'always on' service for people who make regular extended us of the internet.

**What are the options?**

We're committed to maintaining a high quality, affordable and economically viable mass market internet service. In some countries unmetered services such as Anytime have been slow to be introduced or have been withdrawn because of the difficulties of running them economically.

A recent Oftel survey showed that the UK has the cheapest internet prices in the world and is an extremely competitive market. It's now clear to us that going back to sharing the same capacity across the great majority of our customers and those on the new number will affect service quality for the great majority, or mean increasing prices for all. We don't plan to do either of these things.

**What can we offer you now?**

We do value your custom and very much want to keep you as a customer. I can offer you the following options:

i) you can continue to use Anytime on the number we have given you. But, while you may see some improvement as a result of the continuing action we're taking with those customers in breach of our Terms & Conditions, bearing in mind the above, we can't guarantee high levels of first time connection success.

ii) broadband may better suit your needs - our service offers a fast 'always on' connection to the internet with no additional call charges or the need for a second line - and we're currently offering free installation to all our Anytime and SurfTime customers (normal price £150). The monthly subscription fee is £39.99. To find out more, and check if it's in your area, please go to http://www.btopenworld.com/broadband

We recognise that this option may not be available to you if you do not live in a broadband-enabled area.


If you feel neither of these options meets your needs, you may, of course, cancel your subscription by calling the BTopenworld team on 0870 241 6307 (4.00pm-midnight, national rate) or by emailing us on userhelp@btopenworld.com

We'll be as disappointed as you are if you do decide to cancel, so as a gesture of goodwill - and to thank you for your patience - we'll arrange a credit to your account with a sum equivalent to one month's subscription. You'll be able to keep your email access and service as part of our Pay-as-you-go option.

I know this may not be the solution that you had hoped for, but I, and the BTopenworld team, have spent a long time discussing our options. We want to continue to provide an efficient and economic service to the majority of our customers and feel that this is the most realistic and fairest way forward.

I sincerely hope that the above has helped to make clear why we've made these recent changes and would like to thank you for bearing with me through this rather long email.

Thank you for your understanding and for using BTopenworld Anytime.

Yours faithfully,

Ben Andradi
President & Chief Operating Officer
BTopenworld


* BTopenworld is a contended narrowband dial-up access service. This means that, like most UK dial-up internet services, the technology used is based on many customers sharing access to a bank of modems.