BT to acquire Brightview Group

BT announced today that it has agreed to acquire Brightview Group Limited
('Brightview'), the internet service provider (ISP) owned by Brightview plc
for approximately £15.8m in cash, subject to approval from Brightview's
shareholders.

Established in April 2001, Brightview is a small consumer ISP with a strong
reputation for high-quality customer and technical support. Brightview
operates the ISP brands Madasafish and Global Internet, as well as the
Which? -award-winning Waitrose ISP. Brightview is also working with John
Lewis Partnership to launch its new ISP and telephony service under the
'GreenBee' brand.

Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers and generated
revenues of £11.0m and EBITDA of £3.0m in the year ended 30 June 2006.

Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, said: 'BT already provides the
UK's most popular and best-performing ADSL broadband service. This
acquisition will
ensure that Brightview's customers can benefit from our market-leading
services, resources and technology development as well as the excellent
customer service
they're already receiving.'

Regards
Sunil

"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> BT announced today that it has agreed to acquire Brightview Group Limited
> ('Brightview'), the internet service provider (ISP) owned by Brightview
> plc for approximately £15.8m in cash, subject to approval from
> Brightview's shareholders.
>
> Established in April 2001, Brightview is a small consumer ISP with a
> strong reputation for high-quality customer and technical support.
> Brightview operates the ISP brands Madasafish and Global Internet, as well
> as the Which? -award-winning Waitrose ISP. Brightview is also working with
> John Lewis Partnership to launch its new ISP and telephony service under
> the 'GreenBee' brand.
>
> Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers and generated
> revenues of £11.0m and EBITDA of £3.0m in the year ended 30 June 2006.
>
> Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, said: 'BT already provides the
> UK's most popular and best-performing ADSL broadband service. This
> acquisition will
> ensure that Brightview's customers can benefit from our market-leading
> services, resources and technology development as well as the excellent
> customer service
> they're already receiving.'
>
> Regards
> Sunil

They're getting in everywhere!

I migrated to Plusnet to get away from BT Internet and saved quite a bit of
money in so doing.
BT then bought Plusnet.

As a result of Plusnet's recent problems (now hopefully resolved after BT's
cash injection) I was reluctant to recommend Plusnet to my village hall
committee who wanted a broadband connection.
I did some research and found that the Brightview companies scored very many
plus-points in consumer surveys, so we went with one of them (Globalnet).
Now BT has bought them!

I think they're stalking me...
;-)

George

On Fri, 6 Jul 2007 16:29:01 +0100, "George Weston"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> BT announced today that it has agreed to acquire Brightview Group Limited
>> ('Brightview'), the internet service provider (ISP) owned by Brightview
>> plc for approximately £15.8m in cash, subject to approval from
>> Brightview's shareholders.
>>
>> Established in April 2001, Brightview is a small consumer ISP with a
>> strong reputation for high-quality customer and technical support.
>> Brightview operates the ISP brands Madasafish and Global Internet, as well
>> as the Which? -award-winning Waitrose ISP. Brightview is also working with
>> John Lewis Partnership to launch its new ISP and telephony service under
>> the 'GreenBee' brand.
>>
>> Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers and generated
>> revenues of £11.0m and EBITDA of £3.0m in the year ended 30 June 2006.
>>
>> Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, said: 'BT already provides the
>> UK's most popular and best-performing ADSL broadband service. This
>> acquisition will
>> ensure that Brightview's customers can benefit from our market-leading
>> services, resources and technology development as well as the excellent
>> customer service
>> they're already receiving.'
>>
>> Regards
>> Sunil
>
>They're getting in everywhere!
>
>I migrated to Plusnet to get away from BT Internet and saved quite a bit of
>money in so doing.
>BT then bought Plusnet.
>
>As a result of Plusnet's recent problems (now hopefully resolved after BT's
>cash injection) I was reluctant to recommend Plusnet to my village hall
>committee who wanted a broadband connection.
>I did some research and found that the Brightview companies scored very many
>plus-points in consumer surveys, so we went with one of them (Globalnet).
>Now BT has bought them!
>
>I think they're stalking me...
>;-)
>
>George
>

An identity change might help!

"Sunil Sood" wrote:

> BT announced today that it has agreed to acquire Brightview Group Limited
> ('Brightview'), the internet service provider (ISP) owned by Brightview plc

Oh dear.

> Established in April 2001, Brightview is a small consumer ISP with a strong
> reputation for high-quality customer and technical support.

So it's goodbye to all that, then. Not that I've needed any support.

> Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers

They also have dialup customers, like me.

> Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, said: 'BT already provides the
> UK's most popular and best-performing ADSL broadband service. This
> acquisition will ensure that...

customer support and quality of service will deteriorate, as is the
norm when small companies are bought out by large ones. We feel sorry
for our dialup users who, being a very small fraction of our income,
can expect even poorer connectivity as we save money by neglecting to
maintain our modem racks. We will also be increasing the monthly
subscription rate for them to bring it to the level of other major UK
ISPs. In addition, as a further money saving measure, we will be
discontinuing free access to Giganews for ex-Brightview customers.
After all, NNTP is so last-century and the fashionable thing nowadays
is to use web forums.

Cynical? Not me.

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 18:48:02 +0100, "Ant" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>"Sunil Sood" wrote:
>
>> BT announced today that it has agreed to acquire Brightview Group Limited
>> ('Brightview'), the internet service provider (ISP) owned by Brightview plc
>
>Oh dear.
>
>> Established in April 2001, Brightview is a small consumer ISP with a strong
>> reputation for high-quality customer and technical support.
>
>So it's goodbye to all that, then. Not that I've needed any support.
>
>> Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers
>
>They also have dialup customers, like me.
>
>> Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, said: 'BT already provides the
>> UK's most popular and best-performing ADSL broadband service. This
>> acquisition will ensure that...
>
>customer support and quality of service will deteriorate, as is the
>norm when small companies are bought out by large ones. We feel sorry
>for our dialup users who, being a very small fraction of our income,
>can expect even poorer connectivity as we save money by neglecting to
>maintain our modem racks. We will also be increasing the monthly
>subscription rate for them to bring it to the level of other major UK
>ISPs. In addition, as a further money saving measure, we will be
>discontinuing free access to Giganews for ex-Brightview customers.
>After all, NNTP is so last-century and the fashionable thing nowadays
>is to use web forums.
>
>Cynical? Not me.
>

BT Broadband customers currently have free access to Giganews so why
would BT discontinue it for ex-Brightview customers.

Maybe BT will learn something about customer services from Brightview.
They quickly learned and implemented traffic management and bandwidth
throttling after acquiring Plusnet.

"Ant" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) o.uk...
> "Sunil Sood" wrote:
>
>> BT announced today that it has agreed to acquire Brightview Group Limited
>> ('Brightview'), the internet service provider (ISP) owned by Brightview
>> plc
>
> Oh dear.
>
>> Established in April 2001, Brightview is a small consumer ISP with a
>> strong
>> reputation for high-quality customer and technical support.
>
> So it's goodbye to all that, then. Not that I've needed any support.
>
>> Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers
>
> They also have dialup customers, like me.
>
>> Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, said: 'BT already provides the
>> UK's most popular and best-performing ADSL broadband service. This
>> acquisition will ensure that...
>
> customer support and quality of service will deteriorate, as is the
> norm when small companies are bought out by large ones. We feel sorry
> for our dialup users who, being a very small fraction of our income,
> can expect even poorer connectivity as we save money by neglecting to
> maintain our modem racks. We will also be increasing the monthly
> subscription rate for them to bring it to the level of other major UK
> ISPs. In addition, as a further money saving measure, we will be
> discontinuing free access to Giganews for ex-Brightview customers.
> After all, NNTP is so last-century and the fashionable thing nowadays
> is to use web forums.
>
> Cynical? Not me.

BT Internet or BT Yahoo! or whatever they call themselves today get their
newsfeed from Giganews and it's free to their customers so it's not all
bad - but you're spot on with the rest (

John

"John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Ant" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) o.uk...
>> "Sunil Sood" wrote:
>>
>>> BT announced today that it has agreed to acquire Brightview Group
>>> Limited
>>> ('Brightview'), the internet service provider (ISP) owned by Brightview
>>> plc
>>
>> Oh dear.
>>
>>> Established in April 2001, Brightview is a small consumer ISP with a
>>> strong
>>> reputation for high-quality customer and technical support.
>>
>> So it's goodbye to all that, then. Not that I've needed any support.
>>
>>> Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers
>>
>> They also have dialup customers, like me.
>>
>>> Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, said: 'BT already provides
>>> the
>>> UK's most popular and best-performing ADSL broadband service. This
>>> acquisition will ensure that...
>>
>> customer support and quality of service will deteriorate, as is the
>> norm when small companies are bought out by large ones. We feel sorry
>> for our dialup users who, being a very small fraction of our income,
>> can expect even poorer connectivity as we save money by neglecting to
>> maintain our modem racks. We will also be increasing the monthly
>> subscription rate for them to bring it to the level of other major UK
>> ISPs. In addition, as a further money saving measure, we will be
>> discontinuing free access to Giganews for ex-Brightview customers.
>> After all, NNTP is so last-century and the fashionable thing nowadays
>> is to use web forums.
>>
>> Cynical? Not me.
>
> BT Internet or BT Yahoo! or whatever they call themselves today get their
> newsfeed from Giganews and it's free to their customers so it's not all
> bad - but you're spot on with the rest (

Love the humour!
However, Plusnet have improved greatly since being taken over by BT and
having received a nice fat cash-injection in the process.
On the other hand, Brightview were/are pretty good anyway, so who knows what
the future holds?

George

"George Weston" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> "Ant" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed) o.uk...
>>> "Sunil Sood" wrote:
>>>
>>>> BT announced today that it has agreed to acquire Brightview Group
>>>> Limited
>>>> ('Brightview'), the internet service provider (ISP) owned by Brightview
>>>> plc
>>>
>>> Oh dear.
>>>
>>>> Established in April 2001, Brightview is a small consumer ISP with a
>>>> strong
>>>> reputation for high-quality customer and technical support.
>>>
>>> So it's goodbye to all that, then. Not that I've needed any support.
>>>
>>>> Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers
>>>
>>> They also have dialup customers, like me.
>>>
>>>> Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, said: 'BT already provides
>>>> the
>>>> UK's most popular and best-performing ADSL broadband service. This
>>>> acquisition will ensure that...
>>>
>>> customer support and quality of service will deteriorate, as is the
>>> norm when small companies are bought out by large ones. We feel sorry
>>> for our dialup users who, being a very small fraction of our income,
>>> can expect even poorer connectivity as we save money by neglecting to
>>> maintain our modem racks. We will also be increasing the monthly
>>> subscription rate for them to bring it to the level of other major UK
>>> ISPs. In addition, as a further money saving measure, we will be
>>> discontinuing free access to Giganews for ex-Brightview customers.
>>> After all, NNTP is so last-century and the fashionable thing nowadays
>>> is to use web forums.
>>>
>>> Cynical? Not me.
>>
>> BT Internet or BT Yahoo! or whatever they call themselves today get their
>> newsfeed from Giganews and it's free to their customers so it's not all
>> bad - but you're spot on with the rest (
>
> Love the humour!
> However, Plusnet have improved greatly since being taken over by BT and
> having received a nice fat cash-injection in the process.
> On the other hand, Brightview were/are pretty good anyway, so who knows
> what the future holds?
>
> George
>

So long as it's not Zen internet.

I feel for the Brightview customers and wish them all the best in the
future.

"It's Me" wrote:
> "George Weston" wrote:
>> "John" wrote:
>>> BT Internet or BT Yahoo! or whatever they call themselves today get their
>>> newsfeed from Giganews and it's free to their customers so it's not all
>>> bad - but you're spot on with the rest (

I hope they don't follow the trend of dropping usenet like some major
ISPs here and in the US have done.

>> Love the humour!
>> However, Plusnet have improved greatly since being taken over by BT and
>> having received a nice fat cash-injection in the process.

That's good to know.

>> On the other hand, Brightview were/are pretty good anyway, so who knows
>> what the future holds?

Hopefully not me finding another ISP again.

> So long as it's not Zen internet

I thought they were still ok.

> I feel for the Brightview customers and wish them all the best in the
> future.

Ta. I'm keeping my fingers crossed with baited breath, or sumthin'.

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:18:01 +0100, "Ant" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Ta. I'm keeping my fingers crossed with baited breath, or sumthin'.


Have you got a long line issue or something? You always struck me as
more of a high speed type of person than someone who would persist
with dialup if they didn't have to.


Jim.