Confirmation - PlusNet decommissioning entire (text & binary) usenet service

I'm a customer of NDO/Namesco, who (if you believe my message headers)
access usenet via PlusNet. Whilst investigating why some groups
weren't updating it came to light that they are decommissioning the
usenet service -

PlusNet's reply to my support ticket

"2006-03-22
09:22:37
Michael Holmes
CSC Agent Actioned :
We do not provide 3rd party resale of usenet services. The usenet
service itself requires a PlusNet username and Login which should
belong to the Broadband or Subscription Dial-Up account the user has
with us.

Having said this, the Usenet service is being decommissioned very soon
as it is unsustainable within our business model.

I hope that this does not cause too much inconvenience.

Regards,
Michael Holmes
To administer your account and for all your help and support
requirements visit http://portal.plus.net/index_nlp.html"

The fact that they are denying that I'm managing to access their
newsfeed when the message headers say otherwise I find amusing -

NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.84.108.56 - resolves to Namesco Limited

Path, X-Trace & Xref - resolve to plus.net servers

Daytona

"Daytona" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

Hmm ... PN have told their own customers that it is only the binary usenet
which is being dropped.

Still a b****y con as most contracts were sold on the understanding that
binaries were supported.

On 22 Mar 2006, "Roger Cain" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>"Daytona" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>
>Hmm ... PN have told their own customers that it is only the binary usenet
>which is being dropped.
>
>Still a b****y con as most contracts were sold on the understanding that
>binaries were supported.
>
Should have left Daytona's comment

" Having said this, the Usenet service is being decommissioned very
soon as it is unsustainable within our business model."

and cross-posted so other Plus.Net users could see it!

--
following added by news server, not me
*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
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Daytona wrote in article
<news:(E-Mail Removed) >:

> I'm a customer of NDO/Namesco, who (if you believe my message
> headers) access usenet via PlusNet. Whilst investigating why some
> groups weren't updating it came to light that they are
> decommissioning the usenet service -

The message they sent to all of their customers is that the binary
groups will be dropped from early April. The text groups are allegedly
going to improve as a result - although the service is pretty dire at
the moment. Maybe PlusNet's hoping that the current problems are load-
related and will go away as soon as the binaries are gone.

--
K A Nuttall
www.yammer.co.uk
Re-type the e-mail address how it sounds, remove .invalid

Aside from the point you are posting account specific information (in
the form of a private email sent to you) - NDO / Namesco have a special
arrangement with PlusNet as can be seen mentioned here:
http://www.ndousers.com/viewtopic.php?id=1892 - this is why the PlusNet
guy said they do not resell UseNet - they don't.

Issue between chair and computer.

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:49:27 -0000, "Roger Cain"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"Daytona" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>
>Hmm ... PN have told their own customers that it is only the binary usenet
>which is being dropped.
>

That is correct.

And logical, when you realise that 4 days (max) retention of binaries
takes 5 times as much storage as a year's worth of text.

Which means the daily feed is roughly 450 times as much for binary
usenet as for text usenet - with only a few hundred customers (out of
150,000) accessing it.

>Still a b****y con as most contracts were sold on the understanding that
>binaries were supported.
>

That is an "understanding" that PN have not fostered for quite some
time now, although it has been true, and with no indication until
recently that it would change.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

K A Nuttall <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Maybe PlusNet's hoping that the current problems are load-
>related and will go away as soon as the binaries are gone.

Which is irrelevant if they're ending usenet access.

Daytona

Alex Heney <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>That is an "understanding" that PN have not fostered for quite some
>time now, although it has been true, and with no indication until
>recently that it would change.

I have a post awaiting moderation on uk.legal.moderated on the
subject, although it relates to the email confirmation I and others
received about usenet access from NDO/Namesco prior to signing up.

Daytona

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 16:00:24 +0000, Daytona <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>K A Nuttall <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>Maybe PlusNet's hoping that the current problems are load-
>>related and will go away as soon as the binaries are gone.
>
>Which is irrelevant if they're ending usenet access.

Which they aren't.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

Alex Heney wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:49:27 -0000, "Roger Cain"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>
>> "Daytona" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> Hmm ... PN have told their own customers that it is only the binary
>> usenet which is being dropped.
>>
>
> That is correct.
>
> And logical, when you realise that 4 days (max) retention of binaries
> takes 5 times as much storage as a year's worth of text.
>
> Which means the daily feed is roughly 450 times as much for binary
> usenet as for text usenet - with only a few hundred customers (out of
> 150,000) accessing it.
>
>> Still a b****y con as most contracts were sold on the understanding
>> that binaries were supported.
>>
>
> That is an "understanding" that PN have not fostered for quite some
> time now, although it has been true, and with no indication until
> recently that it would change.

During Ian Wild's previous incarnation He said a number of time that PN's
aim was to provide a usenet service, including binaries, that was up with
the best ISP provided services. Since the official change in policy, I have
not seen any acknowledgement that that was ever the situation.

PN do of course have the right to change the services they provide, subject
to the appropriate notice. However, these days they so often pretend that
nothing has changed.

--
Old Codger
e-mail use reply to field

What matters in politics is not what happens, but what you can make people
believe has happened. [Janet Daley 27/8/2003]