PSINet blames Energis for network problems

PSINet -- one of the world's largest corporate Internet service providers (ISPs) -- has said problems that have been dogging its network will be resolved today. An engineer from Energis -- the telecoms network provider -- is currently working to fix problems that have brought frustration and disruption to business customers over the last two weeks. PSINet has tried to distance itself from the problems claiming that the blame for any breakdown in performance ultimately resided with Energis. The telecoms company admitted that customers were experiencing problems during peak times and pointed to a "large increase in traffic" as the cause of the faults. "We're implementing a new networking plan which should deliver improved performance," said a spokeswoman for Energis, who also admitted that customers of Cable & Wireless and Planet Online -- the ISP it acquired during the summer -- were also experiencing problems. In an attempt to provide a short-term fix some customers were transferred to analogue lines during the worst of the problems but PSINet claims it is still unable to say exactly how many companies have been affected. Energis' insistence that it prides itself on it high level of customer care has been questioned by one disgruntled customer who said that it "simply wasn't good enough". "We weren't told of the problem in the first place and were never informed of when it was going to be put right," said Drew Cullen of The Register. "It has really hacked us off that we have had to investigate this problem with our journalist hats on just to find out what's going on. "Why couldn't they have told us instead of leaving us in the dark all this time? I don't call that customer service." Energis -- whose customers include the BBC, Boots the Chemist and Eurostar -- said that a "network enhancement programme" is being put in place which should help increase network capacity. ®