breathe expected out of rehab soon

Modern Urbanists gathering on street corners...

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 23rd February 2001 16:47 GMT

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Slip on your baggy trousers and hooded sweatshirt, pop on your wrap-round shades and oil the bearings on your microscooter - modern urbanists are back.

The word among the metropolitan elite busily SMSing one another is that trendy ISP, breathe.com, is back six weeks after being bought by Great Universal Stores (GUS) for £1.4 million.

In December, breathe called in the administrators after amassing a shed-load of debt rumoured to be as high as £50 million.

Some 60 people were made redundant before the outfit was bought by GUS in January. GUS also operates the successful online and offline Argos brand, and Jungle.com.

Of course, those who stayed at breathe will say they've never been away.

Although the ISP ditched its unmetered Net access service it has still been offering a pay-as-you-go service to its punters. And by all accounts, its user base has been growing despite all the upheaval of the last couple of months.

However, since breathe acquired a new parent company it's been effectively grounded. El Reg understands it's about to come out and play again.

We'll keep ya posted. ®