Energis is to continue providing network services for Freeserve after the companies secured a new two-year multi-million pound contract.

Under the deal Energis remains the sole provider of metered and unmetered narrowband Internet access for Freeserve's 2.5m customers.

The Guardian reported that the deal is worth £150m a year to Energis. However, a spokeswoman for Energis declined to confirm this except to say that it's worth "hundreds of millions of pounds".

The current deal between Energis and Freeserve was due to expire in November 2003. Today's announcement extends the companies' relationship until the end of 2005.

In a statement, Energis chairman Archie Norman said: "Earlier this year commentators were claiming that Energis would lose its very sought after customer base. In fact, we have now extended our contracts with major customers and added new accounts like Tesco and the Crown Prosecution Service."

In July, a debt-laden Energis was saved by the banks. Shortly after former Freeserve boss, John Pluthero, left the ISP to head-up Energis. ®

Related Stories

Pluthero quits Freeserve for Energis
Energis reborn as 'Chelys,' but still called Energis