Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2001/03/27/minnow_isp_takes_on_mighty/

Minnow ISP takes on mighty BT

Not to be sniffed at

By Tim Richardson

Posted in Legal, 27th March 2001 15:08 GMT

A small British ISP is considering legal action against BT after the monster telco allegedly disconnected the Surrey-based service provider's SurfTime customers yesterday.

This action was the culmination of problems that Sniffout alleges date back to summer 2000 when BT failed to deliver the unmetered Net access product, SurfTime, on time.

The small ISP said that BT was supposed to deliver SurfTime in August 2000. However, the service was not made available to Sniffout punters until October 2000.

Sniffout wants compensation from BT for alleged breach of contract and damages for lost earnings.

According to a statement from Sniffout: "The company has been in dispute with British Telecom as a result of the latter's failure to meet the contracted delivery date for SurfTime last summer.

"Unfortunately, BT has consistently refused to acknowledge any liability arising from its written commitment. It has also been insisting that rent is due from the time the service was finally supplied in late October.

"Sniffout's shareholders were, in effect, being asked to pay for BT's own mistakes and failures - something that they have quite rightly refused to sanction."

Richard Skeels, MD of Sniffout, told The Register that the matter was already in the hands of lawyers.

No one from BT was available for comment. ®