Telinco whacks AOL, chins Freeserve for confusing users

Cheshire-based ISP Telinco has lambasted AOL UK and Freeserve for introducing confusing new pricing structures earlier this week. It says the 10 hours of toll-free access a month offered by Freeserve and AOL UK's 24/7 1p-a-minute flat fee for Net access will only serve to muddle Net users. Throwing its own hat into the ring, it said it is within a month of announcing a "simple to use" 0800 service of its own. But a spokesman for Telinco refused to reveal any more details about the offer leaving many Net users in the dark about which service they should try. Elsewhere, AOL UK has been spending its members' hard-spent cash placing full-page ads in the national press. One ad takes a giant swipe at Freeserve saying: "Don't fool yourself into thinking that Freeserve means free access. At BT peak rate, it could cost you up to £24 for 10 hours online. With AOL, your Internet phone bill for the same 10 hours will be just £6. That's because our rate is a penny a minute whatever the time of day." And this from the company that didn't like The Register's spin on their postponed 0800 story… Some people simply don't like the away game. No one from Freeserve was available for comment. ®