NorthPoint moves to shut off DSL service ‘immediately’

NorthPoint has moved to shut down its DSL network, disconnecting up to 100,000 customers.

In a statement issued late yesterday, the company warned customers to expect "network outages and termination of DSL services immediately".

The bankrupt company had been in last minute talks with a group of ISPs that were trying and keep the DSL service running for at least one more month.

The ISPs offered $2.4 million to keep the network going following AT&T's buyout of NorthPoint - AT&T took the carrier's network and equipment, but not its customer base.

But on Tuesday evening talks broke down after NorthPoint asked for more cash. This left the 100,000 former NorthPoint DSL users in limbo, with their ISPs scrambling to try and switch them to different carriers - not knowing how long they had before the network would go down.

NorthPoint yesterday claimed it had been "forced to shut down its DSL network after efforts to secure funding for continued, interim operations failed."

Telocity, the ISP that led the talks with NorthPoint, said it received an email this morning informing it that the network was coming down. The company reckons it will take around three weeks to switch customers to other carriers. ®

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