Breathe scoops up Biscit assets

Breathe Networks has bought the business of the collapsed UK ISP Biscit Internet. In other words, it is taking on the customers, but not the debts of the company which went into administration earlier this week.

Terms are undisclosed, but Breathe says the acquisition represents a "significant investment" for the company.

Breathe is getting 13,500 customers from Biscit and is gunning for a "smooth migration with no downtime or disruption for customers". And it will provide them with MAC codes to enable them to move elsewhere, if they choose

This will come as some relief for Biscit customers, especially those inherited through last year's disastrous acquisition of V21.

They were caught in crossfire between Biscit and its wholesale bandwidth provider, NetServices, which pulled the plug following a billing dispute, encouraged former V21 customers to move to a different ISP, and refused to give the MAC codes to enable them to move independently

Biscit went to court to fend off that land grab. But since then, tales of patchy service, bounced cheques and disgruntled customers have flooded through the ISP forum sites.

Breathe is a well-known name in the UK ISP world - in the late '90s it earned our derision for its attempts to build an business by attracting "modern urbanists". It too has been through the mill, with the breathe.net name over the year passed through the hands of three, maybe four companies. Last year it was resurrected as a company, Breathe Networks Limited, taken out of administration of Net Access through a management buy out.

In a statement today, the company proclaims: "Supported by a strong management team, breathe is ready to rise to former glories with new offerings and expansion into different markets". ®