BT Wholesale terminates services to the ISP after its failure to pay bills

Redten Communications, the internet service provider (ISP) that offered customers a free notebook PC, appears to have ceased trading.

One reader wrote in to say he had received notification from BT Wholesale on Monday afternoon advising him that it has stopped providing a service to Redten. The ISP used BT Wholesale ADSL lines to provide broadband services to its customers.

We contacted BT for verification and it told us in a statement that it "can confirm that Redten Ltd's service has been terminated as a result of its failure to meet its financial commitments with one of BT Wholesale Broadband's customers (BT Wholesale White Label Managed Services).

"Redten customers are being automatically redirected to a web page informing them of the termination. The web page also allows them to generate a migration authorisation code (MAC) instantly (they simply click on a button to obtain their MAC there and then) so that they can then give this to the new ISP of their choice."

However the note from BT Wholesale is the only official communication Redten customers have received. The Redten website is still live and taking orders.

We tried calling the sales team and a recorded message told us our call would be answered but after 20 minutes we gave up. We then tried the premium rate broadband support number but this was unobtainable and we have also emailed the company for clarification.

Redten was set up in 2006 under the umbrella of defunct electronics retailer Watford Electronics. This company, which owned the Saverstore online retailer, went into administration in February 2007. Financial services firm Smith & Williamson was appointed as administrator and sold on certain assets, such as desks, chairs and customer lists, to a company called Globally Ltd.

However Redten was not part of the buyout and continued to trade as a separate company.