BT and FRIACO (19 December 2000) Now there are three large Internet Service Providers offering, or soon to offer, unmetered Internet access based on FRIACO: AOL UK, Freeserve and BT Openworld (branded BT Internet). The last is a big surprise as BT did not invent FRIACO - it was developed by MCI WorldCom and AOL UK and mandated by OFTEL - and, in fact, has fought desperately against it. Or perhaps it is not so surprising: BT Openworld is scheduled to be partially floated as a separate company from BT. We have always been doubtful of how independent Internet Service Providers attached to telecommunications operators are, and what could be a better way of showing a little independence? Only BT Openworld's ADSL service buying connectivity from outside rather than from Ignite, as has been hinted. The eagerness to announce FRIACO-based products is surprising given that the various flavours of FRIACO and how they interact is not yet finalised. The back of our envelope says that the eventual cost of FRIACO to service providers could vary by a factor of 4, there could be anything from almost zero to very large infrastructure changes, and anything from small to large regulatory hurdles depending on what happens in the end, never mind sales and marketing having to be completely recast and billing systems installed in some cases! But, given recent collapses and warnings from ourselves and others that the credibility of the telecommunications and ISP industries is in danger of being undermined - if it is not already undermined - perhaps minds are finally being concentrated. A correspondent noted 'where else would the wholesale details of a service be given to end users?' Indeed: are you told, for example, how your gas and electricity was bought and sold from other suppliers? We believe that this relative openness is a Good Thing; it would seem that people are no longer fooled by unsustainable unmetered services and responsible Internet Service Providers understand. Now the task is to make FRIACO work however it finally turns out.