RiPWiRE Announcement

[SpencerUk]

Hi Liam,
So do we cancel RiPWiRE direct debits now in prep for the migration?
If there is going to be no loss of service, I suspect that PPPoE protocol will still be used?.
FAO all users, If you want to put your questions in this thread that you wish to ask to Ask4, I will fire an email off and if you are wanting to be copied in to the reply, please say so and I will BCC everyone in.

[Hippojay]

My questions are probably the same as everyone else's:* Contracts migrated as-is, or moved to new contracts (not sure how that would work)* Same service terms as ripwire (for instance 40/10/unlimited).* What if we don't agree with migration (I assume then service is ceased)
To be honest, ripwire gave a fairly basic service, so I can't think of anything else specifically that I might lose
Would have been nice to have the option to migrate to an ISP of our choice, but i daresay that ASK4 are picking this up and that the volume of users will offset that charge (or it's being clawed back from the empty shell of ripwire somehow).
Lets see what happen eh.
EDIT: Also, nice to see this being sorted quickly for the users. I reserve judgement, but it could be a "thumbs up" for DR.

[ThEGr33k]

just what Hippo says, and like you mention Spencer, what do we do about Direct Debit etc.
BCC me please, or just post it up here?]
Cheers!

[SpencerUk]

The questions I have so far are;

• Any FUP?
• Any Traffic Management
• The state of RiPWiRE contract Agreements (whether they are 30 days rolling)
• If its seamless migration, is it PPoE?
• Whats happening with Direct Debits?
• Is there actually going to be a proper support page for this. The Ask4 page about DR is very poor!. (http://fast.ask4.com/about-digital-region/)

I would personally like a choice, but if DR is going to charge £50 for that, I'd rather save the £50 at the moment.
Like Liam says, the brief is probably still ongoing now as its not an easy thing to discuss so I'll fire off an email with all questions at end of office hours.
EDIT: If you would rather it just be put up on here (the email and the responses), I'm happy to do this.

[MrJoshua]

Thanks for the updates Liam, and to you Spencer for running this forum - I had no idea it was here I have all the same questions really...

Direct Debits?

Date of transition and what the we have to do to re-configure?

Same service? (ie speed, unlimited traffic, no traffic shaping, PPoE etc).

Any other changes to service?

Cheers!

Josh

[SpencerUk]

Quick update on this front,
I've worked up a draft email to send this evening. Will be sent at 17:30 today so any further questions you can think of, pile em in!

[aceado]

what will happen with the contract that we had with ripwire, would it get renewed or would it carry on as for me i would like to leave ripwire/ask4 a.s.a.p and go else where without being penalized or maybe with a small fee if need be.

btw what questions do you have so far so we know ? incase we reask again lol

[SpencerUk]

@Aceado
First off welcome to the board. Questions are as below so far.
[*]Some of us still have open active direct debits with RiPWiRE. Do we cancel them now and await your contact for instruction of a new Direct Debit?[*]RiPWiRE contacts. Some people are on 30 day rolling contracts and some are still in the 12 month agreement. When we migrate over, do contracts carry on as is or are we put into a new contract with yourselves?. [*]I assume the service will be up to 40mb and up to 10mb up the same?..Unlimited?[*]Is there any traffic shaping, fair usage policy on your network?[*]Do you use PPoE?[*]If we do not agree to migrate over to Ask4, is the service ceased free of charge?[*]When is the proposed migration date?, what changes will be required (if any) from the end users side?[*]Is there any changes that the user should be aware of when coming over to your service (ie Support remits, opening times, support pages, etc)[/list]In relation to asking to leave for free or a small fee, wait for my post tonight on this . Hope that may clear something up for you.

[jonthornhill]

All,

I would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Jonathan Thornhill, I am one of the directors at Ask4 and have been part of the team that has worked with Liam over the weekend arranging the purchase of the Digital Region Client base that has taken place.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Liam for his co-operation and support. It has not been easy for him and we wish him all the best for the future.

We have issued a formal press release that will be hitting the community this afternoon, but first and foremost I want to set out our plan and priorities.

Our main priority and reason for the purchase is to maintain the customers at all costs. We are passionate about our service and client care and this takes president over anything else.

Our team has been briefed and have been working hard all day to develop a migration plan that is as seamless as possible. We are hopeful that by the close of play tomorrow, we will have that plan. In the meantime, I would like to confirm that all services will be maintained without disruption.

As part of the negotiations, we have agreed terms with Digital Region, Thales and other key suppliers to Ripwire to make sure that the lights do not get turned off. We have written confirmation from all of these parties that we have there full and unconditional support.

In relation to the service, Ask4 have had the current Ripwire contracts assigned to Ask4. This means that the service, speed, contract terms etc are all maintained as they were previously. For example, if you have 6 months left on your current contract, then the same applies. We are operating the Ripwire service against the terms and conditions set out by Ripwire. The simple message here is that nothing changes.

There will be no fees for migration. Ask4 have entered into new supply agreements with Digital Region / Thales for the remainder of the Ripwire services. Any costs associated with the migration are absorbed by Ask4.

Our support team will start the process of contacting all of the customers this evening to introduce themselves and to pass on the relevant support details.

We will be writing to all the customer explaining what has happened.

I can confirm that Ripwire will not be making a billing run in February. Our assignment date is from the 1st of February. This means that Ask4 will be responsible to collect monies due. We will have to enter into new direct debit agreements to make this part happen. Our support team will explain how this process happens.

In the mean time, please rest assured that your service will be maintained. If you have any questions at all, please can I ask that you make contact with the support team on 0845 123 8710, [email protected] or you can text help to 07797 800545




Many thanks Jonathan

[jonthornhill]

I would also like to give the customer base some comfort.

Ask4 are a RIPE registered ISP and have been trading since 2000. Our core business is to supply managed internet service to large student accommodation blocks, large residential apartment blocks and a range of business customers.

We have a comprehensive network that is fully diverse and is linked back to Manchester and London at 10gb/s. We have direct connections with key networks like Google. We have multiple interconnects to tier 1 carriers in London and Manchester.

With regards to the alternative options on Digital Region, Ask4 are the largest local provider outside Plusnet. We have multiple connections in to the Digital Region network and work closely with them on the challenges that they face. We are a stable and profitable organisation.

It is important to stress that we do not make a high amount of noise about our services because we believe in our service delivery. We have an open book of clients. Our student base covers more than 70,000 customers.

We employ around 60 staff and operate a support center that is in operation 24/7

We have recently moved into our new headquarters opposite Devonshire Green.

I hope this gives some customer comfort that there supply is in safe hands.

Thanks Jonathan