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2003

THUS calls for an end to the hidden costs of website hosting

THUS plc, one of the UK's leading providers of voice, networking, Internet and contact centre services, today called for an end to the hidden costs of hosting which it believes are punishing UK companies for the success of their websites. Hosting providers charge businesses for website hosting based upon the amount of traffic or data transfer their site receives. THUS, which provides hosting services through its Demon ISP brand, believes that some hosting providers are deliberately hiding the costs of additional data transfer and offering low traffic thresholds so that they can then charge customers in some cases, excessive fees for exceeding their limit. In one example a customer exceeding their traffic quota by only 10 percent would see their website hosting bill increase by over half as much as a result.

THUS today unveiled a new pricing model for its Demon Hosting Services, which has been designed with realistic throughput quotas and a penalty free upgrade path for companies should they consistently exceed their traffic allocation. In contrast to other hosting providers that immediately charge customers penalties once their allowance is exceeded, THUS will migrate customers to the next fixed price service once the customer has exceeded their allowance consistently for more than a month. The new pricing model is transparent to customers and acknowledges that website traffic is not always predictable because of the effect events and marketing campaigns can have on web site traffic.

"We believe that certain hosting providers are acting unscrupulously by charging hidden costs," said Megan Firkin, Hosting Product Manager at THUS Plc. "There is simply no correlation between the penalties charged and the degree to which customers exceed their traffic quota. The shock for many businesses at the end of the month can be horrendous. As part of our free consultancy service, we actively advise companies on the most appropriate hosting package for them and have designed a transparent pricing model designed to support successful online business, not punish them."

In March, THUS launched of a free hosting consultancy service to help UK businesses to save thousands of pounds in consultancy fees and costly mistakes. THUS is making its senior hosting consultants available to carry out reviews of companies' web and application hosting and disaster recovery strategies, enabling them to benefit from expertise gained from hosting more than 100,000 active websites over the past 10 years through the THUS and Demon brands. THUS's consultants can help businesses identify their key hosting requirements and ensure that these are being met effectively. For more information on THUS's hosting services or to request a free evaluation of their hosting strategies, companies can visit www.thus.net/consultancy or call 08000 275 8487.