Turmoil on line for net users

By ADAM GIFFORD

The Auckland internet market is in upheaval. One internet service provider is launching, another one is crashing, and demand is choking a high-profile new shopping site.

One of New Zealand's richest men, former Caxton Paper magnate John Spencer, is diving into the internet with the December 1 launch of national provider Ezysurf.

Managing director Rex Auty said 70 per cent of the company was owned by Dresden Equities, vehicle for the Spencer family fortune, while the rest was held by staff.

Ezysurf would offer a no-frills service for a flat rate of $27.95 a month, with no connection fee.

"We will move heaven and earth to keep pricing below Xtra, Ihug and Clear," said Mr Auty.

The company was budgeting on 20,000 subscribers within a year.

"We expect to be number three in the market."

Book, video and software retailer Flying Pig had a soft launch at Advantage Group chairman Evan Christian's Newmarket townhouse yesterday.

But it was dampened when most surfers trying to access the site received an error message: "Glad you dropped by, but due to the overwhelming response we are having to limit access to allow performance tuning to occur."

The site was to be a showcase for the e-commerce skills of Advantage and the power of the server software from Microsoft, which wants to put its brand on internet shopping.

Chief information officer Phil Henderson said Flying Pig was caught by surprise by the volume of interest in the site.

A new Compaq server with eight processors was being flown from Sydney overnight.

Meanwhile, small Auckland-based internet provider Meridian went off line late Monday, leaving up to 5000 customers without e-mail, web access or web sites.

Director Matthew Betts confirmed that the company had ceased trading, but said he needed to consult fellow director Dale McIsaac before he could say why.