Tiscali denies UK subscribers face cut-off

Tiscali UK has issued a statement denying that the broadband access of its million UK subscribers is under threat because of financial problems.

And it attacked the broadband comparison site Top 10 Broadband for " irresponsibility" in suggesting otherwise as a way of driving traffic to its site.

The statement said: "We can assure customers that there will be no impact on their broadband services and support of services will continue as usual.

"Some press articles have failed to highlight the positive news, which is that our banks are continuing to support us, and we are confident of the future of our business."

Tiscali is the second UK service provider to hit trouble in a month. Thousands of Prodigy Internet customers have been left without a connection after the Sheffield-based service provider was cut off by its supplier BT, according to Top 10 Broadband.

There was talk of Tiscali UK, the British arm of the Italian-owned company, being bought out by Carphone Warehouse but that now seems unlikely. Tiscali has said talks over a sale to Sky have stalled.

Top 10 Broadband marketing manager Jessica McArdle warned in a press release: "The problems suffered by two high-profile ISPs suggest that more broadband providers could be hit in months to come."

Tiscali UK said in a statement: "We are reviewing our legal position on this press release."

Top 10 Broadband later issued a statement saying that after speaking with Tiscali it agreed that its press release “might have caused unnecessary concern* to subscribers.

The statement added: “We understand from Tiscali that its lending banks are continuing to support the company and any suggestions that customers could be switched off are speculative and unhelpful. We have apologised for this and retracted the release.”

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