Ihug

Infobox_Company
company_name = ihug Limited
company_
company_type = Subsidiary
company_slogan = Connect Better
foundation = Auckland, New Zealand (1994)
location = Auckland, New Zealand
owner = Vodafone
num_employees = 100
homepage = [http://www.ihug.co.nz/ www.ihug.co.nz] Wikinewshas|news relating to ihug|*
*
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ihug was New Zealand's third largest ISP (behind Xtra and TelstraClear), before it was bought, then absorbed by Vodafone's New Zealand division (New Zealand's largest mobile phone operator). According to 2005 estimates, it had over 100,000 internet and phone subscribers. Before 2000 Ihug was New Zealand's largest ISP but as other ISPs began offering flat rate services, many customers opted to transfer to those providers, particularly Xtra.

Ihug originally stood for Internet Home Users Group, even though the name is seldom used. It was also known as "The Internet Group" or 'TIG' in Australia. Ihug was sold to iiNet in 2003 before being sold to Vodafone in 2006 after interest from then Television New Zealand subsidiary THL and competitor Orcon [http://m-net.net.nz/news-by-organisation/vodafone/vodafone-buys-ihug-for-41m-2.php 1] . Its headquarters are in Auckland, New Zealand. The former CEO was Mark Rushworth, who now works as Manager of Marketing.

The company also ran a small subscription television service in Auckland for a while.

After Vodafone shut down the ihug name in April 2008, existing customers were moved to Vodafone's own internet services, although customers had the choice of retaining their email addresses. [cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10488214|title=Vodafone shuts down ihug brand|publisher=The New Zealand Herald|date=23 January 2008|author=Helen Twose]

See also Broadband Internet Access (New Zealand)

History

* 1994: Ihug was started by brothers Nick Wood and Tim Wood operating out of a garage.
* 1995: Ihug was the first company to introduce the flat rate internet.
* 1997: Ihug begins trading in Australia.
** Ihug purchases Dunedin-based ES Net, establishing a South Island customer base.
** IHUG establishes SatNet and Ultra satellite broadband services.
* 1998: Over 4500 websites on the ihug homepages' server were deleted after the machine was hacked. [http://www.infosecnews.org/hypermail/9811/1149.html]
* 1999: Then owners Nick and Tim Wood were listed on the NBR Rich List.
** Ihug launches ihugPhone, VoIP-based toll bypass and post-paid calling card voice services
* 2003: Ihug merges with iiNet.
* 2005: Ihug offloads satellite infrastructure to concentrate on ADSL broadband.
* 2006: Ihug sold to Vodafone (NZ operations only). [http://www.ihug.co.nz/about/newsroom/releases/Media%20release_44052.pdf]
* 2008: Vodafone shuts down the ihug brand

Criticism

During the late nineties and early 2000's Ihug was criticized for very slow connection speeds on dial-up, this was a result of the popularity of their flat-rate service. During busy times customers could expect to see download speeds of less than 1kb per second and sometimes couldn't connect due to overloading on the phone lines. Furthermore, after they were taken over by Vodafone, many ihug connections suffered from chronic instability.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ihug.co.nz/ ihug]
* [http://www.iinet.com.au iiNet]
* [http://www.vodafone.co.nz Vodafone NZ]