from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Demon Internet Ltd.
<company> One of the first company to provide public
{Internet} access in the UK.
The staff of Demon Systems Ltd., an established software
house, started Demon Internet on 1992-06-01 and it was the
first system in the United Kingdom to offer low cost full
{Internet} access. It was started with the support of about
100 founder members who discussed the idea on {Compulink
Information Exchange}, and were brave enough to pay a year's
subscription in advance. They aimed to have 200 members in
the first year to cover costs, ignoring any time spent. After
about two weeks they realised they needed nearer 400. By
November 1993 they had over 2000 subscribers and by August
1994 they had about 11000 with 20% per month growth. All
revenues have been reinvested in resources and expansion of
service.
Demon link to {Sprintlink} in the United States making them
totally independent. They peer with {EUNet} and {PIPEX} to
ensure good connectivity in Great Britain as well as having
links to the {JANET}/{JIPS} UK academic network. A direct
line into the Department of Computing, Imperial College,
London (http://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk) from their Central
London {Point of Presence} (PoP) (styx.demon.co.uk) gives
access to the biggest {FTP} and {Archie} site in Europe.
Demon provide local call access to a large proportion of the
UK. The central London {PoP} provides {leased line}
connections at a cheaper rate for those customers in the
central 0171 area. Further lines and {PoPs} are being added
continuously.
Subscribers get allocated an {Internet Address} and can choose
a {hostname} within the demon.co.uk {domain}. They can have
any number of e-mail address at that host.
In October 1994 Demon confirmed a large contract with the
major telecommunications provider {Energis}. They will supply
guaranteed bandwidth to Demon's 10Mb/s {backbone} from several
cities and towns. Several {PoPs} will be phased out and
replaced with others during 1995.
E-mail: <[email protected]>.
(ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/).
(http://demon.co.uk/).
Usenet newsgroup: news:demon.announce.
Telephone: +44 (181) 349 0063.
Address: Demon Internet Ltd., 42 Hendon Lane, Finchley, London
N3 1TT, UK.
(1994-11-08)