Zetnet

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Zetnet logo
Zetnet logo

Zetnet is one of the UK's oldest ISPs and according to a New Scientist article[1] is the brainchild of Ghufar Razaq and Graeme Story. It was founded in Lerwick, on the remote Shetland Isles by Ghufar Razaq, Graeme Storey, Tim Cole and Paul Martin. According to the Shetland Fishing News, a journal of Shetland's Fishing Industries, the company began trading on 13 October 1994.[2][3]

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[edit] History

In March 1999 Zetnet founded online gaming service Netgames UK, the brainchild of Sandy Sandom and Phil O'Malley.[4] It was originally a wholly owned subsidiary, sharing Zetnet technical staff, but was sold in May 2000 and incorporated as Netgames UK Ltd.[5] The company was run successfully until August 2001 when reports of a press release detailing a fall-out between Netgames UK management and its technical staff were seen.[6]

In 2001, Zetnet took over Charis Internet Services, a Birmingham-based ISP.

In January 2002 Zetnet bought the customers of troubled ISP Cloud-Nine Communications, which had suffered a DDoS attack.[7][8] Cloud Nine were based in Basingstoke, run by CEO Emeric Miszti and Operations Director John Parr.[9]

From its community based Shetland roots, the company attracted a large clientele across the UK, attracted by its community ethos and open management. Whilst not leaving its Lerwick roots, the main servers are now located in the Manchester DataCentre where most of the company's operations are now carried out.

[edit] Legal case

In 1996, Zetnet was caught in the middle of a legal case between two of its local customers, The Shetland Times and The Shetland News, over copyright infringement.[10] The web sites of both customers were hosted by Zetnet.

[edit] References

[edit] External links