In this demerger game of musical chairs, Freeserve will be left standing on the sidelines, yet again.
Freeserve has fallen victim to the recent slide of its share price and two large company demergers.
Then UK firms like Freeserve and a raft of imitators dramatically cut costs by offering "free" internet access.
Among those joining BT in giving evidence were net providers AOL, NTL, Freeserve, and telecoms regulatory watchdog Oftel.
One of the key factors driving take-up is the marketing efforts from providers such as BT, AOL and Freeserve.
Besides T-Online and Terra Networks, Freeserve, the next biggest by market capitalisation, was set up by Dixon's, a British retailer.
Altavista's move is seen as an attempt to make up ground on Freeserve, MSN and the other multitude of UK ISPs.
Several of the newcomers have already dropped out, and now it is Freeserve's turn to make space for old economy stalwarts.
Dixons's Freeserve enjoys a special advantage that Libertysurf will have to do without: a generous cut of the increased telephone bills.
Now, many websites detail how to sign up for Freeserve, and many other net service companies, without using the special installation software.
When Freeserve launched in September 1998, many people installing its software were shocked to find Freeserve icons popping up on their screens.
Last week Freeserve said that its network is starting to getting jammed as more people try and subscribe to its unmetered service.
Freeserve was one of the high tech, new economy firms that made a spectacular entry into the list of FTSE 100 firms this spring.
Freeserve describes the service as a "loss-leader" for its e-commerce operation.
About half of these are via its own ISP BTopenworld and the rest is made up from wholesale connections from ISPs such as AOL and Freeserve.
Having observed the success of the no-cost Internet access offered by Freeserve in Britain, Microsoft is preparing the way for low-price or even free Internet access in America.
Analysts point to Britain's Freeserve and Wanadoo as potential partners.
Companies still taking on subscribers - which include Freeserve, RedHotAnt and NTL - are restricting the numbers that are signing up in an attempt to keep the service manageable.
ISPs are cagey about how much they get, but Noah Yasskin of Jupiter Communications, a telecoms consultancy, estimates that Freeserve's share of the connection charges broadly covers its costs.
AOL's chairman, Steve Case, insists he will never offer a free service in the U.S., but he was more than willing to go free in England to compete with the local rival Freeserve.
And the Swiss-based bank UBS Warburg was one of the first banks to take a publicly negative stance on dot.com stocks, recommending that investors sell-out from falling stocks, such as Freeserve, as early as June.
To make things worse for Freeserve's self-esteem, another FTSE 100 company - Woolwich bank - is set to leave the stock market listings for good on Tuesday, but Freeserve cannot sneak back in to take its place.
Of BT's share of the market, half of the connections are via its own ISP BT Openworld and the rest is made up from internet service providers such as Freeserve and AOL which buy broadband wholesale from BT.
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