March 29, 2008

Drat

I've been using Ricochet as my ISP for years now. It's a network that uses an external wireless modem, and it's only available in San Diego and Denver. In the late nineties they envisioned a national network, but the technology was surpassed by other wireless devices. The Ricochet modem works at 128k at best, but they tried to stay competitive by offering a very low price, about $27 a month, IIRC. I figured the service was doomed, and in the wee hours yesterday morning they sent out this e-mail:

Dear Ricochet Customer:

Civitas Wireless Solutions, LLC regrets to announce we will be ceasing
to operate the Ricochet(R) wireless network in the Denver metropolitan
area effective March 28th, 2008. This includes both wireless and dial
access services.

We have arranged with Comcast to provide you with High Speed Internet
services at a special price, to provide you an outstanding alternative
for your Internet needs. Please contact Comcast at 1-888-824-8457 and
mention that you are a former Ricochet customer to receive the special
rate of $29.99 a month for 12 months, with free installation of Comcast
High Speed Internet. To receive this rate, please call before April
15th, 2008.

If you use a Ricochet email address, you can maintain your email
account for only $6.00 per month. Please send an email to
support@forethought.net with Ricochet in the subject line, or contact
ForeThought.net at 303-***-**** for further details. You must contact
Forethought.net by 12pm, Wednesday, April 2nd, or your email service
will be discontinued and you will not have access to your email.
Subscribers who choose not to continue email service through
Forethought.net will not have access to Ricochet email past 12pm on
April 2nd.

It has been a pleasure serving you over the past several years. Should
you have any questions regarding your account please email our Customer
Care team at customercare@ricochet.net.


Regards,
Ricochet Customer Care
Civitas Wireless Solutions,

Ugh. Although I'm happy to report my connection is still functioning this morning. I don't know what I'll do for an ISP when this goes out.

UPDATE: A quick check of Google News comes up empty for any public announcement, but it is up at ricochet.com, where it wasn't yesterday.

UPDATE AGAIN: Nine News: Internet provider's sudden shutdown angers customers.

Posted by Walter at March 29, 2008 10:56 AM
Comments

I use tde.com for landline service and am real happy with them. Don't know about wireless, though. They're local to the Denver area.

Posted by: David Aitken at March 29, 2008 03:19 PM

You go with Comcast for $29/month which is about $20 less than what I pay for it including modem rental, assuming its available in your area. I might even have to call and tell them I heard about the great price Ricochet customers are getting so I can get it too!

Posted by: andy at March 29, 2008 06:14 PM

What's keeping you from Comcast? Price, reputation, bad experience, all three?

Posted by: Matt Moore at March 30, 2008 12:31 AM