I have heard about an ISP that donates your subscription fee to charity, is this true and if so can you give me more information

Asks panda

A. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) you are referring to is called Its Good to Give.

www.itsgoodtogive.co.uk. It donates �1 of the �9.99 monthly subscription charge to a number of chosen charities. If you take out an annual subscription for 107.99 (which saves you �11.89 for the year), it donates �10 to charity. Its Good to Give also donates 50% of its virtual high street revenue (as it acts as a shopping portal) to charity too.

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This site should be called "Too good to be true" because you don't just feel good about yourself by donating money to charity while you're surfing the net, you get a free phone too. For the first 100,000 to sign up for Its Good To Give.co.uk Internet services, Genie Mobile is offering consumers a free Nokia 3330 WAP mobile phone with free SMS and free WAP mobile Internet.

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Q. If I sign up for the service, do I have to pay for my calls too

A. No, it is an unmetered service - so you won't have to pay any extra charges for your time spent on the Internet.

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Q. How does that compete with other ISPs

A. It is one of the cheapest available - monthly charges from its main competitors are typically more expensive e.g. Freeserve charge �12.99, BT Connect Anytime is �19.99 and Internet Anytime and AOL charge �14.99.

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Q. Is this service available on all phone lines

A. Currently, it is only available on BT phone lines�- but this is expected to change before the end of the year.

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Q. Does this ISP offer anything else besides Internet access

A. It also has an email service (with five addresses per account); up to 5Mb of space on Webmail mailbox storage, a web based personal organiser and 5MB of personal or business Web space - enough for 300 pages of text and graphics. Users can also opt to retain their existing email address. In addition, this ISP has a two-hour auto cut-off mechanism if the account is on-line but not in use.

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Q. How many users can it accommodate

A. Initially it can handle 10,000 users and once this is fulfilled Its Good To Give.co.uk can expand its capacity within a period of two weeks - this way it claims it can undercut its competitors unmetered rates.

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Q. What charities does it donate to

A. Its partnership charities include the following: Amnesty International, Arthritis Care, Blue Cross, RNIB, The Children's Society, British Heart Foundation, Princess Royal Trust For Carers, The Sail Training Association and International Rescue Corp.

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Q. How will this ISP support itself

A. It will support itself through subscription fees and advertising. It believes it can operate on 50% of its income (donating the remainder to charity). It encourages its users to click on all banner and full page adverts, because every time you do the advertiser will donate some money to the partnership charities - 50% of all revenue gained through advertising will be donated. In addition if you shop in its virtual high street (a limited portal to some high street shops), these shops will also donate some money to the partnership charities. In addition, any commission paid to the ISP for sales made by shops in the virtual high street will be split 50/50 with the partnership charities.

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Q. How can I be sure the money is going to charity

A. Its Good to Give has set up a trust account with NatWest (full information of this account, including its number and address for donations is available on its site www.itsgoodtogive.co.uk). All money in this account is the property of the charities collectively. Its Good To Give Ltd cannot use it nor can the Bank or any creditors of the company access it for the purpose of meeting any debts the company may incur whether whilst it is trading or in the event of its liquidation. The money can only be distributed to the charities.

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By Karen Anderson