KPNQwest customers told cough up and we'll stay up

Customers of bankrupt internet data carrier KPNQwest are being told by the company's administrators and banks to pay what they owe and the network may continue to run.

Yesterday the banks sent all customers a statement asking them to pay outstanding debts. It also requested customers pay in advance if they intended to continue to use KPNQwest's network.

A spokesman for KPNQwest said: "The banks are saying pay up and we'll have sufficient funds to pay staff and suppliers to keep the network alive long enough for customers to migrate to other networks.

"There are a number of initiatives underway to keep the network live. People are even working for free because they are committed to their customers," he added.

However, KPNQwest customer Simon Brummitt, MD at e-commerce provider Intellnet, said messages from KPNQwest were getting more confusing by the day.

He said: "I'm getting no help at all from KPNQwest. Someone in Brussels told me the pay in advance letter from the bank is a ruse for the administrators to get people to pay up to date."

Brummitt added: "The UK business has not yet filed for bankruptcy which means we can't get into the server building where our data is held in Docklands. We currently have a Cisco PIX firewall in Docklands, being managed by KPNQwest but all their people have disappeared and we can't get into the building."

An ex-shift manager at KPNQwest based at the company's main network hub in Brussels said he and several other members of staff barricaded themselves into the building yesterday when they were fired and are now working for free to keep the network up.

He said: "We are keeping the network running by ourselves, for free. So far the administrators are not doing anything about us and are letting us come and go to change shifts."

When asked why he and his colleagues were prepared to work for free, he stated: "For the simple reason that this network is too important. We've worked here for years to optimise this network and we don't want to let it go without a fight. Plus if our customers go down, there will be a lot of bankruptcies across Europe."

The spokesman from KPNQwest stated: "The impact of this network going down would be phenomenal. It carries 40 per cent of the internet traffic through Europe. Our customers include Nokia, Yahoo, HP, Cap Gemeini and ABN Amro. You name it, they're on the network," he added.