Pipex misses out on 30,000 Bulldog customers

Pipex, the ISP which bought the customer base of its troubled rival Bulldog, has revealed it actually acquired 30,000 fewer customers than it expected.

Bulldog had a base of 110,000 users when the deal was agreed last September but Pipex said once the transfer was completed it had only gained 80,000 more customers. It appears the remaining 30,000 left Bulldog, which has suffered a litany of technical and support problems over the past couple of years, culminating in an Ofcom inquiry.

On the plus side for Pipex, it will now have to pay less than the planned £12.5m to Bulldog's former parent Cable & Wireless for the customer base, because the purchase price was calculated on a per-subscriber basis.

A trading statement released last week said Pipex's management "remains well pleased with the acquisition".

Richard Thurston writes for ZDNet UK