Pipex goes Wimax only

MACHINATIONS OVER at the Brit web company formerly known as Pipex Communications. It has just announced plans to sell of its web hosting business to a private equity company.

A newly formed company, Host Europe WVS will become a subsidiary of Oakley Capital Private Equity LP. This should confuse the hell out of existing customers.

Only the other day clients of Pipex's domain name registration company – 123-reg were informed that they'd know be moved over to GX Networks.

The email said, "The changes you notice will be minor: a different company name will appear on the bottom of our website and on messages we send to you, and charges on your bank account or credit card may appear under the new company name.

Day to day, it is business as usual here. The team behind 123-reg isn't changing and you won't notice any difference to your 123-reg services."

Presumably 123-reg customers will now be told they belong to Host Europe.

The rump of Pipex is effectively a company called Freedom4 Communications. This has carried out successful trials of Wimax (based on the IEEE 802.16e standard) in Milton Keynes and Manchester.

Rather than being painted as a '4G' technology, 802.16e is being positioned as an alternative to fixed line internet technologies such as SDSL.

The sell off comes just a short time after Intel Capital announced it was pumping loads of dollars into Freedom4 in order to help the company roll Wimax out to 50 UK cities.

The INQ was under the impression that the Wimax service was being sold to customers by the former Pipex Business which changed its name to Vialtus.

Presumably that bit has gone off to Host Europe, too.

Intel's a major investor in Freedom4, of course. Its combined Wi-fi/Wimax module codenamed 'Echo Peak' is set to appear in its Montevina processors around Q3 2008.

Its dedicated, low-power mobile Wimax chip codenamed 'Baxter Peak' are also set to appear in consumer electronic devices some time in 2008. µ

An editor adds: Good job, Tone. That's the first time the word 'machinations' has ever made it to an Inq story. Don't expect any more money, though.