Information Highway Robbery

Northrock may now be offering DSL and long-distance phone calls at rates that are the cheapest on the Island and even comparable with those found elsewhere in the world, but as far as its web hosting charges go Bermudians are still being ripped off.

Earlier this week my wife was informed by Northrock that by using the personal web space that comes with our account to host the website for her summer swim tuition programme, she was in violation of their Acceptable Use Policy. Fair enough: that policy does indeed prohibit the use of personal web pages for commercial purposes. So we asked them what options we had for hosting her site legitimately with them.

It turned out that these options start at $45 per month plus a $150 setup fee for a basic site with 30 MB of disc space. Extra space comes at $10 per 10 MB. You do, however, get an .bm domain name for free and there's no limit on bandwidth.

If you want FrontPage extensions, MS Access, Perl or PHP, the charges rise to $65 per month plus a $150 setup fee. Add in .NET, SQL Server or Cold Fusion and you're looking at $145 per month plus a $250 setup fee. SSL adds an additional $57 per month and $150 to the setup fee.

Compared to what you'd pay at a typical US-based host, these rates are extortionate. Consider Total Choice Web Hosting, the provider we elected to go with. The closest they get to Northrock's basic service is their 'Starter Plan'. Here's how the two stack up:

Price: $4 per month ($30 at Northrock)
Setup Fee: None ($150)
Disc Space: 450 MB (30 MB)
FrontPage extensions, Perl, PHP, mySQL database, SSL: Yes (No)

Why any small business would host their website with Northrock beats me. Perhaps their uptime or support is better. Perhaps their servers can cope with higher loads. But I'm sceptical. And for a small business that's just getting started, I'm not sure it matters much.

Comments

[JenJoyful on 04.06.04 at 20:35]

yeah, Northrock has an insane billing structure for webhosting - I will take the opportunity to plug Logic because even though they are still WAY more expensive that overseas hosting, they offer a more competitive price than many of the other local options.

I find for the most part, people host their sites in Bermuda for one of two reasons: 1. for tax/legality purposes their business site must be hosted overseas 2. you do (usually) get more attentive customer service on the island.

I have so much trouble getting a hold of the customer service representative at my host in the US, because to them I am but one customer out of thousands. In Bermuda at least you are only one out of a few hundred.

[Somers on 07.06.04 at 09:18]

I help people with setup and development all the time. I am a supporter of "Buy Bermuda", but when it is the rip off that these clowns perform, my first recommendation to clients is to host overseas.
Plus with an overseas host, they allow you to access all your site settings via a handy web tool, so it's not even like you need anyone there anyway.

[Charlie on 25.08.04 at 16:06]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed yet, but has anybody explored using Vonage for their long distance phone service? After a couple rounds of interviews, I'm currently hoping for an offer in Bermuda. If I'm fortunate enough to move there, I will contact Vonage to order their adapter. Assuming adequate high speed internet is available, it uses VoIP and allows you to pick what US area code the calls will originate from. So, if I pick 646, then my NYC friends will be able to call for free. Since it includes free long distance to anywhere in the US or Canada, I will be able to keep in contact with my family while avoiding long distance charges...

Has anybody had success using Vonage or a similar VoIP product? Are the home internet connections relatively stable?

[someone special on 17.11.04 at 14:40]

I agree with many of the posters about web hsoting charges. But I use FKBnet's service and pay $24.95 for their basic service which gives me a lot of benefits. I have found Logic to be too expensive also and not the best service.

[Cedar Hill on 21.12.04 at 11:17]

What is the official position on VOIP long distance? I've seen Vonage boxes at IBC and now we've got buzz.bm...

How can callback services be illegal but internet telephony not be?

Is ignorance bliss?