Blacknight has agreed with BT Ireland to take over the email services which were originally provided to consumers by the old Ireland Online, ESAT and Ocean internet service providers (ISPs).
While customers no longer use those old dial-up services, a significant number continue to use the email addresses they came with, which use the domains @iol.ie, @esatclear.ie, @iolfree.ie or @oceanfree.net.
Over the years, BT’s business model evolved and the company now no longer serves the consumer and small business market. For that reason, BT Ireland has asked Blacknight to take over these legacy email services.
Based in Carlow, Blacknight is the leading Irish provider of domain names, web hosting and email services.
BT is contacting its users to give them the option of transferring their email service to Blacknight, or choosing to have the service shut down.
Blacknight has committed to keep the BT legacy email accounts free for at least 12 months.
A pilot migration of 1,000 mailboxes has already begun. Users who have a received an invitation to move their email to Blacknight should note the following points:
- This is not a fake email. We understand that some people may have been using their email for so long that they may have forgotten that the companies which originally provided them were acquired by BT. If your email address ends in @iol.ie, @esatclear.ie, @iolfree.ie or @oceanfree.net, then this applies to you, and you can expect (or you may already have received) an email from BT Ireland inviting you to transfer your account to Blacknight.
- If you have not received an email from BT Ireland yet, you will. There is nothing you can do until then. Under data protection laws, we cannot migrate your email to Blacknight until you have given BT Ireland your consent to migrate.
If you are one of the affected account holders, and would like to know more about Blacknight and the email migration project, click here for further information. BT Ireland have also prepared an FAQ available here.