PLUSNET customers have been unable to access their inboxes for several weeks, amid fears the legacy service is shutting down.
A member of Plusnet’s support staff has said the problem is “affecting all Madasafish email accounts” – including addresses ending in @ic24.net.
The outage appears to have started around 11 November, according to ISPreview, which first reported the issue.
The BT-owned broadband provider has not said what caused the problem, or when it will be fixed.
A Plusnet spokesperson told ISPreview: “We are very sorry that a small number of Plusnet customers are unable to access their email.
“We are working to fix this as soon as possible and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
The legacy service is over 20 years old, and is no longer extended to new customers.
It was previously run by a now defunct internet provider called Madasafish, which was merged into Plusnet in 2007 before closing operations in 2015.
Plusnet, however, has continued to support the email service.
One affected user told the Plusnet: “I am 81 years old and email is a lifeline to contact doctors etc if the phone line fails, so therefore I must have your immediate help to restore my email service.”
Rumours about the service closing down have circulated in web forums for years.
Two customers in a community support page claim they were told by Plusnet call centre staff in August that “the email will sooner or later come to an end”.
However, a Plusnet community moderator said that wasn’t true.
If there is a plan to winddown the email service, there will be an formal announcement.
Claims that the service is ending appear to just be speculation.
Experts have long advised against using an email directly tied to your internet service provider, as it can get messy when trying to switch providers.
People often lose access to their email addresses when they move to a new company, if the same company provides both services.
The same happens for Plusnet email users, who can be locked out of their inboxes as soon as they transfer.
