Poptel

{{Short description|Early British internet provider and workers co-operative}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Poptel

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| type = Worker co-operative

| foundation = {{Start date|1983}}

| location_city = Manchester

| location_country = United Kingdom

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Poptel was initially an email and bulletin board service, and later a British internet and on-line services provider that was run by an employee co-operative (worker co-operative) from 1986 to 2002.

In the 1980s, Poptel offered on-line communications and information services to international NGOs, working in particular with the Interdoc group.[https://www.apc.org/about/history/interdoc Brian Martin Murphy, History of APC] 2004, retrieved May 2016 Poptel was a partner in the Manchester Host and the Kirklees Host and became known as a provider of Internet services to the Labour Party.{{Cite web |title=Lords Hansard text for 13 Jul 2000 (200713-11) |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/vo000713/text/00713-11.htm |website=www.parliament.uk}}{{Cite web |title=BBC Politics 97 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/parties/palab.shtml |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=www.bbc.co.uk}} Working with the National Cooperative Business Association of the US, it launched the successful bid to create a top level Internet domain for use exclusively by co-operatives - ".coop".{{Cite web |title=Proposed TLD Sponsorship Agreement: Attachment 15 (.coop) |url=https://www.icann.org/resources/unthemed-pages/sponsorship-agmt-att15-2001-11-05-en |website=icann.org}}

Poptel was "demutualised" and broken up into smaller businesses in September 2002. Staff from the web development department formed a new co-operative, Poptech (later Fused Technologies). OSG Co-op (now Midcounties Co-operative) took over the .coop registry operation. The retail Internet Services business was merged with The Phone Co-op in 2003. In 2012, the .coop registry was transferred to the International Co-operative Alliance.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-29 |title=ICA acquires .coop business to take movement into future {{!}} ICA |url=https://ica.coop/en/media/news/ica-acquires-coop-business-take-movement-future |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=ica.coop |language=en}}