 In 1998, United News & Media bought a 33% stake in the company for an undisclosed sum.LineOne offered customers 0845 (Local Rate) access to the Internet (which required a monthly subscription) as well as offering e-mail and web hosting services, which were included in the subscription fee.Freeserve launched in 1998, and was the first major ISP to offer a subscription free dialup service that only charged the standard per minute local call rate for access.