Here is the official UNS announcement:

UseNetServer Now Accepting PayPal

July 7, 2010 – UseNetServer, a top-tier, best value Usenet provider, announced today that it is now accepting payments through PayPal. for its Usenet newsgroup access service. UseNetServer is proud and excited to offer PayPal™ to its Usenet subscribers internationally as part of its continued dedication to provide its users with fast, safe and secure Usenet newsgroup access. The service offerings at UseNetServer today include 600 days binary retention, over 2 years of text retention, Unlimited Usenet access, 99%+ completion, up to 20 simultaneous NNTP connections and 256bit safe and secure SSL connectivity to its servers worldwide.

For more information, visit our website at www.UseNetServer.com and chat with one of our UseNetServer support team members 24/7.

Read our UNS review to learn more about their newsgroup  services or sign up for their current special and enjoy $10 unlimited Usenet for life.

Could it be that the end of the retention war is nearing?  Earlier this week UseNetServer, Newshosting and others hit the 600 day mark for binary retention.  As we mentioned in our UNS post on Monday.  The 600 mark is a great achievement but it didn’t take us by surprise as each service has been growing retention daily for well over a year.  The surprise came when the increases stopped at 600 days.  Could this mark the end of the battle for UseNetServer, Newshosting and others?  Leaving Giganews and Astraweb to decide the final winner.

Maybe or maybe not.  We have no idea but let’s assume for a moment that Giganews, Astraweb and a handful of others are the only remaining Usenet providers increasing retention daily.  What does it mean for customers and the market as a whole?  Will Giganews and Astraweb reap the benefits?  Will sign ups suffer as the retention gap widens or might they actually increase?

If most providers stop at 600 days what does it mean to customers?

It depends on the user.  Some rarely download content over 200 days old and won’t care.  While others want the maximum number of days available and will choose based on retention levels.  Brings the “more than a mouthful” analogy to mind.

How might it effect the market?

A decision to stop at 600 days would leave Giganews, Astraweb and a handful of others to battle it out.  At $11 a month, Astraweb could have a hard time keeping pace with Giganews.  Not only in storage cost but in providing stable, reliabile service.  If they can pull it off though it would be a big win for them

Will Giganews and Astraweb reap the benefits?

Short term we think both services will see an increase in sign ups if the binary retention gap widens.  Over the long term it depends on price and reliability.  Given the price of Giganews accounts along with their history of high retention, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them spool well past the competition.  Along with adding more value through services like VyprVPN.

Will sign ups suffer if the retention gap widens or might they actually increase?

We need the crystal ball for this one.  Initially we suspect sign ups could suffer if the retention gap windens.  In three months if Astraweb is offering relioable service with 700 days of retention for $11 a month they could certainly benefit.  However, if service levels drop or Astraweb increases prices users could start migrating to UseNetServer who offers reliable service for $10 a month.

We’ll just have to wait and see how everything shakes out.  It will certainly make the next few months more interesting.

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References:

Giganews retention:  631 days
Astraweb retention:  621 days
Newshosting retention: 600 days
UseNetServer retention: 600 days

Giganews – unlimited Usenet + VyprVPN
UseNetServer – $10 unlimited Usenet
Astraweb – $11 unlimited Usenet

UseNetServer continues to offer one of the best values in Usenet with $10 unlimited newsgroup access.  Visit our UseNetServer $10 special page for more details.

Here are some highlights of the UNS High-Speed Plus account:
- $10/mo. unlimited Usenet access for life
- 600 days binary retention
- 740 days text retention
- 99% completion rate
- 20 connections
- UNS Global Search
- free SSL encryption

To learn more read our UseNetServer review or sign up and enjoy!

As mentioned in previous posts the awards are given in recognition of the best Usenet providers based on factors including service level, performance, and value.  The providers bearing this title are thoroughly tested and evaluated by the NGR editors.  UseNetServer joins Giganews, Binverse, NewsDemon and Supernews as our latest Editors Choice selections.

For UseNetServer the deciding factors included the value and reliability of the service.  Their $10 unlimited special helped them earn the #2 spot.  Other top providers including Supernews and NewsDemon offer comparably priced accounts.  However, UseNetServer stands out for offering high binary retention along with UNS global search which allows you to search newsgroups without downloading headers.

Let’s take a closer look at the UNS High-Speed Plus account features:

575+ Days of Binary Retention
- UseNetServer offers over a year and a half of binary retention along with two years of text retention.  That puts them right in line with other top providers.  Retention continues to grow daily with no end in sight.

Unlimited Usenet Access – $10 a Month for Life!
- The UNS High-Speed Plus plan is normally $17.95 a month.  They are currently offering the same service to NGR visitors for $10 a month for life.  That’s 40% off for the life of the account.  With high retention and UNS global search we consider this one of the best deals around.

UNS Global Search
– The UNS global search tool provides a nice online interface for searching newsgroups.  It offers a number of filters to narrow down search results.  Using UNS global search will save you the hassle of downloading headers.  It currently supports searching up to 250 days of posts.  We look forward to future increases.

24/7 Customer Support – Phone, Online, Email
– You hope to never have technical or billing issues but if the time arises it’s great to know you’re covered.  With UseNetServer you can contact support by phone, chat live online or drop them an email.  You can also find answers to common questions in the support area.

Other UNS features include 99%+ completion rate, news servers located in the US and Europe, up to 20 simultaneous connections and free 256-bit SSL encryption.  All of that packed into a $10 account helped UNS earn an NGR Editors’ Choice Award.  To learn more read our UseNetServer review or sign up for a $10 unlimited account.

Now we see UseNetServer offering 550 days of binary retention for $10 a month.  That’s over a year and a half of retention for $10!  Quite an accomplishment considering how important a few extra days of retention was in the past.

When it comes to binary retention Giganews still leads the way with 577 days.  Followed by Astraweb at 567 days.  However, neither offers unlimited Usenet access for $10 a month like UseNetServer.

There are also other newsgroup services in the same price range.  Supernews at $9.99 a month offering a very reliable service with 350 days retention.  NewsDemon offers comparable retention to UNS plus a free newsreader for $10.95 a month.  Astraweb offers an additional 17 days of binaries for $11 a month.

In the end though UseNetServer is the best deal going right now.  The combination of price and retention make them very hard to beat.

If you’re waiting around for a $10 Giganews account you should hedge your bet.  I think it’s more likely we’ll see premium providers like Giganews, Newshosting and others start to set themselves apart by offering valuable add-on services as we’ve seen with the recent release of Giganews VPN access.

We always encourage month to month Usenet accounts.  The UNS $10 deal is just that.  You receive unlimited newsgroup access for $10 a month for the life of your account.  Stay for years or cancel anytime.  They also offer an annual account option for $95.40 a year.  A great value that breaks down to $7.95 a month.

Newshosting – $5 unlimited Usenet access
- unlimited downloads
- 450 days retention
- 60 connections
- free SSL

UseNetServer – $5 unlimited Usenet access
- unlimited downloads
- 450 days retention
- 20 connections
- global search
- free SSL

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If you’ve been following our Usenet Black Friday post then you know there are some great deals coming just around the corner.  We have been very happy with the response from Usenet providers this year and think everyone will enjoy the savings.

To get a jump start on the festivities Newshosting and UseNetServer are going to offer $5 unlimited Usenet accounts starting at 5:00 AM EST Thanksgiving day, November 26th.  Come back or visit Newsgroup Reviews in the morning to take advantage of either deal.

Here are the details of the Thanksgiving Day Usenet specials:
- Newshosting NHXL unlimited account – 60 connections, free SSL – $5 for the first month and then $19.95 a month thereafter.
- UseNetServer High Speed Plus unlimited – 20 connections, free SSL- $5 for the first month and then $17.95 thereafter.

Thanks to both Newshosting and UseNetServer for getting the weekend Usenet celebration started early.  Also make sure to visit Newsgroup Reviews at 12:01 GMT on Black Friday, November 27 for lots more deals!