Breathe.com collapsed in December 2000 with estimated losses of £50m and went into administration. In January, it was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy by GUS, which bought Breathe's assets and technology for £1.4m.
Breathe's technology allows access to web data via multiple devices, and GUS had originally planned to use it to expand its own remote shopping services.
At the time, GUS said it was interested in Breathe's technology and management rather than its business as an ISP. However, after making more than 100 staff redundant, GUS continued to operate Breathe as an ISP with 300,000 subscribers. It is not clear why GUS has now sold the business.
Affinity Internet Holdings, which provides internet access, telecommunications and online entertainment, said it will use the Breathe brand to sell internet and mobile telephone services, and expects the business to become profitable almost immediately.