Is "Basic Service" the same thing as "Flight Information Service" in ICAO language?
The Flight Information Service is most certainly not worthless IMHO. Just as an example, I was once called up by an ATS unit for which I constituted "known traffic" with a TAF AMD report for BKN008 over my destination, i.e., a report for "forecast or observed IMC along the intended route, if known" (I was VFR, and the previous TAF said CAVOK).