Re: UKNM: big ISP news

[kahlil garbo]

---Jim Sterne <

jsternetargeting [dot] com

> wrote:

> The Web and TV are going to merge. There is no stopping them.


Interesting observation when it comes to Virgin.net as I'd been led to

believe that said ISP was a overgrown trainset to placate those poor

Virgin executives who wanted a TV station to play with and were sad

when the big bad ITC said no!


This is why Virgin.net has consistently tried to go down a content

orientated route (such as hiring up the team who created The

Guardian's Guide), doing RealMedia broadcasts from V97 and generally

trying to come across more as a media channel rather than a mere ISP.

Up until very recently, Virgin.net hasn't given one the impression of

a company that had a clear vision. However, they have some new faces

at the top who seem to have a coherent strategy about where Virgin.net

is going.


My bet: NTL own part of Virgin.net and NTL just bought NetChannel. So

I think Virgin.net will soon (6-12 months) offer free set-top access

to the Internet using a new & improved NetChannel platform, with

adverts galore and many many opportunities to buy online. This free

ISP malarkey is a test to see what the uptake is i.e. what effect will

this have on the rate at which they sign up new subscribers - will the

cynical public smell a rat lurking around Soho Square? In a broader

context, they're probably upping the ante by trying to clear their

market of the surviving small ISPs.


If this is a highly confidential plan of somebody's - it was all my

own work, honest.



Sajid Mohammed

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