UKNM: Free Internet access battle grows in UK

[Clive Jones]

[Sam says: please excerpt stories that you're sending to the list along with

the URL where they found them. Thanks.]


Free Internet access battle grows in UK


Paul Taylor

London - In early March AltaVista trumpeted plans to offer its UK-based

customers free monthly Internet access and unmetered phone calls, all for

one upfront charge. AltaVista said at the time that its service would be

launched within three months and would save British Web users nearly �700m

($1.09bn) a year.


Predictably the news was greeted enthusiastically in a country where metered

telephone charges are viewed as a significant disincentive to Internet usage

and e-commerce. At the same time, shares in Freeserve, the UK�s biggest

Internet service provider, fell sharply reflecting the growing conviction

that Freeserve�s subscription-free model was unsustainable.


But eight weeks later AltaVista has still to launch its free Internet

service enabling Excite, its archrival, to seize the initiative and launch a

free access service last week.


AltaVista insists that its plans to launch a free service are still on

track, but adds that its service will not be available until next month.

Meanwhile it appears there is some confusion over which company AltaVista

will use to provide the service.


AltaVista claims it has yet to choose a service provider but Lister Park,

marketing director of the Free Internet Group, insists FIG "is the

technology provider for the AltaVista free access service." Significantly

FIG is also the technology provider for the Excite service and is believed

to have grown increasingly frustrated with the delay in launching the

AltaVista service.


[Sam says: msg excerpt end]



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