A new breed of internet service provider is being launched on an unsuspecting public this week. Pre-paid internet access claims to offer greater value and convenience.
For a one-off payment of £10, MyInternetPass.com offers 30 days of unlimited usage for heavy users, or 2,000 minutes of access over three months for those who visit the world wide web less frequently. There's no contract, no additional phone charges and no software to load, and it works on any computer connected to a BT line.
The hope is that pre-payment could do for web users what the pay-as-you-go model has done for mobile take-up, and even restrict the reach of ISPs such as BT Openworld and AOL.
Cards can be bought online or through a network of retailers, although at the moment distribution is limited to 400 stores, including Balfour Convenience Stores.
Managing director Phillip Glyn says the company has been cautious about extending its distribution network. "From a trade point of view, we've had a phenomenal response. [Interest is] focusing along the lines of pay-as-you go mobile and the pre-paid international calling cards," he says.
This model of internet usage has been tried before but did not carve a permanent niche in the market. But SurfBanana will launch a pay-as-you-go service next week following a two-month pilot in the Midlands. It will offer 25 days' access for £10.
In the US, such services have been on offer since 1997. In the UK, MyInternetPass.com says it also expects competition for the pre-paid internet space to become as intense as that in the international pre-paid phone call market.
The new launches coincide with the government's latest drive to encourage people to use the web. Get Started aims to get the 17m people who haven't "experienced the internet in the last year" online for the first time or as a returning surfer.
The question for the pre-paid operators is whether their market - and MyInternetPass says it's looking to get 2% of the ISP market in the first year - will come from new consumers or simply take a share from the big ISPs.
