The surfer's dream of unlimited free internet access moved a step nearer this week with announcements from web search company AltaVista's UK operation and NTL about plans to offer 0800-based internet access facilities. And as Online went to press, there were rumours that Freeserve was about to respond with its own cut-price service.
Unlike America Online's (AOL's) 0800 internet service, neither AltaVista nor NTL plans to make a per-minute charge to access the net. The toll-free (unmetered) access will, they hope, be paid for by a mixture of advertising and e-commerce.
From an internet user's perspective, of course, how the service is financed is irrelevant, since the money does not come directly from his/her pocket. The service is "free", just like most of the web.
There are now more than 200 internet service providers (ISPs) jockeying for position in the internet user community. Last September, Freeserve teamed with Energis, the telecommunications carrier, to offer rebates on internet calls in return for users routing their voice and modem calls via the Energis network.
This "indirect access" method works by users prefixing their calls with 162 - Energis's access code - and seeing their calls sent across Energis' network.
Rebates of between three and 10 hours' worth of off-peak (ie evening and weekend) internet surfing are available on the Freeserve/Energis deal, providing the user makes a given amount of voice calls over the Energis network.
Partly or wholly-financing offpeak internet access with regular voice call revenues is nothing new. Localtel started an unmetered off-peak internet access service late in 1998, subject to BT phone users transferring their line rental and calls over to the Localtel phone service.
The service, known as Screaming.net, was a runaway success, with tens of thousands of BT line users migrating en-masse and overloading Localtel's - and BT's - signup/transfer systems. Even with Oftel's intervention, the farrago is only just settling down.
Jeremy Stokes, Localtel's managing director, said on BBC TV's Newsnight current affairs program this week that a typical Screaming.net user makes internet calls around three times as long as a "normal" internet user (ie one paying for the calls).
This is the potential problem facing all discount and unmetered call ISPs: make the service free and the floodgates open as users surf the net rather than watch TV.
AOL, the largest ISP in the UK, charges £9.95 a month for its service, plus 1p a minute at all times. This strategy, of offering off-peak rates all the time, is sensible, since it spreads the load on AOL's internet access net work. Users don't have to wait until 6pm on weekdays to log on (and save money).
BT has adopted a similar, and cheaper, strategy of charging users £9.99 a month, but offering unmetered access between 6pm and midnight on weekdays and all weekend.
But BT is nobody's fool. As it runs most of the network and the phone lines leading into our homes and offices, it knows unmetered internet access can place an intolerable load on its network. It too, is planning to offer 24-hour unmetered access under its Surftime service, which will be available through BT Internet and third-party ISPs later this year.
BT has been working very hard since last summer on upgrading its network to cope with the demand that Surftime will create. Charges will vary between £7 and £35 depending on which periods (off-peak, office hours or 24x7) users want unmetered access to the internet. Most serious users will probably opt for the £34.99 service, and surf the net for hours on end.
Cable companies, such as Telewest and others, offering unmetered net access at £10 a month, are learning about the problems of demand.
Reports suggest that Telewest is rebating some customers their monthly charge because of network access problems caused by customers sitting online for hours. Telewest has responded by logging off inactive users after a certain period, as well as "rolling" the IP numbers every three hours or so. This stops clever users from hosting their web sites on the Telewest network "on the cheap". Most users are not concerned about such nuances. They can surf the web for hours without watching the clock.
AltaVista knows this. That's why it doesn't plan to start its unmetered internet access service until May at the earliest, and will restrict the service to half a million users for the first six months to assess the effect on its network partners.
AltaVista plans to charge a £35 signup fee then £10 per annum. NTL's offering is even bolder. From April 17, its unmetered access service will be totally free, provided users sign up for its indirect (ie across BT lines) or direct (cable) telephony service.
NTL already offers a discounted net access service, NTLworld, for 1p a minute, plus a handling charge of 3.5p a call. This puts it in the same discount league as AOL.
Unknown to many, NTL is actually a major telephony service carrier and a carrier's carrier for many third-party ISPs. Like BT, it knows its network can handle the flood of unmetered access calls.
AltaVista has no such luxury. Like Freeserve, with its Energis linkup, it must team up with a third-party carrier to handle its internet calls. That's why it needs three month's lead time on its service.
NTL chief executive Barclay Knapp's announcement to the press reflects his company's strong position: "NTL has a vision to bring the internet to all UK homes, either via the PC or the TV," he said, making e-commerce, e-entertainment and e-education available to all.
"We're able to announce this today because we own a high-quality national network and have a track-record of providing innovative services at great prices," he said.
He does, too. As do BT, Cable and Wireless and a select band of other carriers. The rest are also-rans in the dash to offer unmetered internet access.
Yes, almost any ISP can offer unmetered access to customers, but to do so requires a link-up with a third-party carrier - one whose network can handle the flood of calls.
Suddenly, the number of ISPs capable of handling unmetered internet access shrinks to a handful. Time for Oftel to intervene, perhaps?
Web addresses
AltaVista <A HREF="http://www.altavista.co.uk"
" TARGET="_NEW">www.altavista.co.uk
AOL
<A HREF="http://www.aol.co.uk"
" TARGET="_NEW">www.aol.co.uk
BT
<A HREF="http://www.bt.com"
" TARGET="_NEW">www.bt.com
Freeserve <A HREF="http://www.freeserve.net"
" TARGET="_NEW">www.freeserve.net
NTL
<A HREF="http://www.ntl.com"
" TARGET="_NEW">www.ntl.com
Screaming.net
