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Anil Wanwari
This column had made a mention of NetZero a free internet access service based in California, a month ago. The service had attracted more than 1 lakh subscribers when it had made its last subscriber count then. And several were predicting that NetZero would become another statistic on the internet highway after its demise.
Well, NetZero is alive and well. And as of last week it had managed to attract more than 3 lakh subscribers since its launch in October 1998. It is still far away from the 10-lakh figure needed to attract large advertisers as estimated by some industry observers in the US. But it might well get there as it is being talked about as one of the fastest growing internet providers ever.
NetZero is attracting a new customer every 45 seconds. It is estimated that the service is delivering more than 300 million page views per month, ranking it among the top 16 sites on the web. More than 600 web sites have opted to place "NetZero Now" buttons, allowing immediate downloading of the accessprovider's software. That has got several advertisers excited. Some 40 of them have placed either their web sites or ads pushing their products or services on the NetZeroservice.
Among those who have signed on include Compare.net, Deja News, Bell South, Music Blvd, The Trip.com, and Nissan. The service's owners say it is 100 per cent booked up.
NetZero has also got venture capitalists' hearts beating faster. It has attracted multimillion dollars in additional funding from three backers: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Foundation Capital and Idealab Capital Partners. Draper has put its money behind several net successes such as eToys, Goto and Hotmail.
NetZero provides free internet access via local dial-up. An e-mail account is provided to each individual user in a household, a business or at a specific location, such as a school or library. To become a subscriber, a user has to complete a profile that captures his/her interests and demographic data.
NetZero's patent-pending zCast software allows advertisersto target by geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral information in real time. NetZero delivers 30 second ads continuously via a 1-inch-by-3-inch 800x600 display. A user can move the window to a location he prefers, but he can't shut it off or delete it. Hopefully, the Department of Telecommunications and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India have been following the NetZero story.
The two are talking of mandating a minimum tariff that internet service providers will have to levy on customers for access. Why? Why not encourage free internet access if there is an entrepreneur with enough financial backing willing to take the risk? Apart from NetZero, various state-funded book libraries in the US provide free access for locals and even tourists for a specific amount of time daily.
New York alone has about 30-40 library locations where one can not only browse the web for information free but also email to friends. There are charges for printing a web document. Why isn't some state governmentin India thinking along the same lines and setting up free internet access points in specific locations to allow people to experiment with the web? (Are the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra - two states which are bidding to become infotech powerhouses - listening?)
Meanwhile, the free access fever has spread to the UK too. British Telecom is the latest to offer free internet access. BT is following in the footsteps of Freeserve launched by retail chain Dixons. Freeserve has attracted a claimed million subscribers. BT ClickFree requires no user registration, making it the first to take such a tack. BT is hoping to make money courtesy its partnership with ValueDirect, an online shopping service. ValueDirect claims it offers products and electrical goods at prices lower than any other retailer or access service provider does.
Handphone numbers swell
Guess what? The wireless phone market worldwide is booming. US market research firm Dataquest says that wireless phone sales haveincreased to 162.9 million in 1998. That's a whopping 51 per cent increase over 1997 sales of 107.8 million handsets.
Guess who's the numero uno? Nokia which grabbed a 23 per cent share of the market by selling 37.4 million handphones. It registered a growth of 82 per cent over 1997 sales of 20.6 million. Motorola occupied the number two slot while Ericsson was at the third spot with sales of 23.8 million handphones or 15 per cent of the whole market.
The wireless phone market is expected to continue to keep ringing loudly as newer markets open up to wireless telephony and an increasing number of customer globally take advantage of falling handset prices. Some long-time wireless phone users are also expected to upgrade their handsets to fancier gizmos that manufacturers are likely to roll out this year. Get ready for more of that irritating ring just as you are in the midst of your speech at a public meet or during the climax scene of your favourite scene or play.
Chipping in for music
The lastitem in this week's column is about the efforts of two companies: IBM and Broadcom. IBM is working with five major record companies to develop a system to help beat music piracy over the Net. IBM's goal is to invent a system to package internet-delivered music in a copy-proof digital "envelope". The record companies' intent is to make sure they get compensation every time a song is transmitted over the internet.
A six-month trial of the new system will begin in the US soon. Participants in the test will provide credit card information and then order the music from a special online store set up for the test.
Meanwhile, broadband communications chipmaker Broadcom says it is going to focus on developing a single chip that can route high-speed data through a home's existing telephone lines. The chip is slated to be incorporated into products ranging from personal computers and printers to televisions and DVD players, allowing users to connect a variety of devices simply by plugging them into phone jacks. Getready for internet overload.
The writer can be reached at wanvari@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in or television@hotmail.com. Feel free to email with your comments.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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