Re: UKNM: The 'free' in free ISP now a commodity

[Clay Shirky]

> Then I considered, perhaps the public really have got their collective

> heads around this Internet thing, to the point where the de facto standard

> is free access through your ISP.


Thats what the recent survey seems to say - almost all of the 3

million+ recent users who've joined since Freeserve launched have been

through free ISPs.


> So, surely any company who is taking customer retention, loyalty, and

> direct/database marketing seriously should be creating their own ISP?


BT in fact have an army of consultants knocking on doors to suggest

setting up exactly these sorts of virtual ISPs.


> ...or will the whole business model just disappear to the realms of big

> telcos...the early entrants aside? Is there any space left in the free ISP

> space for the new kids on the block? Aren't they wasting their time?


Anybody who wants to build an ISP-only business is wasting their time,

but anybody who doesn't include free ISP status may be leaving some

pence on the table. Its beomce a kind of parity offering, like weather

- gotta have it, can't make much money off it.


-clay 

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