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[FORWARDING A BOUNCED MESSAGE TO THE LIST; POSTED BY Marko Faas 
Microsoft's management was quoted in a C-Net interview as saying:=20
>"We need to be in competition with ISP's and we are preparing
>for the day when the phone companies offer internet access for free."
>
>Two years ago I made the statement that the public would have free
>dial up internet access.  And yes...it is only a short time away.
>As a matter of fact, if Bill Clinton is re-elected prez of USA, there =
shall
>be free internet access within the next 18 to 24 months.
In the Netherlands there are already ISP's who do not charge anything!

DDS (The Amsterdam Digital City) provides free access, a free e-mail
account and a free 750Kb space for your homepage. Due to heavy traffic
thay have closed lots of sites.

VPRO, a Dutch TV-station, provides free access to the Internet.

Both organisations are non-profit and started about three years ago to
promote the Internet in the Netherlands.

Since, lots of ISP's started and their prices are getting lower and
lower all the time. for less then USD 15,- one can have a full
account.

Since, lots of other digital cities offer free Internet access and
even a computer factory (TULIP) offers this.

A province in the Netherlands (flevoland) offers free access and an
free e-mailaccount to all it's inhabitants.=20

The only thing is that telephone connections are rather expensive.
Local is at least USD 1.10, and interlocal and piek-hours are far more
expensive. Most big ISP's (about 6) have numbers in all regions. The
free ISP's have only one number in one region.

complete free accounts are to be found in the education sector for
students and personell and in the commercial sector where many
companies offer accounts to their personell

The big ISP's (the two biggest are owned in part by the KPN, the new
commercial national PTT) compete with on-line services like on-line
papers and one even has a free (also to non-subscribers) mailinglist
daily about Internet. (the third biggest list in the world; and it's
in Dutch!)

In the Netherlands 95% of the households is connected to cable. At the
moment these cable systems are upgrading to two-way traffic and are
getting commercial. The first companies who offer Internet via cable
(to the TV or to the computer... consumer choice) are spotted.

The growth rate in the Netherlands is so high, the backbones cannot
keep up with the speed. A connection the the modern cable network is
unevitable in very near future. This would mean that small local based
telphone-conneted ISP's who do not offer ISDN-connection are dying out
or bought by the big ISP's or cable companies.

At the same moment KNP has just finished its commercialisation and new
companies enter the telecom market.

So more competitors, more techniques (dail-up, ISDN, cable) and
already free accounts avaliable will lead to more downpricing and
TV-shop alike sales: "Get a phone connection and also receive an
Internet account, access to our online Mall, access to online
gamesplaying and access to online videostores. Plus receive a
sportschannel and an erotic channel for free".

In this, I have to mention that there is no competition between cable
companies (this is because the infrastructure was placed at the time
all companies where owned by the city or regional council. It will be
too costly to make another net, apart from the fact that the cables
are bought by the biggest players in the market -- a.o. KPN)

It is true that KPN holds the best cards. But due to European laws and
the expansion of American companies (AT&T, BELL) they will meet fierce
competition and regulation in several ways.

My point is that free Internet access already exists here in the
Netherlands and that new techniques like two-way cable enable selling
the Internet in a pakket where the Internet is only a small part off.
In fact, _not_ having the Internet in this pakket will look strange
(just like not having the national public channels in the most common
pakket).

(To add something to the thread why so little non-US readers
participate in the discussions: I have to explain the whole situation
before I can make my point. And this point clearly isn't that valid in
the US...)


=20
=20
Mail Ya,

Marko Faas                            argus@digitaal.nl
http://huizen.dds.nl/~argus           alt.argus
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=3D        WARNING: NO unsolicited commercial e-mail: $500 per message   =
  =3D
=3D        as per US Code, Title 47 Section 227, a copy can be found at: =
  =3D
=3D              =
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