|
|
|
Shooting War? In what may be the opening shots of an access rate war among Irish telcos, ESAT Clear announced that it would be implementing a Flat Rate Fee service from September. The ex-state monopoly telco Telecom Eireann had long being spoofing about implementing such a scheme but ESAT finally did it. A fee of £17 per month gives unlimited off-peak internet access. From September, Esat Clear is launching three packages aimed at the home user market. The first package is a free ISP (SurfFree), the second is a Flat Rate Access package (Surf NoLimits) and the third is a PC inclusive package, (Surf PC). Of the three, the flat rate access move is the one that will upset the market. Though Indigo, the Telecom Eireann owned ISP, introduced no-fee internet access a while ago, the move was largely seen as a loss leader attempt at stemming the success of Oceanfree. The market for free ISPs has no loyalty and users are just as likely to float between the subscription based ISPs and the free ISPs. It was inevitable that Esat would make a move into this kind of market. Unlike TE's Tinet effort, both Indigo and Esat Clear have very definite portal structures in place and seem intent on exploiting them. Postgem/IOL, the biggest player in the Irish internet market has not as yet made any move in the free ISP market. To Irish internet users, the promise of flat rate internet access is like a Holy Grail. Telecom Eireann had waffled on about giving the public flat rate internet access but until recently this was not legally possible. To cover the fact that it could not give flat rate access, it provided its media contacts with other distracting stories designed to ensure unquestioning puff piece newspaper articles. A decision from the ODTR allowed for this kind of access and Esat Clear, having the innovator's advantage moved quickly. The move has fatally skewered the free ISP model in Ireland. Indeed the free ISP model may not survive flat rate access anywhere. [Related Story] Surf Free offers free internet access for the price of a local phonecall. It includes a free CD-ROM available from Esat clear dealers nationwide. The package also offers unlimited e-mail addresses and 10 MB of webspace. Surf NoLimits offers unlimited time online during off-peak hours (1800 - 0800 Weekdays and all day on weekends) for a flat fee of £17 per month including VAT. It includes a free CD-ROM available from Esat clear dealers nationwide. The package also offers unlimited e-mail addresses and 10 MB of webspace Surf PC is essentially the same as the Surf NoLimits package but offers a computer as part of the package. The user can either lease or purchase the computer on a monthly basis. The SurfFree and Surf NoLimits packages will be available from the first week in September and the Surf PC package will be available later in the year.
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Recommended |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|