Internet access in the UK is about to become even ‘freer’ than it already is, as a small virtual internet service provider has teamed up with cable operator NTL Inc to provide subscription-free access with 24 hour a day, seven days a week toll-free dialup. The service will fund itself through a partnership with advertising agency Leo Burnett Ltd which will provide sponsorship for the service. Hard Reality Ltd, a web design firm 30% owned by Burnett, will provide web design and content.
The would-be ISP, Freedomi.net.uk Ltd, is owned by 18 month-old Freedom Telecom (UK) Ltd, a London-based firm that also hopes to provide free telephone calls in exchange for users listening to commercial messages. Freedomi, which lives at freedomi.com despite the company name, says it will provide subscription-free, 24/7 toll-free access, and one hour of free technical support per day.
Revenue will be created through advertising, and cynics may be forgiven for predicting that the ads will be a little more direct than mere banners. Freedomi also plans to offer premium content channels and goods using a payment system called iPay, a proprietary system whereby users are charged on their telephone bills rather than by parting with credit card details. The company says it will offer one free share in itself for every minute users spend on a premium channel.
Yesterday, Freedomi and NTL were reluctant to reveal more details, but it is understood that New York-based NTL’s involvement extends to providing the technical infrastructure for the service.
The involvement of NTL, the UK’s biggest cable operator, is surprising. The firm is slowly rolling out cable modem net access services, and one of the major attractions is its provision of unmetered access to the internet. In a nation where dialup connectivity is still billed by the minute, the 40 pounds ($63) per month always-on unmetered connection charge is attractive to heavy-net users. Many of these may prefer to go with a dialup service which may be, in effect, always on, and NTL would have to push the high-bandwidth qualities of its cable service to attract customers.
