British Telecommunications Plc announced on Friday it is to launch its first subscription-free internet access service in Italy, via its Albacom joint venture. It is believed Infinito, as the service will be known, will create revenue the same way all the other European ISPs do, with advertising and e-commerce, subsidized by charges from net traffic it terminates via the network. However, nobody from BT was available to confirm this at press time.
Infinito users get unlimited email accounts of 10Mb each and a 10Mb web site to play with, while content will be provided by Italian news agency Ansa, music community Vitaminic, and sports portal Sportal. Content will be a crucial differentiator, as Albacom will be up against Telecom Italia’s free ISP as well as startups like Tiscali SpA.
Infinito will also be the first of BT’s sites to run LookSmart Ltd’s web search and directory, under a pan-European deal announced last month. BT owns, with Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, 45.5% of Albacom, the remainder split between Mediaset (19.5%) and oil company ENI (35%).
