The new concept in communications services marketing appears to be inertia selling, the idea being that if it’s accessable right there from the desktop, people will sign up for it, if they have to phone the phone company, they won’t. At all events, that is how Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom are hitching a free ride on Microsoft Corp’s Windows95 desktop on behalf of their ISDN services. Microsoft plans to incorporate into Windows95 and Internet Explorer an access point that puts the customer a few mouse clicks away from signing up for an ISDN line – but Microsoft doesn’t do anything out of the kindness of its heart, and will be paid a commission on each subscriber signed.
