Hal Krisbergh, the chief executive of internet-over cable television company WorldGate Communications Inc got back to us yesterday to explain the pricing of the company’s service, which started commercial operation in St Louis on Tuesday. We had reported that the service was more expensive than had been promised by WorldGate. Cable operator, Charter Communications Inc is charging $15.95 per month, whereas $5 a month was the figure regularly touted by WorldGate. He explained that while WorldGate does offer a service for $4.95 a month (for the first five hours, after which each additional hour costs $1.95), Charter chose to offer the unlimited access, which is $11.95, plus the wireless keyboard, which is another $1.95, plus a few non-WorldGate services, including digital music on demand, which pushes the price up to $15.95. WorldGate competes directly with WebTV Networks Inc and NetChannel Inc, which both cost $20 a month, although the former is going up to $25 on June 1. Plus, WorldGate does not require an additional set-top box over and above the cable TV box. Krisbergh expects further roll-outs to happen within the next three weeks.
