But the most remembered were the simple ones operated by human beings
Posted in General on 20. Aug, 2010
But the most remembered were the simple ones, operated by human beings.. The first big Internet company to offer unmetered access was always going to be big news. But who would have thought that the tabloids would splash on AltaVista’s ground-breaking (their words, not mine) move towards 0800 Internet access?
The first big Internet company to offer unmetered access was always going to be big news. But who would have thought that the tabloids would splash on AltaVista’s ground-breaking (their words, not mine) move towards 0800 Internet access?
Frankly, I was staggered by the coverage AltaVista received. But I was more staggered by the depth of reporting – no, this wasn’t the first free package, and no, this wasn’t actually free; I wouldn’t call an upfront fee of £30 and an annual subscription, albeit at a small price, a free package It’s not even going to launch until June. By then, there are going to be shedloads of other deals on the market.To say NTL, which had been planning its free package for months, was slightly miffed is an understatement.
NTL says AltaVista got wind of its plan and decided to steal its limelight by leaking its offer a day earlier You have to admire the cheek of AltaVista. It wanted to make its mark on the UK Internet scene and it wasn’t planning to spend £10m on a marketing campaign. You couldn’t put a price on the coverage it received last week.I, like NTL, am suspicious of the timing of AltaVista’s announcement. How else can the lack of detail in its model be explained? Add to that the fact that AltaVista had not even set up a call centre to take registrations and did not get round to putting up a registration page on its website until lunchtime, and you start to see the real picture.Of course, the competition is not going to take it without putting up a fight.
BT has already hit back with a decent offer, and Freeserve is certainly not going to let its much-vaunted share price continue to freefall for long.And what about AOL? I doubt that these latest moves have filtered back to the United States HQ. Judging by how long it took it to react to the arrival of Freeserve, I doubt that we’ll hear a real response from AOL for a while But you never know So come on AOL, do the decent thing. God knows you can afford it.The cable guys blew itOver to the ubiquitous NTL. Forgive my cynicism, but I can’t help thinking NTL is taking us all for fools, claiming to be digital pioneers and all that. Didn’t NTL promise to get its digital TV service up and running back in September? More than six months later nothing has materialised, something it attributes to technical problems. So how is it going to establish a free access service in a month? Particularly when it had so many problems coping with the surge in Virgin Net users when Virgin Net dropped its subscription charge last year.One also has to ask why NTL, and indeed Telewest (the soon-to-be only other major cable operator in the UK), waited so long.