Lucky--If I had two baseball gloves and they were equal in quality, which one would I likely use the most? The one I'm most familiar with, of course. Same is true with NetZero. As of the last quarter, 98 percent of all NetZero users got their software from downloading from other ISPs. That means dual accounts. Two things: a) Once familiarity sets in, NZRO becomes more attractive; b) once the realizaton of ease of use service, customized portal landing options and the lack of any paid ISP expense sets in--the whole picture's gonna change.
You guys can no longer use the pat line it's a bad business model. How come? Becuase were that the case, Yahoo/K-Mart, Excite@Home, IDTC (owners of NTOP) and others wouldn't be rushing into the free ISP game.
You already lost the "cheapskate" argument because it's been found that the new hot market for targeting is under 50K incomes; you already lost the speed and reliability argument because it turns out virtually all of the ISPs, paid and free, are using the same systems whether Cisco-powered, GTE-powered or otherwise. And they're all redundant systems. NetZero has about as many hookup sites in America as does AOL and it provides a speed-dial link service where quick links can be established without using the browser.
In effect, NZRO is AOL, but for free. And contrary to the skepticism, the free model will be on the horizon over the next three to five year timespan. It will rival any paid ISP service, if not outpace it all together. |
