ameritech interactive/ aiming for the one-stop shop [ASND as modem provider]
May 26, 1998
ISP BUSINESS NEWS via NewsEdge Corporation --
Ameritech [AIT] Interactive Media Services is but a
fledgling piece of the host corporation's empire of
phone, security, cellular and paging services.
Nevertheless, AIMS is a good example of how
RBOCs are trying to leverage their wares with the
appeal of one-stop communications shopping in the
ISP market.
Despite the headline-grabbing (and controversial)
merger with SBC [SBC], analysts estimate that
regulators will take at least a year to scrutinize the
deal before deciding its fate. But one strategy
behind the SBC's $65.4 billion stock and assumed
debt acquisition is to broaden its network of ISP
customers without adding significantly to its cost.
AIMS Plans
When we interviewed her shortly before the merger
announcement, Valeri Marks, president, Ameritech
Interactive Media Services, said ISP service to
southwestern Ohio and Cincinnati had just been
added to a roster that already includes Chicago,
Cleveland, Detroit, Columbus, Dayton, Grand
Rapids, Kalamazoo, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.
When the company started in March 1997,
Ameritech.net was available in only three cities. ISP
service now is available to 80% of Ameritech's
midwestern local phone customers.
AIMS is allied with numerous vendors for
hardware/software solutions and experiments for
future technologies. UUNet [WCOM] supplies the
backbone connectivity and Warner Media handles
packaging and fulfillment. Ascend [ASND] is its
major modem vendor, but Compaq and Microsoft are
implementing some ADSL pieces. When it followed
AOL's [AOL] example and raised its basic access
rates to $21.95 in May, the company said it had
expanded its network 66% in 1997, doubled its
customer base in the previous six months, and
increased support staff by 50%.
Like other RBOCs providing Internet access, AIMS
wants to sell Ameritech's base of local phone
customers on integrating their communications
needs. " Another piece of the value story is on the
billing side,... Marks says. " Customers really value
having everything on their telephone bill." Moreover,
the ability to integrate pager, cellular, and Internet
products is compelling to customers and is the next
step for Ameritech. Ameritech Interactive Media is
"moving aggressively" in 1998 to provide similar
integration to business clients: site development,
Web hosting, intranet and extranet services.
"Faster access is really critical," Marks says. The
network is ISDN and 56Kflex compatible, and it just
launched an ISDN information web site. AIMS is in a
number of ADSL trials and is one of the co-
sponsors of the Universal ADSL Working Group,
which is designating an ADSL interoperability
standard. ADSL trials, started at Ann Arbor in
December, are expanding now to Royal Oak and
Detroit, and will hit Chicago by summer. Both ADSL
and ISDN services cost $49.95/month. DSLAMs and
modems for the network are supplied by Alcatel.
Reliability, customer service, and ease of use are
the Ameritech mantras. Spam filters are especially
important to the consumer base, and the new 24
hour phone support received an A+ rating from
Inverse Network Technology.
While Marks says that expanding value to its
business clients is especially important in 1998,
clearly, Ameritech.net wants the home- based AOL
customer as well. It touts user-friendliness, a host of
graphical tutorials that ease new users online, and
family- friendliness with several parental controls on
surfing access and personalized start pages.
People tend to trust RBOCs like Ameritech more
than AOL for reliable Internet service, says Kate
Delhagen, an analyst with Forrester Research
[FORR]. The convenience of integrated billing and a
solid network simply "makes it easier for consumers
to say 'yes'."
Still, Delhagen warns that ADSL and ISDN solutions
are "two years behind the cable guys," even though
Ameritech is among the leaders in testing the
technologies. The phone line solutions must beat
cable access to the neighborhoods and come in
with a better price. And with the RBOCs, she warns,
capability is less a concern than actual execution.
Delhagen credits Ameritech, however, with achieving
a higher reliability and service reputation than most
other RBOCs. Its most valuable asset may be the
corporate chairman and CEO, Richard Notebart.
"We liken them to US West [USW] in that their
CEO gets the vision and is trying to reorganize and
reorient the company toward the Internet." (Valeri
Marks, Ameritech Interactive Media, 248/524-7816,
Kate Delhagen, Forrester Research, 617/497-7090)
[Copyright 1998, Phillips Publishing]
Copyright c 1998, NewsEdge Corporation No redistribution allowed. |
