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Gold/Mining/Energy : Cybersurf (CY.A) - Bridge between 20th & 21st Centuries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CocoBob who wrote (2202)	8/20/1999 5:16:00 PM
From: LABMAN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3243

investors online program tommorrow should increase the awareness of CYBERSURF lm

To: CocoBob who wrote (2202)	8/20/1999 10:06:00 PM
From: LABMAN	Respond to of 3243

FREE RULES THE DAY from GLOBE AND MAIL TECH SECTOR Technology August 20, 1999 Free rules the day MARK EVANS Thursday, August 19, 1999 The economics of the Internet have never made much sense. The list of free software includes browsers from Netscape Communications and Microsoft, E-mail from Qualcomm and music players from MP3.com. Is anyone serious about trying to make money from selling Internet-related software? It now appears that the Internet access business is poised to go through the same financial insanity. In North America and Europe, free access is gaining momentum as portals, computer makers and Internet service providers battle to win over consumers. AltaVista, the popular portal owned by Compaq Computer, recently start offering its FreeAccess program in the United States. AltaVista believes FreeAccess will attract consumers to its Web site (http://www.altavista.com) and make it a more valuable property for advertisers and retailers. The free model has also piqued the interest of Microsoft, which has said it is exploring the launch of low-cost or no-cost access to compete against America Online. Microsoft is the second-largest access provider in United States with 1.8 million subscribers. There's a catch: You get free Internet access and E-mail, but have to look at advertisements that remain on your screen. AltaVista and Microsoft may be exploring new ground, but they only have to look at NetZero's 1.17 million customersto know there is a viable market for free access. In a filing for a public offering, the company said 613,000 customers in 1,100 cities used the service in June and, more importantly, more than 830 million advertising impressions were delivered. In Canada, Cybersurf has taken the bull by the horns and attracted 120,000 subscribers to its 3web Network in Calgary and Edmonton. Last month, the company received some much-needed ammunition for its move into Toronto later this year by selling a 10-per-cent stake to Call-Net Enterprises for $12-million. Cybersurf said it has already sold advertising space to IBM Canada, Indigo Music, Books & Café and the Dairy Bureau of Canada. Cybersurf is confident it will take Toronto by storm and has set a target of 500,000 customers. The free business model hinges on the growth of the on-line advertising and commerce markets. If both sectors live up to the hype that surrounds them, the free access business may thrive in Canada and force fee-based players such as AOL, ID Internet Direct and Sprint Canada to drop their prices or launch a free service. Then again, Cybersurf may be ahead of its time. The advertising market is expected to more than double this year but it will still be worth only $55-million. Forrester Research expects the electronic-commerce market will jump to $1.05-billion from $300-million but that pales in comparison to the United States. On the other hand, signing up for Cybersurf's service is a no-brainer if you have a computer and a modem. 3Web will probably follow the same path as Microsoft's Hotmail service. Many people will happily sign up for the service, because turning down anything for free in overtaxed Canada is a sin. Like Hotmail, however, many will use 3Web infrequently, if ever. 3Web is a valuable tool for local access but it is not an option for high-speed access or service from different cities in North America. It is possible that the access market in Canada and the United States will be split into two tiers. The upper tier will be a fee-based service for high-speed customers, while free access will gain a large following in the local dial-up market with consumers that want to surf the Web and check E-mail. Whether this makes sense economically is unclear and, sadly, it doesn't really matter. In the shortterm at least, the name of the game in the Internet is how many consumers you can win, rather than profits and revenue. As long as investors buy into the marketing spin that some of these companies will eventually reap the benefits of electronic-commerce, free will continue to rule the day. Mark Evans can be reached at mevans@globeandmail.ca COMMENT ON THIS STORY Write a Letter to the Editor SEARCH FOR RELATED BOOKS MORE ARTICLES BY Mark Evans RELATED SUBJECTS Internet electronic commerce marketing advertising HIGHLIGHTED Netscape Communications Microsoft Qualcomm MPcom AltaVista Compaq Computer NetZero Cybersurf CallNet Enterprises IBM Canada Dairy Bureau of Canada ID Internet Direct Sprint Canada Copyright © 1999 Globe Information Services