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Microcap & Penny Stocks : XSNI - X-Stream Network -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Allinder who wrote (151)	5/9/1999 5:32:00 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 3519

I came across some interesting "Wired News" articles related to free Internet service in Great Britain. Credit for finding these goes to Nicholas Thompson on the Netzero thread. "Free ISPs Taking Over in UK" (2/17/99) wired.com "Free ISPs Revel in Beta Optimism" (6/5/98) This article is about a start up named X-Stream wired.com "Free Internet for Shoppers" (9/22/98) wired.com "Freeserve May Go IPO" (4/12/99) wired.com

To: Tom Allinder who wrote (151)	5/9/1999 6:49:00 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3519

Some additional DD. Here is a link to a listing of 66 UK ISPs that provide free service: ballybran.freeserve.co.uk I have been scratching my head trying to figure out the economic viability of an ISP providing free service. There have been a number of U.S. companies that have attempted this and failed. The "Wired" article "Free ISPs Taking Over in UK" notes that the UK ISPs have a significant advantage over their U.S. counterparts. While they hope to generate revenues from banner advertising, they also receive a revenue cut from the phone companies: "Thanks to the regulatory setup, British telecom carriers have to share a slice of the revenue from modem dial-up calls with the ISPs. In effect, the "free" ISPs get about 30 to 90 pence (about 49 cents to US$1.47) from the phone company for each hour a surfer spends online. No such arrangement exists in the United States; free American ISPs live and die by the ad revenue they can scrounge. It's no surprise, then, that in a country where an hour of even local calling costs a mini-fortune, a free ISP would have enormous appeal." If my ISP had a similar arrangement with the phone company, they would be ahead of the game (each month) after two days. LOL. It is going to be a hard sell to roll out a business plan in the U.S. that includes revenue sharing from the phone companies; too many vested interests.