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Netscape-Branded ISP Launching February 2004

Posted by timothy on from the not-a-bad-price dept.

Guppy06 writes "I'm too lazy to change my homepage in Netscape 7 to something else, and that's where I discovered an ad leading towards what appears to be a trial run of a new Netscape-branded ISP. While this isn't as momentous as, say, Netscape bundled with AOL would be, they seem to be aiming at Juno and NetZero with their price of $9.95/month ($1.00/month to participate in the trial run ending in February). This may just end up being a fizzle, or it could be part of a two-pronged attack on MSN by AOL."

5 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. first impressions by Schlemphfer · · Score: 4, Insightful
    A couple things to keep in mind. AOL/Time Warner is a mess, and internet access is rapidly becoming commodified. The glory days of AOL will never be back, and we're going to see an era of throat-cutting competitive tactics amongst large ISP's that are similar to what the telcos are now going through.

    Given the outright incompetence in the overall strategic vision at AOL/TW, there's no telling if this new plan is an act of foresight or of desperation.

    Still, I have to say that it makes sense to leverage both the Netscape and AOL brands. They're obviously positioning Netscape as the low-cost bare-bones option for dialup ISP service, and I bet that subscribers will be incessantly prompted to upgrade to the features found on AOL.

    --
    I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
  2. Re:Netscape offering kind-of-broadband in Canada by jackb_guppy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    More likely like Juno Premium Service, compression of the HTML and the pictures are redone to a lower bit depth.

    Do you ready need 32 bits to see a 8 bit picture?

  3. Re:Cool by aenea · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nothing?

    Dial-up ISP's are a dime a dozen, and if the customer base isn't shrinking already it probably will be soon. Rather than competing against MSN, it's likely to canabalize people that are looking for a low cost alternative to their AOL account.

  4. They Needed a Name by thales · · Score: 5, Insightful

    AOL is getting hit from the top and the bottom. High Speed Access is erroding their customer base from the top, and Low Cost Dialups are attracting customers from the bottom. Having their own low cost Dial Up will allow them to at least get some money from people who are leaving them for a cheaper alternitive. Using the AOL brand name for the cheaper service would cause confusion (Why am I being billed 23.95? I saw an ad for 9.95!) so they needed a different name for it. They already own the rights to a well known name associated with the Internet, Netscape, so it was a natural choice.

    --
    Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est
  5. Re:Bah by Knights+who+say+'INT · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I just found a journal entry by an ex-Netscape programmer claiming this makes him "want to cry".