Netscape-Branded ISP Launching February 2004

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."

Comments

In Canada already?

[BagOBones]

I have been hearing ads on the radio for it here already. Sounds like one of those accelerated/compressed dial-up services.

Netscape offering kind-of-broadband in Canada

[puppetman]

I've been hearing commercials for Netscape as a broad-band-like ISP in Canada on the radio lately.

They are going to have a tough go of it, competing against Telus.

They claim,

"Netscape Online Accelerator uses advanced web acceleration technology to increase the speed of dial up service, using your existing phone jack and modem without the expense of high speed services such as DSL or a cable modem. No additional equipment is required nor is there any waiting for installation"

Sounds like some sort of caching strategy to deliver content faster.

Overall, sounds like a step backwards to me. I'll stick with my Shaw 300KB/second cable-Internet for $30 Canadian a month.

Re:Netscape offering kind-of-broadband in Canada

[jackb_guppy]

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?

Re:Netscape offering kind-of-broadband in Canada

[Daneurysm]

Right there I see a number of 'warning signs' First of all, use of the term 'broadband like'...if that doesn't seem highly suspect to you, perhaps the overuse of common buzzwords

'advanced web acceleration technology'

Then we've got '...without the expense of highspeed services...', attempting to appeal to the 'value conscious' (read: cheap)

Bah humbug.

Excellent....?

[Daneurysm]

While this could be part of a 'two pronged attack' on MSN, I highly doubt that. It will most certainly be a fizzle if they are merely offering basic dialup service. Unless they have a standard 'dialup accelerator' or some other value added feature that sets them apart from the rest of the dialup services, there's not much more room in this market IMHO. Unless of course they start this as their 'basic' level of service and offer a very cheap broadband solution along side (eventually). I fail to see that happening so long as DSL lines have to be bought from SBC and cable lines bought from Comcast. ~Dan

Chillin in the hizizzle

[EmCeeHawking]

This may just end up being a fizzle

Fo shizzle, my nizzle.

Re:Cool

[aenea]

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.

This would be great

[Ignis Flatus]

Especially if they could figure out some way to download images in the background, and maybe throw in some chat rooms. Linux types would also appreciate a command line interface, so they could just jump directly to any part of the service by typing in a keyword. Yeah, that'd be cool.

They Needed a Name

[thales]

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.

Re:IE

[Hellasboy]

did the mods read the link? No where does it say that the service will come bundled with IE. The AC doesn't link to any statements backing up what he had said... and somehow it's informative.

from the TOS:
"You must have a personal computer with a modem connected to a communications source (telephone, wireless or broadband), a Windows-based operating system with an Internet browser, such as Netscape Version 6.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 5.5 or higher, and an Internet-based e-mail software in order to access electronic communications"