UK MSN drops Subscription Charges

geoff lane writes "Recently in the UK there has been a very strong move towards "free" ISPs. By doing deals with the telecom companies which split the call charge income between the telecom and ISP companies the ISPs can drop subscription charges. I've heard it reported that as few as 10,000 signed up users can move a small "free" ISP into a trading profit." I guess I'm not surprised. Telcos are big, how long can it be before they swallow the ISPs anyway? And how long before it here..."

Comments

Free ISPs, no thanks

[Boncey]

The problem I have with 'Free ISPs' is that they discourage telecom operators from allowing free calls (the real issue).
As the call charges are exactly the thing that is funding the ISP side of the business there is plenty of interest (for the telecom operators) in maintaining the status quo.

I'm sure the majority of European Internet users would prefer to pay £10-£20 a month to an ISP and get free calls, rather than pay nothing to an ISP and pay for per minute access to a telecom operator.

See Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications for more info.

Telco's Have australia already

[Chage]

Telstra is the biggest Telecommunications Network in Australia, and as the market was regulaetd by the government for a vast number of years, they have a complete monopoly on the Telecommunications Industry in Australia.

Having said that, there are many many medium sized ISPs in Australia, but they are unable to compete for the simple reason that if they were competitive, Telstra wuold find a way to tighten the stranglehold on the market, and essentially make the business unprofitable.

Free Internet is very much in its infancy here, but while the telecommunications giant owns the routers, gateways, exchanges and phone lines, I simply cant see Free internet taking off in australia, no matter how many subscribers an ISP obtains