By John Oates, 10 May 1999 00:15
NEWS PSINet founder, Bill Schrader, is predicting a business Internet service provider (ISP) boom in the next three to five years. Speaking to Silicon.com from Lake Tahoe in the US, Schrader claimed that the total number of businesses needing Internet access would be over ten million by 2004. He said that although PSINet is currently still running at a loss, the ISP is making large investments in access infrastructure. He added cryptically that the company "will have losses until the losses aren't there anymore". As long as the company keeps "the pipes full", he said, it will start turning a profit soon. But he admitted that although the company is buying both infrastructure and customers, profits are unlikely for the next few years. Questioned on the future revenue model of business providers in the face of expanding free services in the UK, Schrader claimed it was unlikely to change. He welcomed free access for consumers, but said businesses would be unlikely to follow suit, because without dial-up access ISPs are unable to make money from local loop charges.
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