By Tony Hallett, 31 August 2000 00:20
COMMENT AltaVista's decision to pull out of the unmetered net access game should be applauded. The US company - initially known as a search engine provider - has had some success providing free net access in its home market, but even there its business model relies on millions of eyeballs and users are frequently timed out. In the UK, it took a gamble which ultimately didn't pay off. After a year (1999) of 'free' ISPs which only really just dropped monthly subscription fees, this year a new breed of players evolved offering something more - unmetered services, and thus a potential end to clock watching for net surfers. Companies such as Telewest, NTL, and of course BT have come up with various types of unmetered offers. All have had their problems. But AltaVista, perhaps in an attempt to steal the limelight from NTL, pre-announced its unmetered offering, and signed up subscribers. Some say it acted hastily in an attempt to steal mindshare. By this July, a hunt had begun to find anyone actually using its service. The subsequent embarrassing climb down as it was revealed the service never launched is now well documented. Heads rolled, but is the company any worse off as a result? It has lost some credibility, but if the fiasco means it refocuses and goes back to what it does best, then over time its reputation will return, and its users and shareholders (who know a thing or two about this type of thing) will be thankful. Apologising and moving on will work. And if anyone in the organisation needs any more consoling, the fact that others will also surely fail is bound to help.
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