by Alan Crease: alan.crease@net.ntl.com

INTRODUCTION

In the mid 90s NTL won the franchise bidding to supply cable systems in Hertfordshire. They provide the service known as NTL Cabletel, which, for the £9.25 per month basic service, gives us a phone line, enhanced FM radio, all the terrestrial TV channels, Sky 1, a local info channel and one other monthly rotating sample channel of what's on offer for a higher subscription. (Ed: Actually we get a few more TV channels as well - I better let Alan know!). In comparison with BT we would only get a phone line rental, (fortunately we kept our previous BT phone line running anyway and therefore have two phones). NTL's phone charges are also less per minute than BT's, although "friends and family" discount would bridge most of the gap between the tariffs. Likewise, Internet calls with NTL are cheaper at about 0.75pence per-minute after 6pm. (Strangely it does seem variable, so I'll have to go through the bill with a fine toothcomb). Hence my current Internet address above.

For the NTL Internet service I currently pay £60 a year, which covers all or any technical support calls. In addition, and it's very easy to forget it exists in these sound bite/headline times, is the 3.5 pence connection fee for all calls when you dial or log on.

IT'S A LOCK-OUT

I started writing this piece on the 8th of March when NTL's Cabletel service had just conked out for the second night running. Last night it stopped for an hour and ten minutes. Tonight it went off at 21.40 and is still off at 23.30. That incident was before the big fanfare over free Internet access. For once I was stirred enough to call `customer service' where I was told, "If you want details of our new whizz-bang Internet service press button 1, if not, press button 2 for other enquiries." Pressing button 2 only gave me free access to a sickly sweet and twee mid-Atlantic recording saying that "we are currently having problems with our service in the Welwyn Garden City area and are trying to rectify the problem as soon as possible." End of customer service and no further button options. (On Saturday 10th March it was to cut off again for another 45 minutes during `Casualty').

I guess all those hundreds of customer care representatives had been withdrawn in the hunt to find which idiot had pulled out the wrong plug. I wonder if they'll mention this when the next statement of account drops through the letter box?

So here we are. No television, no radio, possibly no phone, and presumably no Internet service. My Internet widow has commandeered the old 14" portable in the upstairs den to watch E R, so I'm downstairs making rough notes and re-discovering my music CD collection. Oh my gawd! I've been hooked on Internetting, haven't I. The withdrawal symptoms are palpable. My writing had is shaking: I've just missed out the n.

MORE OF WHAT'S ON OFFER

Only 2 days ago, ALTA-VISTA trumpeted their so called "free Internet service", even offering to cover your phone charges. Pretty good of them to time it for now, when it seems that they don't even have a telephone company partner or a separate `service provider'. In the common parlance of the times it seems more like a `vapour service'. But then they probably knew about the plans of NTL and the other Internet Service Providers (ISP's), so put out their announcement first so as to make it appear that the other were all reacting to them. Hype, hype, Interhype, Hypernet, the choice is yours. Even the national press and television join in the pseudo frenzy and present announcements as if they are real news.

So, is NTL's offer really a free service? The answer is that it appears to be more free than some of the others. Most of the other upcoming services are really offering extended access for a low flat fee. So, I think we can dispense with the word "free" from now on. Details of the revised scheme are still sketchy, but an e-mail from NTL on the 18th says that I can look forward to 7 more content channels as well as e-mail and web site enhancements: oh goody, all I ever wanted! The £5 per month charge for support is being scrapped and so are Internet access call charges. Smashing, although an automatic cut-off after 2 hrs is being introduced, after which you will be free to log-on again. There is no mention of telephone calls to customer support at your distant call centre, or that every call/log-on and re log-on will still have a fee attached. Oh, and I'm being forced to have a new e-mail address. If the system crashes while you're online then that will cost you another connection fee when you log back on. ('Er upstairs tells me the TV often goes off for 10 minutes here, 30 minutes there, in the middle of the afternoon, so breaks in the service are far from unknown but they are definitely having a bad week when it comes to the evening service). I don't as yet hear any call for an Internet ombudsman or regulator. Isn't the Internet going to be just another Public Utility. Any prospect of a refund for failure to deliver service, like the Railway Passenger Charter. Doubt it.

Also on the 18th we had a real time mail communication offering an extra facility of an additional line for ... you've guessed it, £5 per month.

ON-LINE CHAT

We've heard a lot of sound bytes recently from the great smiling one doing his inclusive best - nothing wrong in that - to talk up the idea of having everyone on-line by 2005. This is laudable in its broad intention and clearly relevant in the stakeholder society to education, education, education. However, I do not find it believable that paying phone charges by the minute will deter the proletariat from joining the on-line revolution. That really is a load of old Toshiba. (Ed: Maybe not, but it will certainly deter the amount of usage and consequently hinder the use of business to consumer services). If the Internet comes to be perceived as a `must have' then the take up will be like that current craving for mobile phones, where most users just happen to be paying an upfront fee with per-minute call charges. Are you aware of any complaints about his form of charging for mobiles? No? Neither am I. When the new schemes are introduced, there will be just enough variations in the tariffs to bewilder the punters. Meanwhile, come June, look out for cool Alta Vista sweat shirts.

By the next academic year we could be hearing the interruption, "Excuse me sir, can you hold the lesson for a moment, I'm taking a down load from my research service provider."

The real battle to extend Internet use is once again a matter of the minds, as well as the upfront cost of some device to give you access. If you don't use a computer you could use your top-of-the-range mobile phone, or a Bush WebTV. Unfortunately, there's no means of storing any information you find.

Try getting access via the TV. Sky and ONdigital will give you a free set-top box and maybe a "Web-pad" or similar keyboard, but that will commit you to £20 + per month in subscriptions. Next, try surfing while dad is watching the footie on Sky Sports 1. Likely? NOT. Well, that's Monday dealt with. How about a free children's Internet tariff between 4.30 and 9pm. No I'm only joking - it's not in the real world - too difficult to monitor - it's wide open to abuse. Blah, blah.

So where did this "free", oops, sorry, "extended" Internet access idea start. From a crowd of self-promoting geeks who have got nothing better to do all day. Maybe. Get a life! Could there be an industry lobby out there which is hoping to reduce the cost of running web sites? Maybe. Personally, I reckon I spend about 4½ hours a week on-line following this computer hobby and that includes a few minutes at odd lunch half-hours in the office while I click with the right hand and stuff my face with the left. No, your hard earned Council Tax is not subsidising my surfing. The Council's telecoms system works through a leased line - a flat fee tariff from NTL - so whether I use it for 1 minute, or round-the-clock, the charge remains the same. In addition the network is anti-virused and equipped with a "Firewall" board to head off those nasty virus things. Anyway, back to the charging system. Why, because it's the Internet, is there a cry for something to be free? I've made a few suggestions above, but perhaps there is something more Machiavellian going on. Can some reader let us all know if other Europeans enjoy unmetered local call access for telephones and the Internet. The Americans do, of course, and it looks like the Canadians have something similar, while my info from Australia shows a very varied picture. There are several scenarios. Everywhere the log-on fee is 25 cents: there's a A$20 a month charge that is limited to about 20 hours on-line. There is a more deluxe service for A$44 giving 150 hrs on-line a month, but local calls are not metered. I'm told that the current Aussie administration thought a few years ago about introducing timed local calls, but there was clear public resistance, and the idea was scrapped. There is a totally free E-mail only service available but that probably comes with the penalty of automatic advertising with every message. If that were the situation with the Internet, there ought to be a national outcry about unsolicited mail. Spam for lunch, spam for tea!

LURKING IN THE BACKGROUND

An article by Jamie Doward in the Business section of the Observer on the 19th March pointed the way to more Americanisation, and opened the door on the long term objectives of the big Internet companies. You can almost view the whole scene as the ISPs such as NTL, and potentially Alta-Vista, being the Trojan Horses for the battle ahead.

Alta-Vista is known to have about 60 associate companies, yes 60! Until last week I thought they were just a search engine. Silly me. I don't know who the 60 are, and the article didn't disclose them, but I'll bet there'll be a good selection of "Software Development", Telecommunications", "Digital TV", "Video Streaming", "Banking", "News", "Sport", "Insurance" and "Estate

Agency" companies amongst them. In short, they are the power behind the content. Once you are hooked into the cheap access companies you become a sort of captive audience. The web site advertising will predominantly feature the associate companies. Use the providers web site as a search engine, and what will appear on the head of the first search result? A link to the associates web site. Not satisfied? Try another search engine, or is it a "portal"? Different results but the same scheme. LOGON and get LOCKED-IN.

According to The Observer, what they don't want you to do is STRAY. Personally, I've never done anything else. That is use the ISP just as an access provider. Log-in, chalk up your connection fee and then go elsewhere. Just click on your "favourites" (is it "favorites"?) or bookmarks and ignore the other stuff.

I recently signed up for Waitrose.Com which is also a good deal. I can stray as usual but you can also register for the John Lewis Group and do online shopping. No charges whatsoever and free tech support. The only charge is for the phone line. I wonder what will happen if I call them down NTL's phone line. I bet they filter out the number and it will be recorded as local telephone access, not an Internet call. At least I've got an option if NTL conks out.

So where is the lobbying coming from? Probably from the ISPs themselves, although you might think that they and their telecoms line leasing partners would have the most to loose. The business model appears to be to publicly minimise the visible cost of access and then lose the log-on charge in the small print. (It is estimated that 40% of Freeserve's income comes from the log-on charge). When enough customers are hooked to achieve "critical mass" for the advertisers etc. you plaster the screen with content, courtesy of your associates.

Question. What did it also say in my e-mail from NTL? Ah yes. An NTL branded search engine, an NTL web directory, and content comprising of news, sport, knowledge, local, shopping, entertainment and travel (watch out lastminute.com). Sounds very familiar. If they find you are straying too much they can always cut you off. Who knows where the fault lies. "Must have been interference on the line, Sir. Nothing to do with us." Welwyn Garden City one week, Newcastle the next. Oops pulled the wrong plug. Please logon again, oh by the way that'll be 3.5 pence. No doubt the terms and conditions will specifically exclude disconnections.

How about that Regulator, Tone. Tone, are you listening?