AltaVista Gets Into Free Dial-Up Net Access Market

Computergram International, August 13, 1999

AltaVista Company is the latest player in the free dial-up internet access market. Its FreeAccess service is combined with a MicroPortal, a personalized desktop window to media and commerce services including the company's original raison d'etre, its search engine. President and CEO Rod Schrock explains AltaVista's free access play by pointing out that it's the fastest way to get new users online. In other words, AltaVista won't be competing with better-established portals like Yahoo so much as helping a new generation cut their teeth on the web - a kind of latter-day America Online Inc without the proprietary content.

That's not to say that experienced users will be turned away; after all, the AltaVista brand has greatest cachet with the web users who first encountered its unprecedented search power back in 1995. "Only AltaVista is delivering a totally free internet experience that fulfills the expectations and high standards of web enthusiasts," Schrock claims, "why continue to pay $240 per year or more when a totally free service easily meets your needs?"

The technical underpinnings of the FreeAccess service have been provided by San Francisco, California-based 1stUp.com, which claims to be a kind of OEM for branded free ISPs. As with most of 1stUp's clients, AltaVista will intends to make its money through advertising and e-commerce. This is where the bundling of FreeAccess with the MicroPortal comes into play. Access is bait, and the online store is the hook. The MicroPortal will remain open as a separate desktop window, providing one-click access to AltaVista Finance and Shopping.com.