Faster dial-up is latest maneuver by United Online. (Media & Technology).United Online Inc. believes it has an answer for its thrifty Internet service customers who crave faster downloads but don't want to pay the price of broadband. The problem: Its competitors have come up with similar plans. This month, the Westlake Village-based company launched new, faster dial-up services An information service on demand. The term was popular when analog modems were the only way to connect to a remote system. See dial-up. . Priced at $14.95 a month, Juno Speedband and NetZero HiSpeed take advantage of various technologies to speed transmission times by up to five times without requiring new equipment. The basic, discount services that NetZero and Juno offer cost $9.95 a month. The technology adds speed by compressing Internet text and graphics, making it easier to download to users' computers. It also stores, or caches, portions of Web sites on users' computers. When a site is visited, less data has to be downloaded. A United Online competitor, Atlanta-based EarthLink he., announced its own enhanced dial-up service in March. Users pay $28.95 per month for EarthLink Plus, a $7 dollar increase from the regular monthly subscription. Others haven't followed suit, but there's nothing to prevent them. United Online licensed its compression and caching technology from Slipstream Data SlipStream Data Inc. is a software development company located in the heart of Canada's Technology Triangle in Waterloo, Ontario. In July 2006, SlipStream was acquired by Research In Motion (RIM) and is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIM. Inc., a Canadian company, while EarthLink went with San Jose-based Propel Software Corp. Faster dial-up is an appealing choice for Internet users not now purchasing broadband services such as DSL DSL in full Digital Subscriber Line Broadband digital communications connection that operates over standard copper telephone wires. It requires a DSL modem, which splits transmissions into two frequency bands: the lower frequencies for voice (ordinary and cable, which typically cost between $40 and $50 a month. "Broadband is available in over 80 percent of U.S. homes, but at its current prices it's not compelling enough. These dial-up technologies are an interim solution:' said Michael Greeson, senior broadband analyst at Parks Associates, a technology research firm in Dallas. United Online's cheapest services have made inroads inroads Noun, pl make inroads into to start affecting or reducing: my gambling has made great inroads into my savings inroads npl to make inroads into [+ against its biggest target, AOL-Time Warner Inc.'s AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. division. With 2.2 million subscribers, United Online expects to continue doing so with the faster offering. "Internet service is a commodity, and we are the low cost provider. There is no great pressure on the broadband providers to lower their prices," said Chief Executive Mark Goldston. He noted that EarthLink has spent heavily on its DSL offering, without a financial payback. EarthLink has 779,000 DSL subscribers, compared to 4 million dial-up users, said an EarthLink spokesman. Steve Kirsch Steven Todd Kirsch invented and owns a patent on the optical mouse. After bringing multiple successful startup companies through IPO and corporate buy-out, he became a multi-millionaire. As a 12 year old student, he became fascinated with a programmable calculator. , chief executive of Propel, said his company and Slipstream To fix a bug or add enhancements to software without identifying such inclusions by creating a new version number. use different, patent-pending algorithms for their technology and that United Online tested both products before deciding upon Slipstream. United Online and Slipstream would not comment on the terms of their relationship. There are still signs that broadband will dominate the market in a few years. While the total U.S. dial-up market is estimated to be 50 million, the percentage of homes using broadband access See broadband and wireless broadband. is expected to rise to 70 percent by 2008, from about 27 percent currently, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Strategy Analytics. Analysts said Yahoo Inc., AOL, and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN (1) (MicroSoft Network) A family of Internet-based services from Microsoft, which includes a search engine, e-mail (Hotmail), instant messaging (Windows Live Messaging) and a general-purpose portal with news, information and shopping (MSN Directory). service are driving broadband use into the mainstream through content such as streaming video. Neither United Online or EarthLink's new dial-up services can compress streaming video. This limitation may be a reason that EarthLink is betting on broadband. The company plans on getting users of its new dial-up service to switch to its DSL service eventually, said Mark Griffith, director of brand marketing at EarthLink. |
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