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NUA INTERNET SURVEYS NUA INTERNET SURVEYS NUA INTERNET SURVEYS
Weekly free email on what's new in surveys on the Internet
By Nua Email: [log in to unmask] Web: http://www.nua.ie/surveys/
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August 3rd 1999 Published By: Nua Limited Volume 4 No. 30
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ISPS <http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=FS&cat_id=22>
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Durlacher Research Ltd: UK ISP Market Reaching Saturation Point

A new report from Durlacher Research predicts that there may be as many
as 200 free ISPs operating in the UK by the end of the year. Currently,
the report estimates that there are at least 95 subscription-free
ISPs.In what may be soon be a stagnant market, Durlacher cautions that
the lack of original and differentiating services will give rise to a
floating ISP subscriber, with little loyalty to any particular
provider.

The advent of the free ISP model has severely hampered the growth of
the subscription-based market, according to the report, with its annual
growth rate down 80 percent, and a further decline expected over the
next year.

In terms of free-ISPs, Freeserve was ranked number one with 1.25
million subscribers, followed by X-Stream with 270,000 subscribers,
Currant Bun, 250,000, Breathenet, 225,000 and LineOne, 200,000. The top
players in the subscription-based ISP market were AOL, with 600,000
subscribers, followed by CompuServe, 400,000, Demon, 175,000, BT
Internet, 115,000, and Global Internet, 100,000.

There has been concern over how to accurately distinguish between
paying and non-paying ISP consumers because many consumers have more
than one account. Durlacher estimates, taking the multiple account
factor into consideration, that there has been a 66 percent increase in
the number of dial-up accounts over the past twelve months. It
estimates that there are now 5.8 million dial-up accounts across the
UK.

Durlacher's estimate for the number of people online at 10.5 million is
more conservative than the earlier figure released by NOP Research,
which set the number of Britons online at 10.6 million in December
1998.

<http://www.durlacher.co.uk>

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Fletcher Research: UK ISP Audience Proves Difficult to Categorise

A new report from Fletcher Research has found that many UK users have
more than one ISP account, making it difficult to quantify the paying
and non-paying Internet user audience.

The report found that subscribers to X-Stream are the most likely to
use more than one ISP, with 83 percent of subscribers thought to have
more than one account. In comparison, 71 percent of AOL subscribers are
estimated to have more than one account, followed by CompuServe, 69
percent, TescoNet, 61 percent, BT ClickFree, 55 percent, and MSN, 48
percent.

Fletcher estimated that 41 percent of LineOne subscribers have more
than one ISP account, followed by BT Internet, 39 percent, FreeServe,
32 percent, VirginNet, 30 percent, and Demon, 26 percent.  43 percent
of those subscribed to other ISPs were estimated to have more than one
account.

Typically, Internet users seem to use their subscription account to
send and receive email, chat and to access other premium content,
preferring a subscription free service to surf beyond their home ISP,
according to the report.

The findings are based on a poll of more than 33,000 Web users across
Britain, conducted in May 1999.

<http://www.fletch.co.uk>

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Reuters: Freeserve Flotation Records Early Success

At the close of first day trading, shares in the UK's newsest IPO,
Freeserve, had appreciated by 37 percent, giving the company a total
worth of USD3.2 billion. 50,000 people applied for Freeserve shares,
rendering the share offering thirty-times over subscribed. There is a
cap of 500 shares per subscriber in place.

Shares closed on the London market at an estimated value of USD3.26,
(GBP 2.055) having peaked at USD3.58 (GBP2.25) earlier in the day. The
Freeserve shares had been initially offered at USD2.38 (GPB 1.50). In
New York, Freeserve shares opened at USD32.25, 35 percent higher than
the offer price of USD23.67.

Despite the healthy start made by Freeserve, there is much debate in
the financial industry about how the shares can be expected to perform
after the initial floation. Owned by Dixon's, the free ISP quickly
positioned itself as market leader in Britain, however the competition
for market share rapidly intensified and there are now between 70 to
100 'free' competitors on the UK market, not least AOL.

<http://www.reuters.com>

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