Berlin-based internet service provider Mind Internet Services GmbH is planning to offer unmetered internet access subscriptions, and is currently seeking pilot users. The ISP has teamed up with Berlin local telco BerliKomm Telekommunikationsgesellschaft GmbH to offer three sets of flat-rate tariffs which include both subscription fees and telephone bills.
Germany, like almost everywhere in Europe, bills its internet users by the minute for the time they are connected via a dialup line. The dominant practice is to charge a per-minute rate for connectivity which is slightly higher than a voice call. Under Mind’s plan, users will be able to pay either DM77 ($41) per month for unmetered access between 10pm and 6am every day, DM142 ($76) for access between 6pm and 6am, or DM998 ($540) for 24/7 connectivity with a fixed IP address. One-off registration fees of DM89, DM150 and DM750 respectively will also be charged.
These are not casual-user prices. Comparing the prices to those of AOL Deutschland, a division of America Online Inc and Bertelsmann AG’s AOL Europe joint venture, any consumer clocking up over 33 hours a month would be better off with the DM77 deal, and 60 hours a month with the DM142 package. AOL offers dialup at 3.9 pfennigs ($0.02) per minute, among the cheapest available. Users would, of course, be obliged to use the prescribed time-frame, or pay a regular per-minute charge for dialup outside that time. The DM998 option is likely to be the reserve of the small business and net addicted.
The plans represent what many observers consider to be the next logical step for European consumer internet access. Now that subscription-free internet access is the norm in countries such as the UK, with France, Spain and Italy catching up, many are beginning to lament the metered nature of European telecoms billing, and are looking for alternatives. It only takes one or two shock phone bills to come to realize that turning off the clock would not be such as bad idea.
Again, the UK leads the way in this emerging sector. Localtel Ltd pioneered the notion, providing evening and weekend dialup for free to subscribers of its telephony package, while AOL Europe’s UK division has been busy piloting various toll-free dialup schemes for some months. A number of other ISPs give toll-free dialup at weekends for a set subscription fee.
Some doubt whether the idea of unmetered dialup is feasible, given that cable modems and ADSL broadband services are emerging across the continent, offering 24 hour, seven days a week unmetered connectivity for prices more affordable than DM998. Incumbent telcos such as British Telecommunications Plc have stressed that truly-flat rate billing practices would leave light phone users subsidizing the net junkies of the world. As yet, there is no confirmation from Mind or BerliKomm to when the services will begin.
