Telefonica de Espana SA is hoping that the InfoVia computer network access service it began marketing last month, pending the formality of government approval, will attract some 60,000 users in its first year of operation. At least 119 companies have signed up to offer services on Infovia, the first Spanish- language on-line service with Internet access. The network currently has just two nodes, in Madrid and Barcelona, but the carrier will add to these in accordance with demand. Telefonica’s president Candido Velazquez claimed the service will offer universal, simple and economic access to the information superhighways. Users will be offered a uniform access rate of $1.14 from anywhere in Spain. Velazquez also underlined InfoVia’s neutrality with respect to information service providers, who will pay a minimum $2,336 connection fee and $1,492 a month for the lease of a 64Kbps Frame Relay line, although these rates are also subject to government approval. Banks such as Argentaria, BBV, Banesto, Banco Santander and La Caixa, government bodies such as the Autonomous Government of Valencia, information technology multinationals such as IBM Corp and Microsoft Corp and Internet service providers such as Sarenet and Servicom have all been quick to sign up. InfoVia’s access software, based on the Mosaic browser, with Microsoft Corp’s Explorer and Navigator promised before long, will be distributed free of charge on floppy and CD-ROM disks. The service will be compatible with Windows 3.1, Windows95, OS/2 Warp and very shortly, Macintosh operating systems. Some computer companies, such as IBM Espana and Informatica El Corte Ingles, have already begun to sell their machines with the InfoVia software pre-loaded. Although Telefonica’s monopoly of speech telephony continues until the deregulation date imposed by Brussels of January 1 1998, it cannot of course deny other telecommunications operators access to the network. France Telecom, British Telecommunications Plc and Cable & Wireless Plc are now looking at how they can extend their current services with the help of InfoVia.
