July 24, 2006 | posted by Michael Baxter in Uncategorized |

Free can be an overused word sometimes but never more so than in the world of Internet access. Carphone Warehouse’s “Talk Talk” got the rap for its usage of the word, while with the way that BSkyB is bandying the word about, one could be forgiven for assuming the broadcaster is a charity.
Kris Kristofferson once wrote “…freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…” but the truth is the broadband players have a lot to lose, and the plethora of free offers and other packages which seem to be too good to be true, are in fact little more than a last desperate throw of the dice.
With TV and broadband converging, the likes of NTL and BSkyB know they have to get customers signed up to the broadband they offer, before video on the net becomes too abundant
The wireless operators, the likes of Vodafone and Orange, know they need a way to tie customers in before they start using VoIP on the move.
BT needs to find a new business model, before its traditional model disappears altogether.
Just remember the AOL experience. There was a time when if offered exclusive content to its customers, but the open market that is the Internet proved too much. The danger for companies hoping to tie us in by offering TV content or VoIP is that the public will discover they can get these services elsewhere, without making a commitment.
Maybe, ultimately, we just want an ISP for fast, reliable broadband. And perhaps Talk Talk is leading the way.
It has already accumulated 400,000 users, and although its boss Charles Dunstone says the company is “struggling to cope with demand,” it’s a problem that, no doubt, most of its rivals would love to have. Mr Dunstone was reported in the Sunday Times as comparing its broadband service with “our own little sister, a little baby, who is waking up every night and disturbing the family and making our lives a nightmare” But he added “we must not lose sight of the fact that very soon she will grow up into a beautiful young girl, and we’ll love her dearly.” For Carphones’s sake, let’s hope Talk Talk can bypass its teenage years, or future anthropomorphism from Mr. Dunstone may well be less gushing.

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