The Broadband Digital Group is busily signing up prospects for its free DSL services, and plans to offer the same service to businesses in the next phase of the plan. The benefits for the web community are obvious: consumers who would rather not spend the money for a DSL connection will now be able to enjoy high-end web content without the painful download time.
So what could possibly be the cost?
If you’re familiar with the approach of free Internet access providers, you know that your free internet connection comes with the cost of small ads that are displayed while you surf. It’s part of the agreement, and its users feel it’s a small price to pay. Those who sign up for FreeDSL can expect the same, which many feel is only fair, since after all, BDG needs to bring in revenue to continue the service. Furthermore, the savings are far greater; while free dial-up access only saves the consumer an average of $10 to $20 a month, free DSL is worth up to $60 a month at current prices.
The success of FreeDSL will depend upon how BDG handles certain inevitable obstacles. First, there is the fact that other free service providers have had a difficult time showing a profit thus far despite their heavy reliance upon advertising dollars. Second, the bandwidth must be available in order to consistently give users the optimum benefits of a DSL connection, and a tremendous expansion may be more than the current infrastructure can handle.
It is difficult to speculate upon the ability of FreeDSL to pose a viable threat to paid DSL providers, so the only current option for interested parties is to pre-register for the service while they can, and set aside some expendable funds for paid DSL in case the free service should eventually fall through.
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James Martell is the Sr. Editor and Webmaster for , a free stuff site featuring free ISPs, free voicemail and free long distance,
