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Search engine AltaVista on Wednesday released a survey showing strong demand among consumers for free ad-supported Internet services similar to the one it launched last month.

According to a survey by International Communications Research of Media, two out of five consumers in a national telephone survey said they would take the free service.

Not everyone, though, bought the concept, with 53.7 percent saying advertising-sponsored access is too "intrusive."

The vast majority of Internet service is delivered to pay subscribers in the United States, who normally pay about $20 a month.

But Alta Vista, a unit of CMGI Inc., has received a flood of new subscribers for its ad-sponsored service started a month ago. The company said it has signed up nearly 300,000 users in its first month, putting it among the top 20 U.S. Internet services.

Despite skepticism among analysts, Alta Vista said there is a large, receptive market of potential subscribers available to build the service much larger and turn it into a profitable business with advertising and e-commerce revenue.

"(Normal speed) Internet access is going to be totally free within two to four years," Rod Schrock, president of Alta Vista said in an interview. "People will only pay for high-bandwidth (high-speed) access."

The CMGI unit is rolling out new national advertising and promotion to further boost the service. It expects to have no problem attaining the million members that it forecast for its first year in service.

Alta Vista was the first major Internet company to offer free Internet access. It hopes to make free access pay off by bundling special targeted advertising with the service. Users who get the service see their Web pages wrapped with Alta Vista advertising.

Another company, WorldSpy, this week began offering free Internet service without any display advertising, although it hopes to make money by directing its Internet access customers to its shopping site.