K Mart’s Internet arm is looking a little more like a premium Internet
service provider (ISP) and less like a free ISP after a Tuesday decision by
its executives to drop the ad banner from its service and add more dial in
numbers for customers to use.
It’s a move in the right direction for the formerly-free ISP, which has
lately been in a quandary as it decided how best to move its customers from
providing free dial-up Internet services to paid, premium services.
BlueLight.com’s customers are a little bit different than the customers at
most ISPs around the country, and around the world for that matter. The
free ISP was originally brought into existence to bring online customers to
shop at their online site, not provide just Internet service.
And until recently, BlueLight.com was a free Internet service free of
outright control by its parent company, the real-world retail giant based
out of Troy, MI, but a downturn in online advertising spending forced the
company to look for other revenue generators, like charging for
Internet access.
Since then, BlueLight.com has been quickly transitioning its service to
embrace a culture of making money on its own and not being a vehicle to
make money for K Mart’s goods. The ISP today charges $8.95 a month for
Internet connection.
To that end, it announced its expanded dial up coverage nationwide, giving
more people local call-in numbers at the BlueLight.com ISP.
They based this decision off of a recent Consumer Reports survey, which
found many people were turned off by ISPs that didn’t offer enough service
numbers to keep their Internet connection interruption-free.
According to Heidi Gibson, BlueLight.com general manager, the expansion is
also the result of high demand.
“We have seen an incredible response to our new BlueLight Unlimited
Internet Service and want to make sure we can meet demand levels by
providing the highest level of connectivity possible,” Gibson said. “It’s
critical that we form relationships with stable, high-quality network
services providers such as Qwest to fulfill our commitment to our
subscribers to provide always-available Internet access.”
According to BlueLight.com officials, the ISP now has more than 5,000 POPs
around the country, double what AOL has to offer.
The ISP has also decided to do away with the infamous ad banner, a staple
in any free ISP product offering and the reason why ISPs were able to offer
free Internet services. To make up for a monthly charge, the ISP would
sign a company to an advertising deal, guaranteeing x number of people
would see the ad every month. The ad banner was that vehicle.
BlueLight.com has instead opted for a task bar, which can float free or get
docked to the top or bottom of the Web browser. On the task bar are K
Mart-specific channels and an area to check @mybluelight.com email.
