FreeDSL Offers Bandwidth-on-Demand

FreeDSL customers
languishing at 144Kbps to 384Kbps speeds can get a taste of truly
high-speed digital subscriber line access with Winfire Inc.’s,
Bandwidth-on-Demand, it was announced Wednesday.

The patent-pending product by Winfire gives DSL customers a one-click speed
boost of up to 1.54Mbps, depending on the condition of the copper line
running from the home to the central office. Available in three-hour
increments up to 12 hours, the service starts at $4.95.

Winfire is an “upsell” Internet service provider, offering free DSL
Internet access in the hopes its customers will upgrade to premium services
at speeds up to 1.54Mbps. The model is based on the success of Juno Online Services, Inc., which took its
initially-free dialup service and became the nation’s third largest ISP.

Chad Steelberg, Winfire chairman and co-chief executive officer, said his
product shows customers the advantages of the true capabilities of DSL.

“Winfire is committed to offering our DSL customers the latest technology
that improves their overall experience on the Internet,” Steelberg
said. “Bandwidth-on-Demand is the first Winfire offering that provides
users with seamless one-click access to a faster DSL connection, for a
significantly lower cost, when they choose.”

The service is a hook for the ISP to show FreeDSL customers the benefits of
premium DSL services and make the step to paying customer. A person using
the Bandwidth-on-Demand for 24 hours just paid the monthly charge for
Winfire’s 384Kbps service.

Officials are hoping the ease of use and download speeds entice customers
for faster services when downloading large files like MP3 music and
streaming media videos. To that end, Winfire signed a deal with Universal
Music Group Wednesday to provide a one-click link to the company’s
archive of original music.

With FreeDSL available in 12 metropolitan areas throughout the country and
more on the horizon, Winfire is looking to attract paying customers to help
offset its free service. For the past year, the free Internet model has
taken a pounding with ISPsWorldSpy
and Freewwweb folding under and
being consolidated into Juno.

According to Mike Lowe,