WebProNews

Why pay for Internet access when you can get it for free? That how I, and millions of other 'surfers', are thinking these days. In fact a recent study showed that by the year 2003, more than 13 million U.S. households will be using a free ISP to access the internet.

Jupiter Communications released a study that suggests that out of that number, 8.8 million will use a free ISP as their primary connection to the Internet, making up 13 percent of the U.S. online population.

Does this mean that your current subscription-based ISP will cease to exist as the popularity of using a free ISP increases? Actually, they will more than likely continue to exist as the report suggests that most users care more about performance and reliability than cost.

Free ISPs mainly rely on advertising revenues to support their business, but they are expected to capture just $901 million in advertising revenue by 2003, making up only 8 percent of total online advertising spending.

So what does the future hold for both subscription-base ISP's and free ISP's alike? The prediction is that they will both like co-exist for a very long time to come.

For more information or to register with a free ISP, click here!

Charles Anderson is a Senior Editor for e-Goodz.com, home of the Free Internet Access Top 5 Guide.