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| Success Stories |
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Ready-to-go Solution for Successful Free Internet
Business
Free Internet access services are no longer talk
only, but proved by successful cases in Europe and North America such as
Freeserve and NetZero. All are able to rack up thousands of new subscribers
each day. In Hong Kong, iSm@rt, the Internet service arm of major mobile
phone operator SmarTone, was the first who offered free Internet access
and set the trend for free Internet services in the city.
Recently, iSm@rt goes further to take the lead to introduce completely
free Internet services also with PNETS (Public Non-Exclusive Telecommunications
Services) fee waived. PNETS fees are surcharges Internet users in Hong
Kong have to pay. The money actually goes to the telephone carrier for
its infrastructure being used by ISPs to offer public telecom services.
None of the free ISPs in Hong Kong except iSm@rt also cover the PNETS
fee in their free lunch.
The point to provide free services, especially for new entrants, is to
build up a large customer base as quickly as possible that can support
further business development, gaining profits by providing high-value
added services in the fast-going, but promising Internet world.
On the other hand, the challenge for free ISPs is how to build a right
business model for their free services? How to add revenue streams and
make profit?
Here we go. Unifias (Unitech Networks Free Internet Access System) is
a time-to-market total solution developed by Unitech Networks for free
Internet business supporting different revenue streams. Unitech Networks,
as an Internet solution provider, has been working as a technology as
well as business development partner of iSm@rt for its iSm@rtFree project.
What is iSm@rtFree?
Available at http://free.ismart.net, iSm@rtFree is a combined free Internet
service with online shopping. It provides free Internet access to subscribers
who make purchase of HK$68 or more every month at iSm@rtMall. The online
shopping mall located at http://mall.ismart.net has over 1,000 items and
services from over 30 merchants such as gifts, books, computer products,
hotel booking, etc.
In addition, subscribers will be provided with infotainment news and other
rich content from the hot menu embedded in the micro-browser, which is
part of the installation package. The hot menu, with tag strips for different
categories of information such as news, finance, weather, games and music,
will serve as a directory service for quick and easy info search.
Subscribers will also receive pop-up content such as quizzes and questionnaires
periodically that can appear as an appealing and prize-winning chance
for end-users, adding fun to their Internet experience. For the ISP, it
is a useful means to strengthen customer loyalty as well as to gather
end-user data for development of more interactive and personalized services.
It can also help check the "heartbeat" of client users. If a client remains
idle for long, the Internet connection will be dropped automatically to
leave the modem port for other users.
In addition to e-commerce, online advertising will also be a major source
of revenue for iSm@rtFree. When a client is connected to the Internet
via iSm@rtFree, it will find a banner ad, which keeps changing regularly,
shown in a micro-browser that can neither be minimized nor covered by
anything else. Also possible is a full-screen pop-up ad. They will be
effective marketing and promotion channels in addition to the traditional
paper and electronic media.
All in all, iSm@rtFree that combines Internet access, online advertising
and electronic shopping represents a new electronic sales and marketing
concept for the business community, said Rick Lo, Internet Services Senior
Manger of SmartTone.
So far, the response to iSm@rtFree program is satisfactory after the launch
for a month, said Mr Lo.
All-in-one solution for free Internet business
Unifias, developed by Unitech Networks, is the system behind the iSm@rtFree
program. It consists of several back-end servers and a Windows client
for different innovative applications such as online quiz, pop-up ads
and full-screen ads, in addition to the primary operation of Internet
access services.
Pop-up Quiz Server is one of the major components of Unifias. It generates
and sends questions to end-users, checks the answers and decides the next
question. In addition to info collection, the quiz server can help check
client status and will initiate command to disconnect any inactive client;
thus, ensuring more effective use of network bandwidth.
Moreover, Windows clients will send "heartbeat" regularly to Unifias'
monitoring system that will send disconnection signal to Drop-line Manager,
also part of Unifias, in case of idle users.
Unifias also supports effective online advertising, including banner ad
display via a micro-browser, and full-screen ads. It is possible to deliver
personalized content to end-users, based on their personal profiles.
From Internet Technologies to Business Opportunities
System design of Unifias should be the most challenging task, said Mr
Lo. "Even ourselves could not spell out all requirements when we first
came up with the idea of iSm@rtFree.
"Due to the rapid pace of the Internet world, we don't have enough time
to study and prepare, but run against the clock to explore and develop
the business model and back-end system concurrently."
Unitech Networks, Mr Lo commented, had been working as a technology as
well as business partner for developing a sound free ISP business model
and bringing about the required technologies to realize the business idea.
"We need a partner which is knowledgeable and highly flexible," said Mr
Lo, "Multinational IT vendors [though with the technical expertise] can
hardly provide the required flexibility." Unitech Networks has demonstrated
its professionalism and dynamism in successfully developing and implementing
Unifias, he added.
No easier than system design, integration of Unifias with the existing
infrastructure of iSm@rt requires all-rounded and expert knowledge of
the Internet and wide area networking technologies. It is critical to
develop a system that is compatible and can be well integrated with iSm@rt's
dial-up access server and online shopping system for reliable and stable
services. Unitech Networks is the one who possesses the capabilities and
rich experience in the Internet arena to accomplish the daunting tasks
of solution development and integration. |
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