INTERNET Service Providers as we know them today are an endangered species, says Access1 director Tony Brennan.
Mr Brennan said multimedia service providers or MSPs were the way of the future.
“Initially, people were intrigued and happy to get Internet connections. Now it is apparent there needs to be more,” he said.
Access1, formed from the ashes of Kilkenny Gold, is aiming to fill the demand for multimedia services online.
It is initially offering high speed Internet access coupled with media streaming services.
These services can be likened to television for the personal
computer. With a delivery speed of one megabit per second, the result is expected to be like television.
“Our belief is 71 per cent of Australian households do not have Internet access because it is too expensive,” Mr Brennan said.
“They will only take it up when it becomes free or close to free.
“The Internet will only get close to being free when it is supported by advertising and you need streaming media to get more advertisers on board.”
Chrome Global managing director Kevin Baum said many companies were looking at ways of supplying Internet content.
He said the biggest problem was bandwidth.
“Broad bandwidth to provide a range of services is the way of the future,” Mr Baum said.
“Application service provision is another option.”
Application service provision is renting high-end computer applications via the Internet.
Mr Brennan said Access1 was addressing the bandwidth issue by adopting satellite transmission.
