As the high-tech sector continues a general decline in growth and revenues, the ZapMe company has notified 2,300 primary and secondary schools nationwide they will either have to return computer equipment provided by the company and find other online service providers, pay up to $1,300 per month to convert to a new fee-based service, or purchase the equipment outright.

Last month, a Connecticut public high school received an e-mail notice from a ZapMe employee detailing the end of the free computer service and conversion options. Company officials said at the time that the announcement wasn't official, but they were considering a change in the original agreement.

ZapMe provided an estimated 50,000 computers and online access for free to 2,300 schools since 1997, in exchange for running paid advertisements on the computer screens.

The service was heavily criticized by a number of education and consumer advocacy groups -- including the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education -- for exploiting the learning experience of young people.

This issue, combined with a recent alliance with funder Gilat Satellite Networks, led to the decision ending the free service, ZapMe founder and CEO Lance Mortensen stated.

"It just became an impossible model. People didn't want their brands associated with something Ralph Nader was going to attack," Mortensen told the AP.

Many of these schools reported they've spent thousands of dollars setting up their computer labs, and can't readily come up with extra cash. ZapMe has offered to help them find outside funding, AP reports.

The monthly service will run between $833 to $1,322 per school, depending on the number of computers a school received from ZapMe. The machines can be purchased for between $6,000 to $13,000 per lab, again based on the number of computers.

Schools continuing the service are being redirected to the LearningGate online educational service.

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