The dot-com shakeout is reaching into many parts of the tech sector, with many companies that have offered free dial-up Internet access either converting to fee-based services or simply getting out of the Internet service provider (ISP) market.

Spinway, a free ISP that had retail customers such as Barnes & Noble.com, Costco and Spiegel will cease operations. Spinway’s business model –- like other free ISPs –- relied on advertising to offset the costs of running the dial-up service, but the tech sector's recent hard times have resulted in many companies pulling back ad dollars, Upside Today reports.

Kmart's BlueLight free ISP service -- which has 5 million customers -- will take over some of Spinway's operations to make sure their online clients aren't cut off before the end of the Christmas shopping season.

Spinway isn't alone, however. CMGI Inc. announced it would shut down its free 1stUp service, which is forcing AltaVista to pull the plug on its free access.

AltaVista relied on 1stUp for its dial-up infrastructure. AltaVista customers will receive free MSN dial-up service for three months, but will have to pay $21.95 a month after that period, CNet News reports.

Many other free ISPs have been acquired by other companies, and it's likely this trend will continue in the next few months.

These failures come just six months after a market research study reported that a record 6.2 percent of all online consumers were using a free ISP, and that number was expected to more than double by 2003.

The largest remaining free ISPs include BlueLight, Juno and Netzero.

Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-
3998565.html?tag=st.ne.1002.lthd