Are you paying for Internet access?

More and more people are signing up for free Web surfing, with an estimated 6.2 percent of all online consumers using a free Internet Service Provider (ISP) this year. This number is expected to grow to 13 percent of people online dialing up for free by 2003, according to a new market research study reported by Reuters News service.

The Jupiter Communications study also indicates that "private-label" free access -- such as the services offered by retail giant Kmart, television show The Simpsons, Seventeen magazine, the Rocky Mountain News and even ChipShot.com for golfers -- will comprise almost three-fourths of all free accounts by the end of this year, Reuters News reports.

Major Web portals, including Excite, AltaVista and Lycos, also are jumping on the "bandwidth wagon" and offering free connections, along with such Web-based groups as NBCi, iWon.com and Spinway.

The largest free ISP is NetZero, which launched in 1998 and now has more than four million users, the news agency reports.

Critics say using a free ISP comes with certain tradeoffs, however. Many companies require subscribers to download software that displays streaming advertising. Some companies also monitor surfers' browsing habits, collecting data so they can target ads.

For individuals or small groups on a limited budget, these plans can make sense if subscribers believe the advertising and tracking is worth the money saved.

And even this model is likely to change over time.

At least one group, WorldSpy, is based on a non-advertising model that relies on subscribers taking advantage of its online shopping recommendations. The merchants partnering with WorldSpy pay for the access in lieu of ads.

Some companies, such as Surfree, do offer to turn off ads -- but then require customers to pay for access.

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