Where to find free or
inexpensive Internet access

By Timothy C. Barmann

• E-mail, text-based World Wide Web access and connections to other selected sites on the Internet are available free through the Ocean State Free-Net. Donations are solicited to pay operating costs. Any computer can connect with basic modem software. For detailed connect information, call 277-2728, ext. 500.

• Log On America, a Providence-based Internet access provider, offers one free e-mail account to any Rhode Island business. Call 453-6100 for details.

• Nonprofits in the Providence area can have 10 hours of free Internet access a month, and disk space for a World Wide Web page from UltraNet Communications, a Marlborough, Mass., Internet provider. Phone: (800) 763-8111.

• AT&T and MCI long distance customers can get five hours of free Internet access a month from their respective companies. Call AT&T at (800) 967-5363, or see its home page at http://www.att.com/worldnet/wis/. Contact MCI at (800) 550-0927 or see its home page at http://www.mci.com/resources/.

• Free e-mail, paid for by advertisers, is available from two companies. One is FreeMark Communications, based in Cambridge, Mass. Phone: (617) 492-6600; Home page: http://www.freemark.com; e-mail: subscribe@freemark.com. A 386-class computer is required. The other is from a New York-based company called Juno. Phone: (800) 799-5866, home page: http://www.juno.com; e-mail: signup@juno.com. Juno e-mail software requires Microsoft Windows, version 3.1 or higher.

• Inexpensive e-mail and newsgroup access is available from a number of local bulletin board systems. For a complete list, send a business-size self- addressed stamped envelop to Jim Lyons, RIBBS List Editor, 20 Newman Ave. Johnston, R.I. 02919.

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