AT&T and SBC inside: Dell will offer customers factory-installed Internet access

Dell Computer will offer what amounts to an Internet starter kit on its Dimension desktop computers-complete with a personalized Excite home page, a trial offer for AT&T WorldNet Internet access and a factory-installed high-speed modem, which will connect via digital subscriber line service provided by the customer's regional telco.

SBC Communications announced last week that it will support Dell's DSL modem. Last May Dell announced a separate agreement with Cisco Systems and U S West Communications to sell DSL-enabled desktops in that telco's territory.

Dell also plans to work with other service providers and to look at other high-speed modem technology, said Paul Bell, senior vice president of Dell's home and small business group.

Customers who boot up a Dell Dimension computer for the first time will see a "Welcome to ConnectDirect" screen and a launch point for AT&T WorldNet Internet access. If they opt for the service, they'll receive a month's free access; after that, the service costs $19.95 a month for 150 hours of access.

"By the end of the year, 90% of the U.S. will be able to access WorldNet with a local phone call," said AT&T WorldNet President Dan Schulman. The provider now has more than 400 points of presence and will offer Dell customers chat, e-mail, a personal Web page and child protection software. AT&T also announced last week that it has replaced MCI as the service provider for Yahoo! Online, the portal operator's Internet access offering.

Dell customers who do not select the AT&T trial offer will be able to input another Internet service provider. Bell said the ConnectDirect program will expand to include other service providers in the future.

In integrating Internet access so tightly into its product line, Dell follows two other computer makers. Compaq has built an Internet key into its new keyboards, while Gateway recently launched its own ISP.