ONLINE

By JASON GETRICH
Staff Writer

More than 1 in 4 Rhode Island households connect to the Internet, a sharp increase from a year ago. And nearly half of those Internet users connect using America Online, the Dulles, Va., on-line giant that has more than 9 million subscribers nationwide.

Those are two of the most eye-opening results of a survey on computer and Internet use in Rhode Island, taken by the University of Rhode Island's Research Institute for Telecommunications & Information Marketing.

The survey, taken for the second year, also showed that computer ownership among Rhode Islanders grew modestly and remains higher than the national average. The survey was taken October 12 to October 19 by telephone. The results were released by Ruby Dee, associate dean and professor of marketing at URl's College of Business Administration, who oversaw the survey.

Of the telephone numbers called at random, 485 people responded. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Computer ownership increased to 47.8 percent of all state households, up from 45 percent a year earlier. That remains well belowe the national average of about 51 or 52 percent, according to Dee.

Among households that have computers, Internet use jumped to 54.1 percent, up from 39.6 percent in 1996. That means that more than I in 4 householdsÑabout 26 percentÑ connect to the Internet. That's up from about 18 percent of all households in 1998.

Dee attributes the increase in Internet use to "media hype" about the Internet, marketing efforts by the larger Internet providers such as America Online and AT&T, as well as the fact that most computers now come with a modem already installed. (A modem is a device that lets computers talk to each other over telephone lines. For years, they were sold as separate units.)

America Online has engaged in an intensive marketing campaign by giving away millions of disks that contain the software needed to connect to their service. And through March, AT&T was letting its long-distance customers sign up for 5 free hours of use per month on its WorldNet Internet access service.

The marketing efforts appear to have paid off, especially for America Online. Some 46.4 percent of Rhode Island households that connect to the Internet use America Online. AT&T has the next largest share at 8.9 percent.

Jamie Kiggen, an analyst who studies America Online for Cowen & Company in Boston said America Online's market share in Rhode Island is in line with his estimate of AOL's nationwide market share: about 55 to 60 percent.

Kiggen described the company's feat of capturing so much of the market as "phenomenal." The only Rhode Island-based Internet provider that ranked with the other national companies was InteleCom Data Systems (IDS) of East Greenwich. IDS has 1.8% of Rhode Islands households, according to the survey. That correlates with the company's claim to have the largest number of subscribers of the 12 or so Internet providers based in the state. (Since all the local Internet providers do not release subscriber or revenue figures, it is difficult to compare their relative sizes.)

The URI survey also found that most Rhode Islanders are not spending as much time going on-line as they are watching television. About 74 percent said they spent 10 hours a week or less going on the Internet. The average American spends about 28 hours a week in front of the television, according to Dee.

The amount that most Rhode Islanders are paying to go on-line is settling into the $11- to $20-a-month range, which is what 59.8 percent said they paid. Compared with a year earlier, there were fewer people who paid $10 or less and fewer people who paid more than $21 a month.

Rhode Islanders are also making purchases on-line. Some 42 percent of those who have Internet access said they had bought something electronically. More men said they made purchases (35 percent) than women (18.2 percent). The two most popular items purchases were books (30.4 percent) and computer software (6.1 percent).

Regarding the "convergence" of telephone and cable television services, most people (87.9 percent) said they would be interested in having those services provided by one company. But state residents are divided over which company they would choose.

A local phone company got the most responses (34.4 percent) and next was a long-distance company (28.6 percent). Only 10.1 percent said they would choose a cable television company, which signals an uphill battle for Cox Communications, the dominant cable company in Rhode Island.

Cox says it is investing millions of dollars to upgrade its network in Rhode Island.