The Ottawa Citizen Wed 29 Jun 94 FreeNet at economic crossroads Alana Kainz The National Capital FreeNet continues to put a new spin on an old Yogi Berra bar line: nobody phones in anymore, it's too crowded. In its first 16 months, Canada's largest community computing network for sending electronic mail, getting information and posting public messages has grown to more than 20,000 account holders. That means two per cent of the region's population is wired in. Popularity is FreeNet's downfall. The lines are perpetually busy. Auto re-dial modems often need 50 tries before grabbing a line. The pressure was relieved somewhat this week. The Freenet board paid $75,000 to add 64 phone lines installed at 14.4 kilobits, says Freenet chairman David Sutherland. That brings the total to 160. (The phone number for the new lines is 520-1135. That's separate from the old 2400 baud modems at 520-1130.) Ottawa has become a model for the 35 freenet organizing committees in the country that are much less developed. They are so appealing because community networks are like getting free use of a car on the information you-know-what. But how long can this free ride last? Like public tennis courts, parks, bridges and roadways, every citizen pays for freenets through taxes. Ottawa's FreeNet is indirectly subsidized by provincially funded Carleton University, which provides staff members' time, office space and equipment. FreeNet has also been directly dependent on a three-year Ontario Network Infrastructure Program grant. It got $60,000 last year, $50,000 this year, and will get $30,000 next year. After that, it dries up. New FreeNet will emerge Weaned from government funding, a new type of Freenet will emerge -- one with dollar signs in its eyes. Freenets could be one of the most untapped business opportunities in Canada. In fact, they are sitting on consumer gold mines. Wherever there's demonstrated need, there's business opportunity. FreeNet gets 6,000 calls a day. Even at 25 cents a call, it could bring in almost $547,500 a year -- more than adequately covering the $300,000 annual budget. Just $15 a year from each account holder would make it break even. Still, FreeNet continues to go the donation route, tirelessly asking users and businesses for money. To make up for the coming shortfall when government funding runs out, FreeNet hired a full-time fund-raiser June 1 -- Gordon Pearson. He's the former general manager of the Ottawa Ballet Company. The FreeNet organization is looking more and more like a business every day. There's a full-time office manager, full-time technician now and talk of one day hiring a full-time president. There are budgets and audited financial statements. The board is having discussions with a local high-technology company to get off the Carleton campus and into their own space. That business culture could be transferred to the network itself, opening it up to advertising for a fee to pay some of the bills. Conducting business on FreeNet is now taboo. A year ago, you couldn't get Sutherland to even think about commercial use. "We've been speculating on whether or not to take a commercial face, Sutherland now says. "We liken ourselves to the community centre built at the end of the shopping mall. We own the building and charge them rent. But as long as FreeNet is getting government money, FreeNet is "uneasy about commercializing, says Sutherland. "On the other hand, we are open-minded about stimulating the growth of network-based information services that may be commercialized. There's synergy that we believe exists. In FreeNet's next 16 months, it will go one of two ways: it'll become an electronic public library funded by governments; or an independent community-owned business that would make its money through charity, business fees and, if needed, user fees.