Net sign-up deal slashes PC price

Harvey Norman and One.Tel have unveiled a free PC deal for Australian PC buyers if they sign up for 30 monthly payments of $A79.95 (totalling $A2398.50) for unlimited Internet access. The free IBM PC thrown in would normally retail for $A1799 - meaning buyers are, in effect, paying $A900 for the PC.

But don't expect Harvey Norman here to rush in with a similar deal for New Zealand buyers. Computer division general manager Richard Clark said the company's three New Zealand stores would wait to see how the Aussie deal went. He said Harvey Norman Australia's previous subsidised PC deal - $A399 with Internet sign-up - had generated a lot of interest but had yet to translate to many buyers signing on the bottom line.

Mr Clark said Internet service providers in New Zealand had not been lining up at the door to talk about such arrangements either. One.Tel in Australia currently offers 250 hours of Internet - for most, the equivalent of unlimited access - for $A49.95 a month.

The strategy is like the mobile phone sales model, where retailers tie the sale of a handset to a telephony contract, driving down the cost of the phone down. Such deals have boosted mobile phone sales by 300 per cent.