Free Offer May Be More Costly Than It Sounds

It was with great amusement that I read “AT&T; Dials Into the Internet Provider Field With Free Offer” (Feb. 28). AT&T; Corp. sure knows how to make a buck and have it sound like they’re giving you a good deal.

If they attract people who have never experienced the Net, AT&T; stands to make a lot of money off this “free” offer.

At five free hours a month, it would take a novice approximately a year to learn his way around the cyberspace world. Knowing that people are impatient and won’t want to take that long to learn how to roam around comfortably, AT&T; is counting on the $2.95 per hour charge after the five free hours (that’s almost 5 cents a minute) to bring in the bucks.

CHUCK SANBORN

Torrance