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SCMP Reporter

Several of China's major portals say they expect to start picking up traffic as noticeable numbers of 263.net's 20 million e-mail users look elsewhere for free mail boxes.

Beijing-based 263.net last month announced that it would charge 28 yuan (about HK$26) to 50 yuan per year for e-mail, starting on May 21. Since then, competing site Sohu.com had seen its daily new-user registration increase from 40,000 to 60,000 to more than 100,000, the company said.

Although new users had not told Sohu they were switching from 263.net, spokeswoman Caroline Straathof said reports indicated that was the case.

'It's more like casual conversation. The piano teacher who teaches my kids mentions they're switching over,' she said.

When a university class of 17 students was polled, five of the six 263.net users said they had changed e-mail providers.

Sina.com's e-mail registration did not rise significantly in March, said Chen Tenghua, the company's personal product division manager. But he said there would be a dramatic increase when 263.net began charging.

'There's not an especially obvious change, but there will probably be one down the line,' Mr Chen said.

Sina, with 10 million active users, offers paid e-mail boxes but has no plans to cancel the free ones. Sohu does not charge for any e-mail but plans to follow Sina in creating a paid Internet service that will include e-mail.

A spokesman for 263.net, Liu Ge, said in March that the company would offer its paying subscribers more message storage, increased account reliability and mobile phone e-mail access. The five-year-old company was not short of money but was moving away from e-mail as it became a more comprehensive communications service. He said last week that about 100,000 users were now paying for e-mail.

The company would not comment on reports of increased traffic at other portals. It said it did not know how many users had switched providers.

Valerie Cheng, a 263.net user, said she was disappointed but not surprised when she learned the company would charge for e-mail boxes. She switched to etang.com after a year as a customer of 263.com.

'I don't have any credit on the Net so I will always use a free e-mail box,' she said.

Tara Tranguch, information director of MFC Insight, a Beijing information technology and telecommunications consulting firm, said Chinese customers were willing to pay for mail if they received guarantees of security or quality service.



Charges frighten off 263.net e-mail users