FORMER Huddersfield Town soccer chairman Terry Fisher is backing a new venture - to give every household in Britain a free personal computer.
Mr Fisher, who made his millions as head of Huddersfield-based holiday company Travelworld, has invested a substantial sum in new company Metronomy.
The company plans to offer millions of households free computers. In return for the £1,000 IBM computer, all the user has to do is to agree to spend some time online looking at adverts.
The concept has already attracted attention from the Government, which wants to widen access to the internet and aims to have all public services online by 2005.
Mr Fisher, who lives in Spain, said: "I have been looking at lots of business propositions now that I am not involved in football or the travel industry.
"This is a fantastic opportunity."
He added: "Anything where you can build a business based on giving away something for free has to be a great opportunity."
London-based Metronomy, which is headed by internet entrepreneur and former management consultant John Thornhill, is taking out long-term leases on thousands of IBM computers.
People who want them must apply on the company's website at www.metronomy.co.uk.
The company is limiting initial applications to 200,000, but hopes to have computers in 2m homes in the first three years.
Under the scheme, Metronomy receives its revenues from advertisers. Users will have to enter personal details which will be used to ensure they get adverts tailored to their interests and lifestyle.
Every month, they will get a CD to install on the computer which carries that month's advertising.
The user must agree to take three minutes of on-screen adverts for every hour the computer is being used - or one minute of adverts every 20 minutes.
A warning will flash up five minutes before the ad-break - to allow people to pause a computer game or finish an online transaction.
Customers will sign up to the scheme for three years. They must be over 18, willing to be connected to the internet - paying the connection fee themselves - and promise to use the computer for 30 hours a month.
Metronomy said it would not monitor what people viewed on the internet, but monthly data would be collated saying how long the computer was used for and how many adverts were shown.
Industry pundits are sceptical about the venture - citing the failure of a similar scheme in the US.
But Mr Fisher said the US version failed because adverts appeared on screen constantly and took up a third of the screen space.
Using the computer under Metronomy's system would be like watching ITV, he said.
"People are warned that the advert is coming and they can either watch it or make a cup of tea - just as they do when the adverts come on half way through Coronation Street."
Mr Fisher said: "Everyone wins with this system. The user gets a free computer and IBM will become the market leader in home PCs."
