Only the music

According to Ellis, WebRadio is like a time machine, taking "you back to the best years of your life with a range of music stretching back to the '60s." It is streamed to listeners at 22 kilobits per second which is a high-quality stream, yet also small enough to accommodate users with slower connections - even dialup.

Launched in partnership with WebMail, WebRadio (http://webradio.webmail.co.za) is already in use by 800 000 of WebMail's established users. "Although," Ellis points out, "unlimited users can be accommodated on the system. Thanks to our solid relationship with Telkom we can stream the service via servers which run on the Telkom backbone, so there's sufficient bandwidth to give listeners the best possible experience listening to the music they love."

Costs are covered with occasional, unobtrusive adverts in the stream. This, adds Ellis, allows WebRadio to offer the service free to users and maintain a high quality delivery.

"Plans are to offer a customised service in the future. This means listeners will be able to make their music selection from a variety of play lists. In addition they'll even be able to compile their own play lists with only the songs they want to hear."

While online radio is still uncharted territory in this country, representative research undertaken by WebMail across its database of over 2-million confirms users and customers want the service.

"WebMail will extend its media offerings into radio and the company is working with authorities on a commercial radio license application on the FM frequency," concludes Ellis.