The bid by Austar for eisa has shed light on the value of subscribers to Internet Service Providers. So, how much are you worth to your ISP?
According to Austar, which has bid AU$24 million for eisa, you're worth about AU$285. That's AU$142.50 per eyeball or AU$28.50 for each of those 10 fingers that tap away at the keyboard.
Given that most ISPs charge around AU$30 a month for pretty much unlimited access, Austar has bought 10 months revenue for each of eisa's 85,000 subscribers.
Compare those numbers with AU$1200 per customer that eisa itself was prepared to pay for the residential customers of OzEmail. That's more than three years worth of revenue per subscriber.
That was at the end of last year. But that was then and this is now.
If you think those numbers are flaky, remember that mighty Telstra was prepared to splash out the same kind of money for OzEmail's 400,000 customers.
That was before the ACCC stamped the Telstra bid as a 'No go' and eisa stepped in with its bid.
All those numbers assume that you will remain with the same ISP. For many people, the thought of telling everyone your new e-mail address if you change ISPs is fairly horrendous.
It means that we are likely to remain with the same ISP. But still, in these days of fickle customer loyalty, that's a big ask.
Of course, Austar, a major regional pay TV operator, has also acquired eisa's valuable infrastructure that will give it an edge in providing its own existing customers with access to internet services.
This will give those existing customers the opportunity of signing up for Austar as their ISP. For many people, the appeal of a single provider for TV, voice and data services is considerable.
Austar has a similar set up in New Zealand where it partners with a telco.
There are some other interesting valuations that can be drawn from the Austar bid for eisa. Cable & Wireless Optus has made no secret of the fact that it would like to get out of the residential business.
It is estimated by Paul Budde, the communications analysts, to have about 120,000 subscribers to its Internet services.
Using the Austar formula that values the Optus base at around AU$34 million. Even Telstra's huge base of around half a million subscribers to its Internet services would only be valued at AU$142 million.
And talking of Telstra, the telco has still to make a major play in the Internet space.
With the ACCC ruling out its bid for OzEmail and the Sausage Software/Solution 6 imbroglio pretty well dead and buried, there must be a lot of head scratching going on at Ziggy's ziggurat.
But whatever they come up with it certainly won't be anything like AU$1200 for each pair of eyes or AU$120 for a single finger.
