With plans to install more than 1,000 Internet kiosks in airports, hotels, and convention centers across the US, Atcom/Info and cellular telephone service provider GTE have installed six kiosks in Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Another four will be added this coming week, officials said.

"When we started with the idea of an Internet kiosk, I went to a friend who told me she would use it if it was fast and simple," began Atcom/Info Chief Executive Officer Niel Senturia. "That has become the building block for our business. Our kiosks are fast and simple and people are loving them. In locations where we are already installed we are easily averaging three to three-and-a-half hours of usage per day per screen."

Located in American Airlines' terminals 2E and 3E; Delta terminal 4E; and terminal 2W serving United, USAir, Continental, and other airlines; Atcom's terminals are four-sided, seven feet high pyramids using Intel's Pentium processors. Two sides have full Internet stations with keyboard and a pointing device, and two sides provide executive telephone service.

Through September, GTE will provide free access to the Dallas-Fort Worth kiosks. After the trial period, Senturia described a credit card payment method, saying, "The charge is basically $3.00 for the first seven minutes and approximately thirty-one cents for each additional minute. The cost averages out to about $20 per hour."

Senturia sees the kiosks as a convenience for business users but also as a source of information for tourist or even a game playing device for Internet-savvy users. Atcom/Info kiosks store user configurations so users do not have to register and configure for every session at a kiosk.