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Costco to offer
free ’Net access

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From staff and wire reports

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Costco Wholesale Corp., owner of a chain of warehouse stores, is teaming with Yahoo! Inc. and another company to provide free Internet access for Costco's 25 million members in the United States.

As part of the deal announced today, Costco and Yahoo! will set up a co-branded Web site with information on deals at Costco and a link to costco.com, the company's e-commerce site. Costco will be promoted on several Yahoo! pages and featured on Yahoo! Shopping.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Internet access is being provided by privately held Spinway Inc. Costco customers can begin using the Internet access after picking up a free CD-ROM at stores or downloading software from costco.com.

Costco, based in Issaquah, Wash., operates 237 warehouse stores in the United States and a total of 332 worldwide. The stores are designed for small-to-medium-sized businesses but also serve individual customers, or members. An individual membership now costs $45.

In Hawaii, Costco has three clubs on Oahu, one on Maui and one on the Big Island.