PeoplePC to sell NIC Co. appliance

PeoplePC, which sells PCs and Internet service for a monthly fee, said Wednesday that it will start offering Net appliances from Larry Ellison's New Internet Computer Co. as a lower cost option. The Linux-based Web-surfing device, along with unlimited Internet access, will sell for $20 a month over a four-year period, compared with its cheapest PC bundle at $25 a month. Ellison is Oracle's CEO and the founder and principal owner of the NIC Co.

PeoplePC CEO Nick Grouf said the company had received requests from its business customers to add the option of a lower-cost Internet appliance. PeoplePC sells 70 percent of its computers to companies, which provide them for free or at a reduced price to their employees. Grouf said he cannot estimate how many of the Internet appliances his company will sell. But under the deal, he said, PeoplePC will buy the units from the NIC Co. only after an order is placed.