Google to sell e-mail, home pages for $50/yr

Google Inc, seeking to challenge Microsoft's dominance in business software, will start selling e-mail, calendar and personalised home pages to businesses over the web.

Google Apps Premier Edition costs $50 per user per year, and also includes word processing and spreadsheet functions, said Dave Girouard, general manager of Google's enterprise unit. The company also has a free version supported by advertising.

The software is part of an effort by Mountain View, California-based Google to wean businesses off Microsoft Office.

Customers paying for Google's service will get more storage for e-mail, telephone support and guarantees on the reliability.

Procter and Gamble, the largest US consumer-products maker, and General Electric, the world's second-largest company by market value, are testing the product with a small numbers of users, Dave said.