Compuserve plans Internet service

Compuserve Inc., one of the world's largest commercial information services, said yesterday that it planned to become a global service provider for businesses and individuals wanting to connect to the Internet.

The company, a division of H&R; Block based in Columbus, Ohio, already has the computer network infrastructure in place to compete in the small but rapidly growing business of providing Internet access, said Maury Cox, president and chief executive of Compuserve.

The Internet is a global web of more than two million computers on 30,000 mostly private networks that is used by millions of people to exchange computer files and electronic mail.