[Infowarrior] - AOL may offer free high-speed Internet

[Richard Forno]

AOL may offer free high-speed Internet

Reuters
Thursday, July 6, 2006; 4:37 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/06/AR2006070600
154_pf.html

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc.'s <TWX.N> AOL unit may offer its full
menu of services, including e-mail, free of charge to anyone with a
high-speed Internet connection, The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday,
citing people familiar with the matter.

AOL could give up as much as $2 billion in subscription revenue if a gambit
aimed at boosting the Internet service's advertising revenue goes ahead, the
Journal said.

Under the plan, AOL would stop charging subscription fees for users with
high-speed Internet access or a dial-up service from another provider, the
newspaper said.

Subscribers who have traditional "dial-up" Internet access through AOL would
still have to pay their monthly fee, the Journal said.

AOL expects that 8 million of its existing dial-up customers would cancel
their subscription to take advantage of the new offer. Nearly one-third of
the company's customer base of 18.6 million in the first quarter already has
high-speed access, it said.

AOL is losing subscribers to high-speed Internet providers at a quickening
pace, losing about 850,000 in the first quarter, the Journal said. Total
U.S. subscribers at the end of 2002 was 26.5 million, the newspaper said.

AOL Chief Executive Jonathan Miller presented the proposal to top Time
Warner executives in New York last week, the newspaper said.

Time Warner was not immediately available for comment.
© 2006 Reuters