AOL Launches In Britain, Warns Rivals
LONDON (Reuters) - AOL Europe, the joint venture between America Online Inc and Germany's Bertelsmann AG, launched its subscription-free Internet service in Britain Tuesday while warning rivals to beware.
Taking on Britain's market leader Freeserve Plc and around 200 smaller Internet competitors, AOL took out full-page advertisements in leading British newspapers for its service, Netscape Online.
Under the banner: ``Beware part-time Internet providers...the N is nigh,' the company hopes to make up lost ground after being wrongfooted when Freeserve began offering Internet access with no monthly free in Britain.
In just four months, Freeserve won over one million registered users and has displaced AOL Europe as Britain's biggest Internet service provider.
But AOL, which leads the booming U.S. market with 20 million subscribers, is fighting back. It is backing a marketing offensive in Europe with a reorganization and is directing a coordinated strategy tailored to different countries.
Netscape Online customers will not pay for Internet access, but will have to pay for phone charges while they are online at local rates. And if they need technical support, a call for help will cost a premium 50 pence (80 cents) per minute.
($1-.6244 Pence)
05:49 08-24-99
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