AOL ups the pressure:
internetnews.com
AOL UK Cuts Some Internet Phone Charges
September 27, 1999
Business News Archives
AOL UK said on Monday it was cutting Internet access phone charges, for subscribers who pay a monthly fee, to a flat rate of a penny (1.6 cents) a minute as Britain's Web war began a new battle.
AOL UK, a joint venture between AOL and German publisher Bertelsmann AG, said subscribers to its premium service, who mostly pay a monthly 9.99 pound fee, would pay the new cut price for their phone calls at all times.
AOL's fee-based service has been overtaken in Britain during an explosion in no-subscription Internet service providers (ISPs) led by Freeserve Plc, whose users pay no monthly charge but still in most cases pay full rates for phone calls.
In Britain, these can be up to four pence a minute during weekdays, a level which puts many people off from using the Internet extensively. Bringing them down appears to be the next phase of the Internet price war.
Freeserve said on Monday it was launching a plan that would let users earn up to 10 hours of free Internet calls per month, if they spent a minimum amount on other calls with a partner telecomms company, Energis Plc.
AOL UK said its price cuts were a major step towards U.S.-style flat-rate-per-call pricing that has made the Internet a mass-market phenomenon there.
It said the new lower telephone charge would not be available on its Compuserve service or to users of its new, no-subscription ISP, Netscape Online. |
