AOL battles are in Europe & Latin America where Telecom is Regulated.
Otherwise we would only have the subscriber revenue until the AOL internet telephones and so on start selling, which I think even EBAY and PCLN and AMZN can not compete with these (Maybe Gigabuys Mike Dells baby).
My view is Merger & Acquisition (A buying spree for AOL of smaller companies) is cheaper than competition.
For AOL, that means buying out Dixon (FreeServe) in Britain (only british unattached, attractive single good looking ISP/ electronic/ Telecom left) or coming to a "partnership arrangement", now that GlobalX and British Telecom, and so forth (all the other players) have all been sucked into the UUNET/WCOM/AT&T/etc M&A frenzy; likewise Germany (forget closed inbred deals in Italy/France etc for now); and AOL to eventually take a huge stake in Starmedia STRM unless (T) AT&T's At @Home (ATHM) and TCI and so forth etc beat them to it. STRM is cheap now, I am buying it for one. These are shakeup and shake out battles.
In the meantime, AOL will be a rollercoaster, on the upside, but subject also to the perceptiona and fears of higher interest rates, lets see what the Fed Chairman does on the 18th and 29th....until then enjoy the ride, on the world's largest roller coaster. I will probably take a ride tomorrow, we'll see. Gotta have that 1st JAVA, make that a Mocha-Expresso Malto Grande.
I am,
Truly yours,
-Crystal ball
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