It looks like AOL is about two months away from offering a service free of subscription charges:
AOL Europe to Start Free-Service in UK, Germany, Report Says
Hamburg, June 26 (Bloomberg) -- AOL Europe, a venture between the world's No. 1 online service America Online Inc. and the world's third-largest media company Bertelsmann AG, is planning to introduce an Internet service called Netscape Online free of subscription charges to users in Germany and the U.K. from as early as August run by its Netscape unit, German weekly magazine Der Spiegel said in a pre-release of Monday's issue. Customer service will also be free of charge, as the company is trying to lure users away from rivals such as Yahoo! Inc., the most popular Internet search service in Europe. Users would have to pay the telephone charges for using Netscape Online, though, the magazine reported.
AOL had said May 25 it signed marketing agreements with Netherlands-based World Online, German Lycos Bertelsmann and the third-largest Dutch publisher VNU NV to expand its European Web sites, run by Netscape.
(Der Spiegel 06/26)
Jun/26/1999 6:49 |
