AOL Offers Free Net Access in Europe - 10:23 AM EST - TK
America Online (AOL) has capitulated and will now offer free ISP service in Europe called Netscape Online. This is a reaction to Freeserve which in the past year moved past AOL to become the #1 ISP in England. Americans may not see Netscape Online in the U.S., as the pricing dynamics are different in Europe. The English do not have free unlimited local phone access, which is an obvious impedient for internet access abuse.
AOL Europe said it will start Netscape Online, a free Internet access service in the United Kingdom, ceding to the popularity of free Internet providers only two months after it dismissed them as unsustainable businesses. AOL Europe, a venture between America Online, the world's No. 1 online service, and Germany's Bertelsmann, the world's No. 3 media company, said AOL UK will start its new service to complement its existing AOL and CompuServe brands. AOL is fighting to counter the advent of about 100 free Internet providers in the United Kingdom during the past year. Freeserve, started by U.K. retailer Dixons Group, leapfrogged AOL to steal the No. 1 title in three months of running. In response, AOL cut charges by 40 percent in May. Its latest move comes a week before Freeserve, which has more than twice AOL's 600,000 users, is to sell shares on Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange. - News.com
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