Thursday October 14, 10:44 am Eastern Time
America Online says tops 1 million members in Germany
DULLES, Va., Oct 14 (Reuters) - AOL Europe, a unit of America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) and the largest Internet access provider in Europe, said Thursday its German membership has exceeded 1 million subscribers, making it the first AOL service outside the United States to surpass the million-member mark.
AOL Germany, launched in 1995 as AOL Europe's first online service, topped its million milestone twice as fast as its parent company did in the U.S., which took nine years to garner more than a million subscribers.
AOL Europe, a joint venture between AOL and German media giant Bertelsmann AG , said AOL Germany's new pricing plan, which charges 9.90 German marks per month (US$5.50), further fueled its membership growth.
Germany Internet access provider T-Online, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG , has 3.3 million members, and is joined in the race to top the German Internet market by Telekom rival Mannesmann Arcor AG (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: MMNG.F).
AOL Europe has had a delayed jump on the European Internet boom this year, causing it to lose its lead in Britain to Freeserve, which offers subscription-free Internet access and has already passed its 1 million member mark.
In addition to America Online's more than 18 million worldwide members, its ICQ online communications network has more than 38 million members. Its Internet messaging service AOL Instant Messenger has more than 25 million members worldwide, and its Netscape Netcenter unit, an Internet media network for business and home users, has 17 million users. |
