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To: Benny Baga who wrote (8815)	8/5/1999 12:53:00 PM
From: zuma_rk	Respond to of 20297

slightly OT: Microsoft fires the fist shot: cbs.marketwatch.com AOL hit by Microsoft's access plans By Emily Church and Brenon Daly, CBS MarketWatch NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of America Online shed 7 percent Thursday afternoon, nearly erasing gains for the year, on reports that Microsoft is considering a plan to offer low-cost, even free, Internet access. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the move by the software giant (MSFT: news, msgs) is a way to jump-start its flagging MSN service. Additionally, it could put pressure on America Online, which gets about two-thirds of its revenue from access fees. Microsoft shares rose 1 1/4 to 86 3/16 while AOL stock fell 6 1/8 to 81 5/16. In the first 90 minutes of trading alone, more AOL shares changed hands than are typically traded all day in that stock. AOL stock opened the year at 78. On Thursday, it traded as low as 76. "We intend to be aggressive with access. AOL might think about it as a profit center. That's not how we think about it," Brad Chase, Microsoft's executive on the initiative, told the The Wall Street Journal. AOL (AOL: news, msgs) is the largest Internet service provider, with about 17 million subscribers. That's substantially more MSN's estimated 2 million customers. Competition between the two tech giants over Internet service has sharpened in the past weeks, in such areas as instant messaging. Internet access is viewed as a key for both companies because advertising rates increase as the number of subscribers rises.