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To: tonyt who wrote (36409)	1/24/1999 7:45:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

The Internet Capitalist SG Cowen Internet Research 9 telecommunications products and services to AOL subscribers), we believe it is just a piece (and probably a small one) of what will eventually emerge as AOL's broadband strategy. We think it is important to remember that in the current marketplace, broadband receives a tremendous amount of attention, yet a very small piece of the subscriber pie today (Forrester predicts 2.2MM US broadband households by the end of 1999). While that piece of the pie will certainly grow over time, it is important to remember that broadband is an upgrade service - akin to first class versus coach on an airline. The vast majority of AOL subscribers will not necessarily want to pay for the “upgrade” to broadband unless the value proposition is startlingly clear. However, for those subscribers that are clamoring for it (many of whom represent the early adopters -key users who spend a lot of time online), this DSL deal provides a way to get high-speed access to AOL customers, without them having to leave AOL to do so. AOL Japan AOL Japan Inc. said the number of people subscribing to its services reached 200,000 on Jan.7. The Japanese arm of America Online Inc. said that of the total, 61% of the subscribers have less than one year of experience using the Internet, 95% use the company's services at home, 81% are between the age of 20 and 30, and 31% are female. AOL Japan will begin distributing AOL 4.0, on Jan. 26. ICQ is Well Past Go Last week, America Online Inc. said its explosively growing ICQ Internet chat and messaging service has doubled to 25 million users in the seven months since AOL bought the communications service last June. ICQ now has 11 million active users of its software, up from 9.5 million in October. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of ICQ's growth is the fact that it requires virtually no marketing dollars. In fact, ICQ might well represent the best of a new marketing phenomena - a brand built entirely online through highly effective word-of-mouth (aka viral marketing). ICQ is quickly becoming one of the most popular services on the Internet. At its current pace, ICQ is pulling within range of some of the most popular Internet services, including Microsoft's Hotmail, the leading free email service, which claims to have been signed up more than 30 million users. Recent enchantments to ICQ give users a free email account, a Web address book, games and the ability to hold telephone conversations via the Internet with other ICQ members. There has been talk of plans to incorporate the Netscape browser and ICQ software to create what could be the world's most dominant communications portal (10 million Netcenter members, plus 25 million ICQ users). AOL then, it would seem, is extremely well positioned with the next generation of Internet users (influencers): teenagers. While many of these kids may not be old enough to remember Ma Bell, they sure know the three letters that provide their communications - and it isn't AT&T. CompuServe's Approach… While ICQ attacks the younger audience, CompuServe announced a couple of long term partnerships that should help grow its brand among a very different target audience. First, CompuServe announced a two-year agreement to become the internet service of choice among those in the health care industry. For a limited time, WebMD will offer an introductory price of $29.95, which is the