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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ibexx who wrote (11663)	4/19/1999 11:42:00 PM
From: PAL	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

There is no question that AOL management sees the pressure on AOL stock the past few trading days. AOL cannot keep splitting its stock, not at his price, not yet at least. But I will not be surprised if AOL will announce a rate increase of $ 1/month. This is no brainer since cable rates have increased steadily and when was the last time AOL increased the monthly fee? $1/month translates to $ 12/year. With 17 million subsribers, that means an additional $ 204M to the bottom line, or about an extra 22c/share on earnings. I suspect that will be announced soon, and analysts will come back salivating in the prospect of additional revenues which will fall straight to the bottom line. Disclaimer: the above is my speculation only about what AOL's next move will be. I have no information if that is the case (no pun intended), nor any leak in info. But if that happens, you hear it first on this thread. Good Luck to All Paul

To: Ibexx who wrote (11663)	4/19/1999 11:46:00 PM
From: kjhwang	Respond to of 41369

Article from tomorrows WSJ re: suit against AOL Europe.... Dixons Sues AOL Europe, Alleging Slander on Fees By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL LONDON -- Underscoring an increasingly bitter war for U.K. online customers, the Internet service-provider arm of electronics retailer Dixons Group PLC is suing competitor AOL Europe, alleging slander and malicious falsehood. In a writ lodged in Britain's High Court, Dixons's Internet provider Freeserve, alleges that customer-service personnel at CompuServe UK, a unit of AOL Europe, told people that Freeserve's status as a free Internet-service provider is temporary and that its service will become fee paying, a statement Dixons said is false. A spokesman for AOL Europe, a joint venture of U.S.-based America Online Inc. and German media giant Bertelsmann AG, said it has responded to the concerns and expects a swift resolution. Dixons didn't return calls seeking its comment. Market Leaders Trounced At issue is one of Europe's most hotly contested markets for Internet subscribers. In the fall, Dixons launched Freeserve, an Internet service that charges no monthly fees, meaning customers need only to pay the cost of telephone time to be online. The move rocked traditional Internet-service providers such as AOL Europe and CompuServe UK, which charge monthly fees for their specialty content and Internet access. Since its launch, Freeserve has garnered more than 1.4 million subscribers, rocketing past market leaders such as CompuServe UK and AOL UK, another AOL Europe unit. Other companies, among them market leaders such as book retailer WH Smith Group PLC and British Telecommunications PLC, also have launched free Internet services. AOL Europe has said in the past that it believes customers will continue to pay for quality content and customer service. In a statement, Dixons said that at the end of 1998, Freeserve found that some CompuServe UK customers who were calling CompuServe UK to cancel their subscription in order to transfer to Freeserve were being told by CompuServe UK's customer-service representatives that they shouldn't do so because Freeserve would be charging for its service in the future. "This was blatantly untrue," Dixons's statement said. 'Thorough Investigation' AOL Europe said in a statement that in January this year, Dixons made a complaint to CompuServe UK claiming that CompuServe UK customer-support staff were giving incorrect information to its members about Dixons's Freeserve service. CompuServe UK, according to the statement, didn't receive any corroborated evidence to support the complaint but conducted an immediate and thorough investigation into the allegations. "This was promptly followed by an undertaking by CompuServe that its customer-support staff would not make any statements to members which could be considered defamatory by Dixons's Freeserve," AOL Europe's statement said. A person close to the situation said that AOL Europe and Dixons already have dealt with the main points in the writ, and that what remains to be decided between the two companies is mainly the question of legal costs. This person said the suit should be settled in a matter of a few days or a week. Dixons, meanwhile, announced last week that it had appointed Credit Suisse First Boston and Cazenove to investigate future options for Freeserve. One potential out come may be the partial floatation of Freeserve. Since Dixons launched the service, its share price has nearly tripled, and some analysts said a flotation could value Freeserve at more than 2.5 billion British pounds ($4.03 billion).