Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Jeff R who wrote (18869)	5/27/1999 7:31:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 41369

AOL <AOL.N> Europe planning fresh assault -FT LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Internet group America Online is planning aggressive new initiatives in Europe to get more households connected, the Financial Times quoted the head of AOL Europe, Andreas Schmidt, as saying on Thursday. "By autumn we will be ready to roll out some pretty aggressive initiatives to achieve our goal of having 10 million households connected within three years," Schmidt told the FT in an interview. AOL has 2.8 million subscribers across Europe. In the United States, it is the largest Internet service provider and AOL.com is the most popular website. Schmidt said Deutsche Telekom <DTEG.F>, which has a T-Online service with three million customers, was unfairly discriminating against AOL and others by forcing their customers to pay higher phone charges than DT charges its own customers. "The high prices of former state monopolies are a rip-off for the customer that is holding back the natural development of the European market," he told the FT. He said he was drawing up plans to introduce flat-rate services, already available in Britain and France, across Germany and the rest of Europe from autumn. By then, AOL was hoping for a ruling from the German telecoms regulator, due in June, on DT's Internet access fees. Longer term, AOL and Bertelsmann <BTGGga.F>, the German media group with which it joined forces in 1995, were eyeing a possible stock market listing for AOL Europe to give the company the financial flexibility to fund expansion by acquisition. But Schmidt would not comment on the flotation idea, the FT said. Schmidt was also planning to bring to the European services new portals -- Internet gateways that offers services like news, share prices and games, the FT said. Compuserve, the online service provider owned by AOL, would be developed as a distinct alternative offering products for home-based professionals and small businesses.