This was mentioned earlier tonight on Nightly Business Report. For years AOL has been hawking the BYOA (bring your own access) service plan on the premise that customers who already have broadband internet access will continue to stay with the service by paying anywhere from $10 to $15 per month (depending on the latest promo plans). But the more I look at the way the AOL service has evolved (the helpful chaps at Dulles have rolled out a new email form so that now AOL members can multitask every time they read an email by being forced to look at an ad on the same screen) and how it compares to other offerings (such as those available from Google) available, the more I doubt anyone who already has internet access would pay AOL regardless of how slick its market messaging is.
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that the folks at AOL HQ are considering just that, turning AOL into a free service for members who do not use the dialup portion of the service.
“In what would mark a dramatic shift in strategy, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit is considering offering its entire menu of services, including email, free of charge to anyone with a high-speed Internet connection, people familiar with the matter said.”
According to the article this move can result in AOL losing up to $2 billion in revenue every year, compared to the $8.3 billion in total revenue it received last year. But this is a move that AOL must make to keep itself competitive in the post-dialup internet arena.
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