New York – AOL LLC may give away even more of its services, including its vaunted AOL.com e-mail accounts now limited to paying subscribers, to boost ad revenues and offset declines in subscriptions, a person familiar with the discussions said Thursday.
One proposal under consideration among top AOL executives calls for Time Warner Inc.’s online unit to stop charging subscription fees to users who have high-speed Internet access or even dial-up service from a rival provider.
The person familiar with the talks said a major strategic review over the past several months sought to identify additional ways to keep users within the AOL family regardless of whether they want to keep paying monthly fees of as much as $25.90 a month.
Under the plan, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the company would continue to charge the fees for those needing dial-up access through AOL.
Over the past year and a half, AOL has been making more of its articles, video and other services available for free on its ad-supported websites. But some features, including AOL.com e-mail, remained available only to paying subscribers.
AOL offers free e-mail services but only through its website and with an AIM.com address. AOL offered to forward former subscribers’ AOL.com e-mail to AIM accounts, but many didn’t bother because they had to give friends new e-mail addresses anyway.
If the proposal is adopted, those subscribers would be able to keep their AOL.com address and use the AOL software with which they’re familiar.
The AOL software also would allow subscribers to continue using instant messaging, Web journals and other services without having to download separate software or figure out Web-based options. That would ease the transition and encourage them to keep using AOL services, the person familiar with the matter said.
Details still to be worked out include whether AOL would give away security and parental-control software now part of the paid package, the person said.
AOL had 18.6 million U.S. subscribers as of March 31, a drop of 835,000 from the previous quarter and down from a peak of 26.7 million in September 2002.
