Netscape Brand Slapped On Cheap ISP
from the how-they-have-fallen dept
Who would have thought it would end up like this? As AOL is increasingly being eaten alive on both ends – from above by broadband providers and on the low end by discount providers – they’ve decided it was time to do something. For the past year or so, they’ve been pushing heavily into the broadband space, and now they’ve decided to fight on the other end as well. Taking on the increasingly successful United Online (which offers NetZero and Juno), AOL has taken the Netscape brand (which they own, but don’t care about any more) and slapped it on their own “me too” discount ISP that will sell dial-up internet access at $9.95/month. The service will come with less of the “extras” that come with a full AOL account – though, it doesn’t sound like people will be missing that much. For example, they say it comes without AOL instant messenger, which is a free download anyway. This certainly makes sense as a way for them to compete, but it will be interesting to see how well AOL can handle the pressure of giving good service to the discount customers, without constantly trying to force them to upgrade to a full account.
