AOL Membership Surpasses 25 Million Milestone; Record 6 Million New Members Added Over Past Year; AOL 6.0 and AOL Anywhere Initiatives to Fuel Continued Growth.Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2000 Underscores Strong Business Momentum Approaching AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. Time Warner Merger America Online See AOL. , Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :AOL), the leading global interactive services company, today announced that the worldwide membership of its AOL service has surpassed the 25 million milestone. Over the past year, the AOL service added more than 6 million new members - illustrating the Company's strong overall business momentum as it approaches the closing of the AOL Time Warner merger on track for this Fall. Significantly, AOL's international services experienced record-breaking subscriber growth, as well as industry-leading usage, over the past year -- including the successful launches of new AOL services in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Outside of the US, there now are AOL services in 16 countries in 8 languages. The Company anticipates that its next-generation AOL 6.0 service and the accelerated rollout of several AOL Anywhere initiatives will continue to drive the powerful growth of AOL membership and usage. Launching this week, AOL 6.0 will deliver a new level of convenience and ease-of-use to AOL members, and extend AOL's valuable benefits through multiple AOL Anywhere initiatives and across all broadband platforms. The Company is rapidly turning the promise of AOL Anywhere into reality with the introduction of several new products and services including AOLTV (America OnLine TV) An Internet TV service from AOL that provides access via a phone line or through the DirecTV satellite from Hughes Electronics. Versions of the AOLTV set-top boxes also include the TiVo technology for digitally recording TV programs. , the AOL by Phone voice portal An interactive voice response (IVR) front end to a data retrieval system. This does not differ in core technology from traditional IVR; rather, the difference is in the application presented. Where old-style IVR was mostly a routing application (press 1 for sales, 2 for service, etc. , the wireless AOL Mobile Communicator and Instant AOL on Internet appliances from Gateway. Steve Case Steve Case (born August 21, 1958) is a businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer and chairman of America Online (AOL). He reached his highest profile when he played an instrumental role in AOL's merger with Time Warner in 2000. , America Online's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted to have reached the historic milestone of 25 million AOL members, underscoring our progress in building a mass market medium. And we are continuing to add value to the AOL service for consumers -- making it easier, more convenient and more accessible anywhere, anytime -- as we look forward to completing our merger with Time Warner. We are on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of a second Internet revolution, whose impact on society will be even more profound, and AOL Time Warner will be uniquely positioned to help lead the way." Bob Pittman, America Online's President and Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , said: "AOL's record-breaking membership worldwide shows the unmatched quality of the AOL experience and unsurpassed scope of our member benefits. As AOL becomes more deeply embedded Inserted into. See embedded system. in our members' lives, member satisfaction has reached an all-time high. And mainstream advertisers are increasingly recognizing the opportunities AOL provides to build deeper relationships with their customers and make the Internet a central part of their business strategies. AOL Time Warner will accelerate this trend, enabling both companies to grow faster than either could on its own." About America Online, Inc. Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc. is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services. |
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