AOL Surpasses One Million Member Milestone in Europe Just Two Years After Launch.DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 1998-- Membership in Europe Doubles in Less than a Year America Online See AOL. , Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : 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. ) the world's leading Internet online services company, announced today that its flagship AOL service has reached 1 million members in Europe just over two years after the launch of its first European service in Germany in November 1995. "One million European consumers have enthusiastically joined AOL's global community, while enjoying our unique formula of localized services which feature local language, content, billing, and customer service," said Jack Davies, President of AOL International. "At the core of our dramatic membership growth has been our continued ability to provide the most exciting, easy to use and convenient service in cyberspace, with state-of-the-art technology and services and seamless Web connections." Along with its joint venture partner in Europe, Bertelsmann AG Bertelsmann AG German media company. Beginning as a religious printer and publisher in 1835, the company grew steadily over the next century. Though virtually destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945, it recovered quickly after World War II. , AOL launched its first European service in Germany in November 1995, and quickly followed with launches of services in the United Kingdom and France, with service also offered in Austria, Switzerland and Sweden. AOL also operates international services in Canada and Japan and will launch services in Australia and Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. in the next year. "In less than a year, we have doubled our membership in Europe. This is an extraordinary pace of growth," said Thomas Middlehoff, member of the board of Bertelsmann AG. "We are the first interactive service to become a mass medium on a pan-European basis. We will continue to work with AOL to deliver unique local content with the right look, feel and flavor to meet the needs of our European members." "The last two years have been tremendously exciting as we have grown to more than a million members in Europe and more than 1.2 million overall outside the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. ," said Davies. "We will continue on the path of creating a global mass market in Internet online services. With our recent acquisition of CompuServe and the addition of its 1.1 million international members we have established both the critical mass and momentum to take this new medium to the next level." America Online, Inc., (NYSE: AOL) based in Dulles, Virginia Dulles, Virginia is an unincorporated census-designated place located in Loudoun County, Virginia, part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The headquarters of AOL, Orbital Sciences Corporation and ODIN technologies and the former headquarters of MCI Inc. are located in Dulles. , is the world's leader in branded interactive services and content. America Online operates two worldwide Internet online services: AOL, with more than 11 million members; and CompuServe, with more than 2 million members. America Online also operates AOL Studios, the world's leading creator of original interactive content. Other branded Internet services operated by America Online include AOL.COM, the world's most accessed Web site from home; AOL Instant Messenger See AIM. , allowing instant communication with all Internet users; and AOL NetFind, AOL's comprehensive guide to the Internet. Bertelsmann AG is the world's third largest media company with close to 60,000 employees in more than 50 countries. The company's activities range from book publishing book publishing. The term publishing means, in the broadest sense, making something publicly known. Usually it refers to the issuing of printed materials, such as books, magazines, periodicals, and the like. and book clubs to magazines, newspapers, music, and television. Bertelsmann is also a leader in the European multimedia market with companies such as Bertelsmann Interactive Studios and Media-ways. AOL Bertelsmann Online Europe GmbH is a joint venture of America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and Bertelsmann AG. With its two brands, AOL and CompuServe, the Baar, Switzerland Baar is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. based joint venture, is the leading pan-European Internet Online business. While AOL serves the consumer audience with interactive entertainment, information and education content, CompuServe offers business and technical oriented content for professionals. AOL Bertelsmann Europe with its two brands has more than 1.8 million members throughout Europe. CONTACT: Kirsten Powers America Online, Inc. phone: (703) 265-2787 email: KirstenPow@aol.com |
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