MSN, Yahoo pose threat to AOL crown
C|Net | at | by Mike
America Online will lose a good chunk of its subscribers if it fails to develop a compelling broadband offering, a study released Monday concluded. AOL, currently the largest Internet service with 35.3 million subscribers, could see its main rivals Microsoft and Yahoo close in on that lead by luring broadband-hungry AOL users to their own high-speed services, according to Forrester Research. While still relatively new, Microsoft's MSN and Yahoo's broadband services are priced low enough to lure on-the-fence AOL users.
"Eighteen percent of dial-up users of AOL are interested in switching to broadband," said Charlene Li, analyst at Forrester Research. AOL "hasn't come out with a coherent strategy" to grow its broadband subscriber base, she said.