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Time Warner's AOL unit may well offer its full menu of services, including its e-mail, free of charge to anyone with a high-speed Internet connection, according to a published report in The Wall Street Journal(WSJ). The WSJ report, citing people familiar with the matter, says that AOL could give up as much as $2 billion in subscription revenue if it goes ahead with its move aimed at boosting the Internet service's advertising revenue. Under the plan, AOL would stop charging subscription fees for users with high-speed Internet access or a dial-up service from another provider, the newspaper said. However, subscribers who have traditional "dial-up" Internet access through AOL would still have to pay their monthly fee, WSJ said. According to the report, AOL expects that 8 million of its existing dial-up customers would cancel their subscription to take advantage of the new offer. Nearly one-third of the company's customer base of 18.6 million in the first quarter already has high-speed access, the newspaper said. AOL has been losing subscribers to high-speed Internet providers at a quick pace, with about 850,000 opting out in the first quarter, WSJ said. According to WSJ, the total number of U.S. subscribers at the end of 2002 was 26.5 million.
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