AOL UK to close ISP Netscape Online

by Staff,, Brand Republic 10-Sep-01, 14:50

LONDON - The battered ISP market has taken another hit with the announcement that AOL UK is to close its two-year-old subscription-free internet service provider Netscape Online with the loss of 20 jobs.

Netscape Online was launched to challenge the market dominance of Freeserve, the UK's pioneering free ISP which rapidly overtook AOL Europe as the market leader in the UK.

The closure does not affect the Netscape portal, which will remain. The closure comes against a background of consolidation in the ISP sectors, as the market for new subscribers dries up.

The Netscape brand was originally targeted at more net-savvy experienced users who were familiar with the Netscape brand from its early browser days on the internet.

However, since AOL UK launched its own AOL-branded flat-rate service, Netscape Online's future has been in doubt. AOL acquired Netscape in 1998.

It is unclear how many subscribers the service had, but it is believed to be around the 1m mark. In its two-year life, it became one of the UK's top 10 ISPs.

In a statement, AOL UK said, "It is clear that metered or 'pay-as-you-go' subscription-free internet services will play a diminishing role in delivering internet access to UK consumers in future. AOL UK will therefore be gradually phasing out its pay-as-you-go internet service, Netscape Online, in the months to come. Staff will either move across to the AOL service or will be selected for potential redundancy.

"AOL UK also confirmed a reorganisation within some of its technology and programming teams. These changes may lead to a number of redundancies amongst AOL UK's more than 400 staff -- in the region of 30 people from the company's London headquarters and around 20 staff in Dublin."

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