INTERNET: AOL CALLS FOR INTRODUCTION OF FLAT RATE OPEN ACCESS IN EUROPE.

In a statement published on November 8 in the French and German dailies Le Monde and Handelsblatt, and in the Belgian weekly European Voice, Steve Case argues that experience in the United States, the United Kingdom and France illustrates the extent to which flat rate open access rapidly attract thousands of new users to the Internet. AOL's generalisation of flat rate open access in the United Kingdom has lead to an increase in subscriptions of more than 50%, with time spent on line now comparable with the figure for the United States.In November 2000, AOL launched a first entirely open service in the United Kingdom based on the English FRIACO model (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination). This model, according to which British Telecom offers its competitors flat rate open interconnection for Internet traffic, is based on an economic study commissioned by AOL and submitted to the telecommunications regulator OFTEL. In the light of its examination, OFTEL ordered British Telecom to implement the FRIACO model in May 2000.Over recent months France's Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroder have publicly supported the introduction of flat rate open interconnection equivalent to that adopted in the United Kingdom. However, Steve Case notes that in spite of analyses showing that telecoms operators are the major beneficiaries of the introduction of flat rate open access, based on the real costs of historic operators, such services are still not a reality in France and Germany. Last year, AOL France ran an special independent promotion on interconnection tariffs. The offer proved to be an outstanding success, with almost half of all subscribers proving to be new web users.Studies confirm the pertinence of flat-rate open access.AOL Europe also points to the conclusions of a recent study carried out by Analysis Research Ltd which found that the FRIACO model is not only the best internet access model, taking into account the...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT