|
AOL in IM deals with ISPs
|
 |
August 6, 1999: 10:00 a.m. ET
Online service forges closer ties with EarthLink and Mindspring
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - America Online Inc. signed up two of the largest Internet service providers in the United States in a bid to maintain its lead in the instant messaging services race, the company said Friday.
AOL will offer a joint version of its popular AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service to both EarthLink's (ELNK) 1.3 million members and Mindspring Enterprises' (MSPG) 1.2 million subscribers.
AIM has more than 40 million registered users, but is closely watching Microsoft's MSN Messenger , an upstart instant messaging service begun last month and that, thus far, has more than 700,000 registered users.
AOL (AOL) and Microsoft (MSFT) have been linked in a game of moves and counter-moves since the introduction, with AOL objecting to MSN Messenger's ability to allow messaging between the two systems.
AOL has set up technological roadblocks to MSN members, and Microsoft has just as swiftly gotten around them, a process that is continuing.
While both sides make claims about wanting open systems, the two haven't yet been able to sit down at a table and talk about what standards would work. They even have formed dueling commissions to study the problem, with each side inviting the other to attend but neither doing so.
To secure its position, AOL has been signing up partners for its AIM service. Last week, it signed a deal with Apple Computer (AAPL) to develop products based on AOL's instant messaging services. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
