AOL Officially Announces Free Services

We posted about the AOL rumors last month, and now AOL has officially announced that its software and e-mail as well as various other products will be made available for free to broadband users.  The new strategy is aimed at increasing the audience for AOL's portal which can be turned into lucrative internet advertising and speeding the transition away from AOL's declining traditional dial-up business.

Among the AOL products that will be available for free to anyone with an Internet connection are: AOL's integrated software; communications features, including AOL e-mail, instant messaging, a local phone number with unlimited incoming calls; and safety and security features, such as parental controls. To encourage former members to return to using the AOL software, e-mail, instant messaging and other AOL products, they will be able to reactivate their screen names, if given up within the last two years.

Previously, AOL customers lost their aol.com email address when they switched to high-speed internet connections, meaning these customers were flocking to rivals Yahoo, MSN and Google who already offered free email services. AOL said it would also step up its search engine capabilities and add to social networking options available to customers.

To read more about this announcement, check out the AOL press release.