AOL eyeing up Ireland

Dangger

From todays Irish Times:

The firm [EsatBT] is also in talks with internet giant AOL about providing a platform that would enable AOL to launch Irish-specific services. The decision by EsatBT to talk to AOL about offering wholesale access to its internet service suggests further competition could take root in the internet sector.

Localised specific content...here we go again.

But more interestingly.......

An AOL spokesman confirmed yesterday the US firm had made enquires about introducing a dial-up Irish internet service but had not yet made any decisions.

He said no talks had been held on whether to offer a high-speed internet service in the Republic.

But industry sources in the Republic believe AOL is considering introducing such a service.

Hmmmmm, come June could we be in for an invasion of AOL free Internet access CD's throughout Ireland? Coupled with AOL's new broadband drive it could make for a new entrant to stir it up on all fronts.

BLITZ_Molloy

A friend of mine in the UK has it and while it's dirt cheap you have to install some seriously nasty AOL software. It's hard shift it too. No uninstaller.

Balfa

Ah, AOL's harmless. I did NOC for em in the past.

Yeah, you need the software installed, but if you don't like it, just log on then keep it minimized while you do everything else. Apart from the little icon sitting beside your start button, it's identical to any other ISP. And if you're interested, their proprietary content and services can be useful at times. Especially their broadband-targetted products.

Everyone has bad vibes towards AOL, but it's not as bad as you'd think. I'd love if they opened in Ireland. Even if i don't use them (though i cetrainly would if they turn out to be cheap), they'll promote the internet hugely in our backward inbred country, increasing usage and awareness. As well as that, their clout should insure an increase in competition and a decrease in price across the board.

They also love to take on incumbent telcos, and should give eircom a right roasting. They were lobbying BT constantly over the state of the market there, and look how far ahead of us the UK is these days.

edit: last i heard, their software is completely uninstallable :P

Regnak

AOL were in Ireland but kept very Low Key. We had a few business accounts with them for roaming users around the Globe. They seem to have pulled out of Ireland completely but maybe with EsatBT as a partner they might try again. The Software is a bit wierd but always was, yeah trying to uninstall it is real funny !!

Mike

Nuphor

AOL were in Ireland but kept very Low Key. We had a few business accounts with them for roaming users around the Globe. They seem to have pulled out of Ireland completely but maybe with EsatBT as a partner they might try again. The Software is a bit wierd but always was, yeah trying to uninstall it is real funny !!

They're still here, but only overhead accounts are used here anymore. They've got a few dialup numbers in operation, but to be honest, they're not really used.

Uninstalling AOL5+ isn't as bad as you all make it out. It'll leave behind its PFC and Address Book on the desktop, but it'll cleanly remove everything from the program files folder.

I'd only like to see AOL offer their services here to stem the growth of Irish internet usage, nothing more. As an ISP, I can its very easy to find faults in their business practices. AOL has never been targetted at the tech-savvy. It's good for families and the like, but that's it. Any form of competition can only be a good thing.

KdjaCL

AOL would do the one thing Internet Ireland craves saturate the airwaves and tv stations with blanket marketting and bus stops etc: etc:

But for the crap that comes with it i assume (having never used it) XP only needs a net connection to function so the programs can be added to background and never used.


kdjac

Cabaal

Originally posted by Balfa
Ah, AOL's harmless
They also love to take on incumbent telcos, and should give eircom a right roasting.

Not to mention there FREE Tech Support

what do Eircom charge these days??