MEDIA

MEDIA

Two-way battle for AOL's UK arm Mark SweneyThursday September 21, 2006MediaGuardian.co.uk

The bidding war for AOL UK's internet access arm has been narrowed down to a shootout between BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse after Orange pulled out.
AOL, the Time Warner-owned internet business, has been trying to sell off its European internet access businesses and reinvent itself as a content-led portal.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Telecom Italia had acquired AOL's German business for €675m (£453m).
Analysts expect the UK unit to fetch considerably less than the £1bn price sought initially.
AOL, the third-highest ranked internet player in the UK with 2.2 million customers, has been hit by the increasing number of players and price war that has emerged in the web access market.
As part of its strategy to become a heavyweight content-led player, AOL is launching a social networking-style community site in the UK called AIM Pages.
Time Warner is cutting 5,000 jobs at AOL, including about 3,000 positions in Europe.
A deal for AOL France has yet to be concluded.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,1877823,00.html

My Views
i think that by selling one of the most popular internet networking sites is important, the media guardian site shows a number of well known companies trying to bid for the internet company Time Warner is cutting 5,000 jobs at AOL, including about 3,000 positions in Europe by selling the internet site many people will be losing their jobs.