Ray Van Eng (06/11/97)                        

A recent FIND/SVP survey has indicated that almost half of those America Online (AOL) users who yearn for better and more reliable online access said that they will or at least somewhat likely to leave (including 8% who say that they definitely will) the service in favor of joining other Internet service providers (ISPs).

Those who wants to switch represented "some of the most demographically desirable users of the service -- young family members with multiple incomes". The study also suggest that 16% of all current Internet surfers are former AOLers.

FIND/SVP also says that there is a high degree (30%) of "pass along" practices among AOL members. That would mean that there are actually 10.6 million people sharing AOL's 8 million accounts.

America Online meanwhile is discounting the survey, arguing that the study was done a few months ago when AOL was having problems with users trying to access the network which have resulted in dozens of lawsuit.

The world's largest online service pointed to the fact that the company is adding 25,000 modems each month since January to meet customer demands and will have spent $350 million by the end of June to upgrade its network.

Some industry insiders remain confident about AOL's future. Abhishek Gami, an analyst with Nesbitt Burns Securities was quoted as saying that AOL "is the best managed company in the Internet industry."