AOL's Armstrong puts dial-up, Web services under one umbrella unit

Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL (NYSE: AOL) is once again making more changes for the company with a move to consolidate its dial-up Internet access business and Web services business into one unit, reports Bloomberg.

Set to begin in January, Armstrong said that the new AOL services group would make up one of four units. The reorganized company will also include groups dedicated to advertising, local services and the Huffington Post media groups.

These changes, which are part of Armstrong's ongoing effort to turn around the struggling Internet provider, is all about driving its customers to leverage other features and services it offers.

Some analysts, including Clayton Moran from Benchmark Co., speculate the new structure could possibly mean the ISP could spin off any of its four divisions in the future.

However, Armstrong dismissed any rumors of separating out the units as a separate entity. Instead, AOL plans to provide a strong bond between its services such as e-mail and video that play into the unique usage patterns of each of its individual customers.

"We had AOL services split up between multiple groups," Armstrong said. "We have decided that putting them into the same structure, with the same cohesion, will help us with everything from registration services all the way to the experiences we offer in mail and the home page."

For more:
- Bloomberg has this article

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