Electrical retailer Dixons is expected to sever its long-standing relationship with Freeserve and instead install AOL"s Internet access software on its PCs.
Dixons helped create Freeserve during the dot-com boom, and the ISP quickly became the UK"s largest dial-up provider due to its pioneering subscription-free business model. The service was sold to French service provider Wanadoo in 2001, with Dixons retaining a stake in the company. But the relationship could soon come to an end, according to industry sources.
The Dixons Group, which runs around 1,400 shops around Europe and includes retail chains Dixons, Currys and PC World, has been in talks with BT and AOL for at least six months. But according to sources, BT has been ruled out of the equation, leaving AOL as an obvious replacement for Freeserve.