Telecom player TALK.com has apparently
decided its marketing relationship with America Online is bringing in enough new
customers, because on Tuesday the start-up said it would continue the
alliance for another year.
Financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, but the deal makes
TALK.com (TALK) the exclusive provider of long distance services to
AOL (AOL) subscribers. TALK.com will also non-exclusively offer
wireless and local services to AOL subscribers.
“The continuing relationship with AOL enhances TALK.com’s existing strategy
of selling local and long distance services to residential and small
business customers throughout the US,” said Gabe Battista, chairman and
chief executive officer of TALK.com.
“Concurrent with this agreement, we will accelerate our marketing
investment with new partners to complement the high-volume AOL channel.
TALK.com will maintain all of the online and offline marketing channels,
which have been successful to date.”
TALK.com’s marketing partners include Prodigy, CompuServe, Wired Digital, E*trade, and CDNOW.
TALK.com, while not offering Internet telephony services, is using the
Internet to handle its billing and communication with customers.
