United Online
United needs to do all it can to make sure it can continue to woo subscribers to its low-cost ISPs. After all, even the once-mighty America Online, now a division of Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick Time Warner, has seen substantial subscriber defection as dial-up has become increasingly passe in favor of high-speed lines.
After all, every time you turn around, somebody's offering high-speed connections -- not just Internet bellwethers like Yahoo!
Last quarter, United Online added 203,000 paid subscribers to its service. Considering the current environment for Internet services, that's a positive sign. However, that number was 11% less than the number of subscribers it added in the comparable quarter last year, showing a slight slowdown in subscriptions.
Of course, that's perfectly in keeping with United's warnings in its regulatory filings: "While we currently anticipate that our pay subscriber base will continue to increase in the near term, we do not anticipate that the growth in pay access subscribers will be comparable to what we experienced in year-ago periods." Uh-oh. The writing's on the wall, then, unless United can find more channels to lure bargain-hunting potential subscribers.
That's where this deal comes in. While it underlines the importance of trying to stave off subscriber defection in light of the competitive climate, it's not as high-profile as United's relationship with Best Buy
Let's just add that the press announcement's declaration that this is the first "value ISP" offered through RadioShack requires some reading between the lines. Last October, a big-time rival, EarthLink
Time Warner and Best Buy are both Motley Fool Stock Advisor picks. To find out what other stocks make the grade, try a six-month subscription, risk-free.
Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned. When she thinks of RadioShack, it's difficult for her not to think of Pong, the old video game.