AOL is to cut 5,000 jobs in next 6 months.(Xinhua Photo)

    BEIJING, Aug.4 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States Internet service provider AOL plans to cut about 5,000 employees as the company restructures its business to focus on online advertising instead of dial-up subscriptions, reported the Washington Post on Thursday.

    "At a company-wide Web cast this morning, AOL chief executive Jon Miller told AOL's worldwide workforce of 19,000 people that about 5,000 employees would within six months likely no longer be with the company," said AOL spokesman John Buckley after a meeting Wednesday.

    AOL's parent company, Time Warner, is taking drastic action to turn the business around and announced this week that it would be making features such as e-mail and instant messaging free.

    Once regarded as being at the cutting edge of online access, AOL has struggled to keep up with competitors and its subscriber base has fallen from 26.7 million to 17.7 million over the last four years.

    Since the beginning of the year, AOL has shed 1,300 positions, mostly in its call centers in Florida and Arizona. This time, most of the cuts are expected to come from AOL's business in Europe, where AOL has said it is negotiating to sell its dial-up-related business to European telecommunications firms.  Enditem

    (Agencies)