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B&Q to become key online Shopping partner across AOL and CompuServe subscription services in the UK as well as Web-based brands including Netscape Online London, 21 December 2000 AOL UK and leading European retail group Kingfisher today announced a joint marketing and distribution agreement, under which Kingfisher retail outlets will distribute software for AOL UK's new AOL FLAT RATE unmetered Internet access plan in 2,061Comet, B&Q, Woolworth's and Superdrug stores. AOL UK will promote B&Q's extensive range of home and garden products in the Shopping Channels of its AOL and CompuServe subscription services, as well as on its Web-based brands, including the subscription-free Netscape Online registered user service. Under the agreement, specially co-branded CDs for AOL FLAT RATE will be available in 795 Woolworth's and 705 Superdrug and 260 Comet stores from late December, as well as in 301 B&Q stores from early February 2001. The new agreement represents a significant expansion of an existing and highly successful year-long relationship already in place between AOL UK and Woolworth's, as well as a further step in AOL UK's strategy for reaching new members through an extensive presence with leading retailers. B&Q is the outright market leader in the UK and one of Europe's leading DIY and garden multiple retailers. Through its B&Q Supercentres and its B&Q Warehouse Stores, it services the needs of every type of DIY customer from the first-time homemaker to the experienced tradesman. "As e-commerce starts to become mainstream, accessing the AOL user base is a key strategic requirement for our UK brands achieving leadership in their respective markets," said Ian Cheshire, e-Kingfisher's Chief Executive. AOL UK Managing Director Karen Thomson said: "This retail agreement with Kingfisher further builds on AOL UK's extraordinary momentum of recent months and positions us to penetrate even more deeply into the UK mass market. Our AOL FLAT RATE unmetered price plan is proving to be the most popular in our history, powering AOL UK beyond the million-member mark and to record usage levels." "Freed from minute-by-minute phone charges, our members are making AOL a central part of their daily lives and putting the whole family online. So we are working even more closely with Kingfisher at an exciting time when the interactive medium in the UK enters a period of explosive growth and AOL UK establishes next-generation e-commerce relationships to lead the way." The AOL FLAT RATE plan, launched on September 19, offers US-style unmetered Internet access for »14.99 a month, including all subscription and Internet telephone costs, together with unlimited freephone member support. It is based on FRIACO, the unmetered wholesale tariff, created by economists commissioned by AOL UK in 1999, and mandated by the UK telecom regulator, Oftel, in May 2000.