AOL Taking Slow Boat to Instant-Messaging Compatibility With Rivals

The current wrangle over instant messaging can't be solved in an instant, says America Online (AOL Quote).

In fact, it will take a year to set up appropriate compatibility, a company executive told the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday. And testing the system could apparently take even longer, all of which could simply give AOL time to tighten its grip on the market.

AOL's disclosure, which came at an FCC hearing examining its planned acquisition of Time Warner (TWX Quote), means no quick happy ending for companies such as Yahoo! (YHOO Quote), Microsoft (MSFT Quote) and CMGI (CMGI Quote). These firms want users of their instant-messaging software to be able to freely exchange messages with users of AOL's widely used AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). (TSC wrote a story earlier Friday about the hearing.)

AOL's rivals predict the nascent instant-messaging market will become as ubiquitous as email, but they say they have no chance of competing unless their users can communicate with AIM users. AOL says it's in favor of this exchange, known as interoperability, but says it's waiting for appropriate standards to be set and has repeatedly blocked attempts by other IM companies to unilaterally hook up their users with AIM users.

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