MEDIA-I: ICQ battles MSN as IM users soar 57pc in region

AOL Time Warner's ICQ and Microsoft's MSN Messenger are battling to

attract Asian users as the number of teens and office workers wasting

time at instant messaging (IM) sites jumped 57 per cent since January,

according to NetValue.

Vice-president of sales and marketing, Clayton Fitts, said: "These

networks are fertile ground for businesses to experiment and explore a

myrid of new marketing possibilities. Microsoft in its Windows XP has

leveraged upon this and offers users the ability to write on another's

Word document."

He added that while usage of IM was highest in Hong Kong and Singapore,

the reach of ICQ and MSN Messenger was "markedly lower" in Taiwan and

Korea. "Right now ICQ dominates in most of the Asian markets."