AOL attempts a comeback

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So there are a lot of good things happening with AOL, and we think we have the pieces in place now. We think we have options for growth going forward. I think everyone's looking for proof points. We're trying to restore our credibility and demonstrate that the narrowband business isn't going to disappear as fast as people thought and that there are strategies that have opened the door to allow us to grow in directions that they were unable to do five years ago.

Once the investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission is resolved, will you pursue an initial public offering for Time Warner Cable?
If we do it, it will be done for strategic reason as opposed to when we first started taking about it -- when we needed money. Remember, we had a few acquisitions, and our debt was getting up to a point where we were concerned about our ratings. We didn't want to get to the point where there weren't choices except to have the cable company go public to deal with our debt issue. We don't have that right now. Our debt is way down -- we are way below the target we set for the end of the year already -- and we're generating a tremendous amount of free cash flow over the course of the year.

We have the capacity to do things without an IPO, even expanding our footprint, if we choose to. The reason you would do an IPO is because it makes good strategic sense, and you believe it would benefit your shareholders.

So does it make strategic sense right now?
You can debate it both ways. I'm not sure where we're going to come out on. As you said, we first got to get the SEC thing behind us. There are pros and cons right now.

Do you see yourself in this role five years from now?
I don't know. I don't know how the company will be structured or organised. You take it as it comes. I like what I'm doing, and I enjoy the people. I enjoy working with Dick (Parsons, chief executive of Time Warner) and Jeff. It's a good team. I think we made a lot progress. I think the company has a lot more credibility than it did a couple years ago. I think we restored the trust of our shareholders. We got to demonstrate growth, and we're going to do that.

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