Netscape UK boss to follow his own route

Steve Voller, UK managing director of Netscape, has left after only nine months to set up a business in the internet area.

Talking to PC Dealer, he said the parting was amicable and that the timing was connected to Netscape's restructuring, not to the company's recent decision to put its code and browser on the Web. During 1997, Netscape moved away from the browser market and into the business market.

Voller said: 'Following the restructure in Europe, I asked to be released from my contract.'

He will be replaced by Phil Battison, who will report to Didier Benchimol, vice president of Netscape Europe. Voller had been at the company since March 1997, when he joined from IBM.

Battison commented that Voller had done an excellent job and claimed the company's channel would continue to grow on his foundations.

Netscape US has this week reassured retailers with its announcement of price protection for the retail version of its browser. The price of Netscape Communicator has been cut by $10 and existing stock is protected.

Retailers are confident that a market will continue despite the product's free availability on the internet. They quote Microsoft's decision to sell its product, despite its free availability on the company's Website.

Some expressed fears that as bandwidth increased, so would free use of the product.