The head of AOL's broadband unit, a key growth engine for AOL Time Warner Inc. AOL.N that investors say has been unfocused, will take a "break" and has been replaced, a company spokesman said Friday.
The move comes at a time investors are growing increasingly impatient with AOL Time Warner, the world's largest Internet service provider, and are seeking more clarity in its high-speed access, or broadband, efforts.
Audrey Weil, a company veteran who has been head of the broadband unit since last summer, will leave in May, AOL spokesman Jim Whitney said.
"Audrey Weil is taking a break. She's coming back at the end of the summer and will take on new responsibilities," he said.
Weil will be replaced by Lisa Hook, currently head of the company's AOL Anywhere efforts. Hook has a telecoms background and was previously with Time Warner Telecom, Whitney said.
Kaufman Bros. analyst Paul Kim said the change in command at the broadband unit came none too soon, as "no one knows what their broadband strategy is.
"There's a lot of confusion. They need more direction. Maybe they need new blood, but (their strategy) definitely needs to be clarified."
Insiders said the bulk of the power to get AOL Time Warner's growth recharged through broadband lied at the higher ranks of management, rather than just with Weil.
After losing in its bid for No. 1 cable operator AT&T Broadband to Comcast Corp. CMCSK.O , Wall Street has been waiting for the Internet and media giant to make its next move -- whether through an acquisition of a cable operator or a series of pacts to get its AOL Internet service distributed on other cable pipelines.
The company has made it known that it is focused on getting access to cable -- one way or another -- but investors want to know how and at what cost and when. The urgency for clarification has grown as AOL's dial-up business is slowing.
"You would like to see a strategy that is a little more clear. A strategy that had garnered more broadband subscribers on AOL and more communication from management on what an AOL broadband subscriber means in regards to profitability," said Paul Cook, a portfolio manager at Munder Net Net Fund, and owner of AOL shares.