The larger subscriber audience, the company said, would quickly attract more advertisers and companies eager to try on-line commerce.

In on-line commerce, Asia is even further behind, according to the International Data Corporation.

In Britain, free Internet access providers, which aim to make money from advertising and on-line commerce, are cropping up.

You only have to head to the auction sites to see on-line commerce gone awry.

With the rise of the Internet, the personal computer is a gateway to a widening realm of on-line commerce and entertainment.

Instead, the profits will come from advertising, fees from on-line commerce and even setting up private "intranets," he said.

Video games, it would seem, are begging for on-line commerce.

By 2003, on-line commerce is expected to involve 40 million households and generate $108 billion, or 6 percent of total retail sales in the United States.

There exists a strong potential for cross-border trade in on-line commerce.

Both deals reflect the software giant's determination to play a dominant role in on-line commerce.