The latest repositioning of AOL (NYSE: TWX) went public this morning with news that the company is making a full switch to a network advertising strategy. Ron Grant, who joined AOL as president and COO when Randy Falco took over late last year as chairman and CEO, said in an interview with paidContent.org that the company has been on this path since the two arrived: “It was just a matter of time. We needed to make some acquisitions ... We’ve been working on all of the pieces since day one.”

Network v. portal: The mantra for the day: “Today’s announcement is really about embracing the network approach, going beyond the portal approach.” AOL will remain as a portal, one of the reasons, Grant said, the company has been revamping various components during the past year. Grant: “When you think about AOL’s portal; we’ve been spending the better parrt of nine months trying to revitalize the portal. ...  You definitely need a healthy owned-and-operated business. (But) AOL is a publisher in the network.”

More restructuring?: Grant said he wouldn’t respond to speculation that AOL has a major round of job cuts coming or about advice from some analysts that AOL should be sold off or drastically changed. “Since the time Randy and I got to AOL we were told to manage this for the long term. This is a turnaround.  ... We have to rebuild from the bottom as well as the top.” Grant said the company would be expanding internationally.

AOL Media Networks: It’s disappearing as part of the changes and Mike Kelly will be leaving the company even though Grant says “Mike’s done a wonderful job” and the “AOL Media Networks worked extremely well.” Grant’s explanation: “Fundamentally, it was set up to deliver advertising based on a portal approach. ... It was time for a new set of eyes and a new approach.”

More to come on Platform A, international plans, the new HQ, etc.