AOL Dropping Broadband
 

AOL Dropping Broadband


America Online (AOL) is signaling its departure from the consumer broadband market - a market it only recently entered.
Earlier this year, the popular Internet Service Provider stopped enrolling new broadband subscribers. Now, AOL is telling some of their existing broadband service subscribers that they need to sign up with a different broadband provider.

Currently, only subscribers in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee are being affected, with additional states expected to follow.

BellSouth is the big beneficiary here, offering a sign-up special in conjunction with a mailing by AOL - but adult webmasters who have invested heavily in broadband content might feel a pinch as customers who fail to switch to an alternate broadband provider by the shut-off date will have their accounts transferred to AOL's dial-up service offering - and they might just stay there, preferring the much less expensive dial-up service (priced at $24 a month as compared to AOL's broadband service price of $54 a month).

AOL currently enjoys 23 million subscribers, an unspecified number of which subscribe to the company's broadband service.

http://xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=6097

It used to be that nearly all new signups had an AOL address, and it was nice when they went broadband. Unless folks move to a new ISP (many won't) this could impact sales and retention.