AOL Retires Dial-Up Internet After Three Decades
AOL will shut down its long-running dial-up internet service at the end of September, closing a chapter that introduced millions of households in the US to life online.
The service, which connected users via a phone line and became famous for its distinctive connection tones, was once a dominant force in the internet market. Today, fewer than 300,000 Americans rely solely on dial-up, compared with more than 300 million broadband connections, according to 2023 US government data.
In a message to subscribers in the US and Canada, AOL said it “routinely evaluates” its products and had decided to end dial-up access on 30 September. The shutdown affects only North America, the last region where the product remained available.
AOL co-founder Steve Case marked the moment on social media, writing: “Thanks for the memories RIP.” At its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, AOL commanded over 30 million subscribers and accounted for nearly 40% of Americans’ online time. Its free trial CDs became an icon of the early internet era.
The company’s influence began to fade in the early 2000s as broadband services overtook dial-up. AOL’s 2000 merger with Time Warner – once hailed as a landmark media deal – became notorious as one of the most ill-fated corporate tie-ups in history. By 2003, industry observers were already declaring dial-up obsolete.
AOL exited the UK internet market in 2006, was spun off from Time Warner in 2009, and was acquired by Verizon in 2015. Verizon later merged it with Yahoo before selling both to Apollo Global in 2021.
With this closure, one of the last surviving relics of the early consumer internet era fades into history.
