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AOL Falls to Third Largest ISP

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

May 3, 2007, 2:12 PM

In yet another sign of the ubiquity of broadband, AOL said yesterday it now counts only 12 million subscribers - a far cry from the company's peak of 26.7 million in 2002. AOL is now only the third largest ISP, behind both AT&T with 12.1 million subscribers and Comcast with 12.9 million.

AOL has ceased marketing its dial-up and high-speed Internet services, instead focusing on its advertising-based Web business. The company says 8 million users have signed up to the free offerings, although nearly half are former AOL ISP customers. Still, the company remains upbeat about its progress, saying users are now spending more time on AOL Web properties, meaning advertising revenues should increase.

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By Sven123456789

posted May 5, 2007 - 3:28 PM

Whats more surprising, is that 12 million people still use this garbage. Move on people, allot better isp's out there.

Score: 0

By Dsfargeg

posted May 4, 2007 - 4:14 PM

Third-biggest is still far too much, but it's already good to see that less clueless Aol users are plaguing the internet now.

Score: 0

By sucrets

posted May 4, 2007 - 9:27 AM

Correction: AT&T is 1st with 12.9M and Comcast is second with 12.1M.

Score: 0

By smarterthanyou

posted May 4, 2007 - 5:16 AM

Who in their right mind would want to use AOL? AOL's Open Ride software constantly uses 50-55 percent CPU usage under both Windows XP SP 2 and Windows Vista Home Premium on my laptop which has an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66 GHz CPU, 2GB DDR2 Dual Channel memory, and ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 PCI-e graphics w/128MB dedicated memory.

Score: 0

By cranbers

posted May 3, 2007 - 8:40 PM

I thought aol went free for byoa, then dropped to 9.95 for unlimited dial up? No more 25.90 per month for unlimited dail up? So with that in mind technically they should be doing better. I mean the sad thing is I still see netzero advertising pretty heavily on tv. I have no idea how these smaller dail up providers are still around. Also im confused why these 10's of millions of people are still with aol or dial up.

Also this article said 8 million free people signed up? Is this included in that 12 million figure? I would hope not because that sure wouldn't make sense, but if it wasn't then what? They don't count then techincally, I mean they are still gaining ad revenue from them.

Score: 0

By elvis19359

posted May 18, 2008 - 2:07 PM

I don't have AOL, but did you think some people can't afford hi- speed. Like where i live, comcast, 69 dollars a month. If you are not a customer. They don't have anyone to compeat with them. So they charge what they want to. I will stay with dial- up till more companys move in. This may anwser your comment.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted May 3, 2007 - 7:22 PM

AOL Broadband. Oh wait, we don't own any cable lines.

Score: 0

By phenomnaruto

posted May 3, 2007 - 5:52 PM

wow AOL is still an isp?

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted May 3, 2007 - 4:31 PM

AO who?

Score: 0

By rsx508

posted May 3, 2007 - 3:07 PM

Third? That high?

Score: 0

By speedmeister

posted May 3, 2007 - 5:09 PM

I still see a bunch of little old ladies that think that broadband access is still too expensive. The fact that they still have millions of members is really a testament of how naive some people are about the alternatives. Most urban areas you can get cheap DSL for less the AOL dialup and the rural areas are better served by regional ISPs.

Score: 0

By stahta01

posted May 3, 2007 - 3:03 PM

Last Year Ratings; They sure dropped quick.
Tim S
http://www.isp-planet.co...earch/rankings/usa.html

Score: 0

By speedmeister

posted May 3, 2007 - 5:15 PM

That sure puts those numbers in perspective. I can't say that I am surprised though given that ATT and Verizon seem to be heavily promoting their DSL offerings with promotions giving away free modems and a discounted rates for a few months. You would have to be a hermit to be unaware that AOL dialup is a ripoff.

Score: 0

By The Dave

posted May 3, 2007 - 2:30 PM

Funny thing is that Comcast may be "ok" but AT&T is crap. I'm surprised that Time Warner Cable is not in the top 3.

Score: 0

By elvis19359

posted Jun 16, 2008 - 7:26 PM

No Comcast is Crap.

Score: 0

By elvis19359

posted May 18, 2008 - 2:10 PM

No Comcast is CRAP,CRAP CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Score: 0

By 09_f9_11_02_9d_74_e3_5b_d8_41_56_c5_63_56_88_c0

posted May 3, 2007 - 3:10 PM

they probably will be ...
support is awesome ... (contrary to that of AOL)

Score: 0

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